The Limits of Scientific Reason

In this well-written and tightly argued work, John McIntyre takes a fresh look at the work of two major intellectuals who, half a century ago, brought into question common assumptions about the nature of science and the role it plays in society. The powerful and often conflicting writings of Jürgen Habermas and Michael Foucault questioned the detachment of the sciences from the play of political forces structuring social life, revealing the different ways in which the perspectives of scientist as observer of and participant in life can be entwined. This is a particularly relevant contribution to the debate about the authority of science at a time in which crudely irrational forms of scientific scepticism are often met with renewed forms of the type of obfuscating scientism earlier critiqued by both Habermas and Foucault. -- Paul Redding, Emeritus Professor of philosophy, The University of Sydney With “science” more hotly debated than ever, McIntyre’s book brilliantly demonstrates the importance of distinctive, opposing forms of philosophical attention to contemporary scientific rationalities and practices. By presenting Foucault and Habermas through their evolving reflections on science and showing the value of their divergent approaches today, McIntyre offers a great introduction to each and an original contribution to critical theory. -- Samuel R. Talcott, University of the Sciences This illuminating book offers a comprehensive overview of the work of Habermas and Foucault. It shows how both philosophers, in their different ways, answer the need for critical reflection on science, the dominant form of rationality in our society. And it gives us a fresh take on how these two often combative thinkers stand in relation to one another. -- Christopher Falzon, Visiting Fellow in Philosophy, University of New South Wales John McIntyre’s book is a high-quality analysis of two of the great contemporary philosophers: Jurgen Habermas and Michel Foucault who have had a world wide impact in Europe, the US, Asia and Australia. McIntyre takes contemporary science as the focus for his comparative analysis, a not often discussed aspect of their work. There are also very few commentators who have discussed these thinkers against the lens of their origins in their native traditions. Each thinker has their own partisan defenders with savage critiques of the other. Unlike them, McIntyre brings these two very different traditions and personalities into comparative dialogue around the key features of their work and contemporary science. In many ways this book is a textbook of the history of philosophy turning from the 20th century history into the early decades of the 21st, focusing on the self-understanding of modern science. Only a handful of modern philosophers have aspired to create a global understanding of both the evolution of modern society and its philosophical self-reflection and in this regard, McIntyre has selected two of the truly great thinkers. Throughout McIntyre’s eight chapters the reader follows the breadth and depth of the evolution of their works and is treated to a careful critique and dissection of some of the major commentators that zeroes in on such continuing hotly disputed theoretical and practical questions as the role of normative values in their respective works. Such disputes are not likely to be resolved by McIntyre’s conclusions, however, he allows each thinker to present their best arguments in their own words and carefully clarifies and assesses their arguments allowing readers and scholars to see their relative strengths and weaknesses. For both it is highly recommended. -- John Grumley, University of Sydney