Philosophy of science is headed towards an impasse. The way of thinking about science that has been passed down to us is woefully inadequate for our present purposes. Given the questions that now interest us, this legacy creates more problems than it solves. Further, it tends to alienate us from science, rather than make science seem actually or potentially connected to our lives. At best, it renders science strange, and at worst, it renders it dangerous and frightening. Rather than a set of practices with a human face, striving after goals comprehensible to mere mortals, science has been treated as some or another abstract system of ideas and technocratic processes of measurement. I think it likely that the promotion of thinking about science in this way lies behind the reaction to science within the humanities that culminated in the so-called "science wars." Philosophy of science has never been given to a global orthodoxy (talk about "the received view" notwithstanding), so any talk about what the tradition has handed down will necessarily proceed in terms of family resemblances, common trends and shared styles of thinking, rather than a coherent body of doctrine, a single method, or a unified research program. The way in which I attempt to lay bare the common assumptions within the tradition-the source of the mistakes-is by providing a comprehensive alternative, very different from the approaches that have been the main life of philosophy of science. This is my main aim, to provide such an alternative, which I have discovered in the work of the great American philosopher John Dewey.
Industry Reviews
'Comprehensive and engaging.' -- The Economist
'In exhaustive detail, [Harris] describes a career of setbacks, half-successes and frustrated ambitions.' -- The Times
'The Iconoclast is a definitive, must-read biography of Abe, and will be the standard English-language work on his life and times for years to come.' -- The Japan Times
'Journalists, scholars - anyone interested in the political evolution of the leading democracy of East Asia - will need to add The Iconoclast to the reading pile.' -- Asia Times
'Offer[s] in non-specialized language accessible to a general reader detailed coverage of Abe's family ties to politics, entry into politics, rise to the premiership, and style and substance of governing.' -- Pacific Affairs
'Reflecting on the past and speculating the future, the book contains rich insight about Japan under Abe's government as well as in the coming post-Abe era, which will help us envision Japan's future.' -- Nikkei Asian Review
'For more than a decade, Shinzo Abe has been the doorknob of international politics - largely unnoticed but functionally crucial. Throughout a period of tumult, both international and domestic, he has remained a grimly determined steady hand, a conservative force in a world of radical uncertainty. In translucent prose, Tobias Harris is a subtle commentator on Japan and a remarkably sure-footed guide to the inner workings of its longest-serving prime minister in history.' -- David Pilling, Financial Times, author of Bending Adversity: Japan and the Art of Survival
'Harris has very skilfully told one of the great political comeback stories of our era - the fall and rise of not just Abe Shinzo, but Japan itself. With colourful anecdotes and insightful analysis, the author shows us how Abe, a political blue-blood, pulled off the most remarkable second act in modern Japanese history by being an iconoclast. Harris tells how Abe challenged taboos and broke the mould to help Japan reclaim its confidence, and its rightful place in the world.' -- Martin Fackler, former Tokyo bureau chief, New York Times
'A superb biography of Abe Shinzo, Japan's longest-serving prime minister, as well as a remarkably detailed political history of Japan, from Abe's grandfather Prime Minister Kishi Nobusuke (1957-60) to Prime Minister Abe. Thoroughly researched, lucidly written. A great achievement.' -- Ezra Vogel, Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Sciences Emeritus, Harvard University
'The Iconoclast is a well written and comprehensive chronicle of the politics and policies of Japan's longest serving prime minister.' -- Gerald L. Curtis, Burgess Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Columbia University
