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{{a|book review|}} | {{a|book review|}} | ||
===Small and perfectly formed: one of the | ===Small and perfectly formed: one of the great works of modern philosophy=== | ||
{{br|The Structure of Scientific Revolutions}} | {{author|Thomas Kuhn}}’s {{br|The Structure of Scientific Revolutions}} is a true classic of modern literature. This wonderful little book, which argues for the contingency of scientific knowledge, deserves space on the bookshelf next to [[Adam Smith]]’s ''The Wealth of Nations'' (identifying the contingency of economic value), [[David Hume]]’s ''A Treatise of Human Nature'' (the contingency of cause), Charles Darwin’s {{br|The Origin of Species}} (the contingency of biology) and Richard Rorty’s ''Contingency, Irony and Solidarity'' (the contingency of language) — along with those perennially confusing continental stalwarts {{author|Friedrich Nietzsche}} and {{author|Ludwig Wittgenstein}} — as representing the fundamental underpinnings of modern pragmatic thought. | ||
“Pragmatism”, to my mind, is a euphemism for “[[relativism]]”, a dirty word these days, blamed for much of the polarisation and wokitude of our times — wrongly, in my view. | “Pragmatism”, to my mind, is a euphemism for “[[relativism]]”, a dirty word these days, blamed for much of the polarisation and wokitude of our times — wrongly, in my view. |