Reason in the Age of Science

The essays in this book deal broadly with the question of what form reasoning aboutlife and society can take in a culture permeated by scientific and technical modes of thought. Theyattempt to identify certain very basic types of questions that seem to escape scientific resolutionand call for, in Gadamer's view, philosophical reflection of a hermeneutic sort.In effect, Gadamerargues for the continued practical relevance of Socratic-Platonic modes of thought in respect tocontemporary issues. As part of this argument, he advances his own views on the interplay ofscience, technology, and social policy.These essays, which are not available in any existingtranslation or collection of Gadamer's work, are remarkably up-to-date with respect to the presentstate of his thinking, and they address issues that are particularly critical to social theory andphilosophy.Perhaps more than anyone else, Hans-Georg Gadamer, who is Professor Emeritus at theUniversity of Heidelberg and Distinguished Visiting Professor at Boston College, is the doyen ofGerman Philosophy. His previously translated works have been widely and enthusiastically received inthis country. He is recognized as the chief theorist of hermeneutics, a strong and growing movementhere in a number of disciplines, from theology and literary criticism to philosophy and socialtheory.A book in the series Studies in Contemporary German Social Thought.

Shigeru Miyagawa is Professor of Linguistics and Kochi-Manjiro Professor of Japanese Language and Culture at MIT. He is the author of Structure and Case Marking in Japanese and the coeditor of Oxford Handbook of Japanese Linguistics.