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Larry Laudan Quotes

The displacement of the idea that facts and evidence matter by the idea that everything boils down to subjective interests and perspectives is - second only to American political campaigns - the most prominent and

The displacement of the idea that facts and evidence matter by the idea that everything boils down to subjective interests and perspectives is - second only to American political campaigns - the most prominent and pernicious manifestation of anti-intellectualism in our time.

Larry Laudan
Ideas, Perspective, Political
Larry Laudan (2012). “Science and Relativism: Some Key Controversies in the Philosophy of Science”, p.10, University of Chicago Press

The rationale for accepting or rejecting any theory is thus fundamentally based on the idea of problem-solving progress. If one research tradition has solved more important problems than its rivals, then accepting that tradition is rational precisely to the degree that we are aiming to "progress," i.e., to maximize the scope f solved problems. In other words, the choice of one tradition over its rivals is a progressive (and thus a rational) choice precisely to the extent that the chosen tradition is a better problem solver than its rivals.

Larry Laudan
Science, Ideas, Choices
Larry Laudan (1978). “Progress and Its Problems: Towards a Theory of Scientific Growth”, p.109, Univ of California Press

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