The Problem of rationality in science and its philosophy

the long version

The book is an outcome of two conferences held in Poland in 1987 and 1990. Both conferences dealt with the problem of rationality: the first one put the problem in the context of the philosophy of Popper and Polanyi, and the second one involved the notion of the aim of science. The present book presents the most comprehensive current and account of the manifold approaches to the problem of rationality and related issues. Generally speaking, some authors are convinced that the standard approach to the problem of rationality is more or less correct. They try to amend this approach and/or to reply to some objections to it. Others adopt a more radical attitude and seek inspiration in more exotic regions of philosophy of science, in particular in the philosophy of Michael Polanyi. In this case not only the problem of rationality of science is addressed but also the problem of rationality of the philosophy of science itself.