Abstract

Perhaps without realizing it, Norman Stockman has here written two books, each quite interesting in itself, but the two not wholly compatible when presented as one. The "first book" is a judicious and well-informed comparison of the three principal theories of science which define themselves by their opposition to positivism: critical rationalism, critical theory, and scientific realism. The "second book" is a vigorous defense of critical theory, especially as a theory of the social sciences, against the claims of the other two pretenders to the antipositivist crown. Let me describe the "two books" separately.