Gardens and the Picturesque by John Dixon Hunt

Gardens and the Picturesque by John Dixon Hunt

If indeed scientists and technologists, especially economists, set much of the agenda by which the future is played out, and I think they do, then the student of scientific methodology and public ethics has at least three options. He can embrace certain scientific methods and the value they hold for social decisionmaking, much as Milton Friedman has accepted neoclassical econom- ics. Or, he can condemn them, regardless of their value, much as Stuart Hampshire has rejected risk-cost-benefit analysis (RCBA). Finally, he can critically assess these scientific methods and attempt to provide solutions to the problems he has uncovered. As a philosopher of science seeking the middle path between uncritical acceptance and extremist rejection of the economic methods used in policy analysis, I have tried to avoid the charge of being anti science. Fred Hapgood, in response to my presentation at a recent Boston Colloquium for the Philosophy of Science, said that my arguments felt like a call for rejection of the methods of risk-cost-benefit analysis. Not so, as Chapter Two of this volume should make eminently clear. All my criticisms are construc- tive ones, and the flaws in economic methodology which I address are uncovered for the purpose of suggesting means of making good techniques better. Likewise, although I criticize the economic methodology by which many technology assessments (TA's) and environmental-impact analyses (EIA's) have been used to justify public projects, it is wrong to conclude that I am anti-technology.

Hunt, John Dixon: - John Dixon Hunt is Professor in the School of English and American Studies at the University of East Anglia and editor of the International Journal of Garden History.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780262581318
ISBN 10	0262581310
Title	Gardens and the Picturesque
Author	John Dixon Hunt
Series	Gardens And The Picturesque
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	MIT Press Ltd
Year published	1994-03-04
Number of pages	406
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.