Science Without Foundations

Science Without Foundation is an accessible companion volume to The Indefinability of Language. While that earlier work develops the underlying philosophical argument in detail, this book explores its implications for science, objectivity, ethics, and everyday life.
Science has been extraordinarily successful. It explains, predicts, and transforms our world. Yet precisely this success raises an important question: does its authority rest upon an absolute foundation? Rather than leading to relativism or distrust of science, this question opens the possibility of a sober form of objectivity—one without metaphysical pretensions. From relativity and evolution to neuroscience and artificial intelligence, the book shows how scientific explanations can be powerful, reliable, and illuminating without being absolute. In its final part, the focus shifts from science to the individual. What does it mean to live freely and responsibly when no ultimate foundation is available?