Nietzsche's Philosophy of Science
Reflecting Science on the Ground of Art and Life
Format:Paperback
Publisher:State University of New York Press
Published:18th Jan '94
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

Rethinks of science through Nietzsche's philosophy, revealing knowledge as an aesthetic, life-driven act shaped by interpretation rather than absolute truth.
What is the role of science when its claims to truth are no longer self-evident? In Nietzsche's Philosophy of Science, Babette Babich offers a bold and provocative rethinking of modern scientific rationality through the philosophical lens of Friedrich Nietzsche.
Rather than treating science as a self-justifying system of objective truths, Babich argues that it must be understood as an interpretive, aesthetic, and ultimately life-bound practice—one shaped by style, physiology, and cultural values. Drawing on Nietzsche's critique of truth, morality, and metaphysics, she reframes scientific knowledge as a perspectival achievement rooted in the conditions of life itself.
Across seven richly argued chapters, Babich develops a sustained engagement with questions at the heart of contemporary philosophy of science: What counts as validity? Can objectivity be separated from interpretation? And what happens when science is viewed not as the final arbiter of truth, but as one expression of human creativity?
Nietzsche's Philosophy of Science challenges readers to rethink the foundations of knowledge, placing science in dialogue with art, aesthetics, and the lived conditions of experience. The result is a powerful reconsideration of philosophy’s task in an age of epistemic uncertainty.
"The author succeeds in penetrating the cloud of suspicion, incomprehension, and distrust that for contemporary readers surrounds Nietzsche's writing and shows how the most audacious provocateur or nineteenth-century German wissenschaftliche circles, can speak with real insight to our times about our own very contemporary philosophical crises." — New Nietzsche Studies
"One could argue that the philosophy of science is one of the most important issues in contemporary culture. Babich, looking at the problem through the lens of Nietzsche, argues persuasively that it will not do to try to theorize science on the basis of its own value system, since the result will always be one form or another of self-validation. With Nietzsche's help, she proposes to frame science from the point of view of aesthetics—"science in the light of art"—in order to provide a different, possibly more enlightening perspective on the claims and aspirations of science. I like Babich's tough, at times even racy, rhetoric. " — Clayton Koelb, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
"One of the more important issues raised is the assertion that Nietzsche's perspectivism, far from dooming the scientific enterprise, energizes it. Another important claim is that Nietzsche is a proper philosopher because he, like other philosophers, is driven by the desire for knowledge. But the most important claim, the most contentious, and the one that most deserves a hearing and discussion, is the assertion that Nietzsche is a serious philosopher of science." — Debra Bergoffen, George Mason University
"The author makes a genuinely significant contribution to the dialogue between "science" and "philosophy." The nuances of her text make it very rich, and the bite of her wit keeps the reader awake throughout. I really enjoyed and appreciated this effort—one of the finest works on Nietzsche that I have read." — Susan Schoenbohm, University of the South
ISBN: 9780791418666
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 508g
366 pages