The Way Things Are

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This book is the result of thirty years of reflection, says Percy Bridgman. “The importance of the individual [has become] increasingly obvious to me, even in science which is sometimes actually defined in social, public terms. My reason for insisting on the importance of the role of the individual in science was that proof, without which no science is possible, is entirely an affair of the individual and is therefore private, with the result that any creative science is of necessity private rather than public. The title is intended to suggest that the scope of the book is primarily on the descriptive level. I believe that the new insights reach so deep that they demand a fundamental revision at this first and deepest of all levels.”

Covering a wide range of topics, Professor Bridgman deals with methodology, special issues in logic, probability theory, and the nature of deduction and induction. In addition to making concrete applications to the problems of taxation and military service, he applies his conclusions to problems in physics, psychology, and sociology.

This book, which will appeal particularly to those Interested in philosophy, theoretical physics, social philosophy, psychology, or philosophy of science, concerns anyone interested in the general problem of communication.