Joseph Agassi

**Joseph Agassi** (; 1927–2023) var en israelsk filosof. Han beskjeftiget seg hovedsakelig med vitenskapsteori, politisk filosofi og logikk ut fra et kritisk-rasjonalististisk ståsted.

## Liv og virke
### Bakgrunn
Joseph Agassi vokste opp i Jerusalem i en ultraortodoks familie av den gamle Yishuv. Faren hans, Shmuel Meir Birnbaum, født i Beregsaz (i i ukrainsk del av Tsarrussland), immigrerte etter første verdenskrig og var lærer i forskjellige fag på videregående skoler i Jerusalem. Hans bestefar, hans mors far, Yehoshua Meir Reichman, var en kjent forretningsmann i den gamle bosetningen i Jerusalem, en av direktørene for Etz Haim Yeshiva og Bikur Cholim Hospital. Hans fetter var Yossi Harel (mødrene deres var tvillingsøstre). Familien bodde i Bukharan Quarter i Jerusalem.

Som barn ble han utdannet i en ultraortodoks chader og fortsatte ved Tachhmuni-skolen, og i ungdommen studerte han ved Merkaz rabbineryeshiva og var elev av rabbi Shalom Natan Ra'anan. I en periode studerte han med rabbi Ra'anan Kook i en privat klasse med to studenter - Agassi og (senere storrabbiner) She'ar Yashuv Cohen.

Han kom etterhvert helt bort fra aktivt religiøst engasjement.

I årene 1946-1951 studerte han fysikk, matematikk og filosofi ved Ddet hebraiske universitet i Jerusalem, og i 1952 fikk han en grad i fysikk. Agassi fortalte senere at han deltok i en samling der han i spørretimen uttrykte standpunktet at vitenskapen ikke tvinger en person til å tro på noe, og at en person som er ærlig i hans øyne vil gjøre det. Han hevdet at etter dette sa Gresham Shalom at han ville gjøre alt i hans makt for å hindre Agassi fra å få en stilling ved det hebraiske universitetet.

Agassi studerte senere hos Karl Popper ved London School of Economics.

### Karriere
Agassi underviste ved University of Hong Kong fra 1960 til 1963. Senere underviste han ved University of Illinois, Boston University, og York University i Canada. Samtidig med de siste stillingene var han også ved Tel Aviv University.

Han var gift med Judith Buber Agassi &ndash; Martin Bubers barnebarn &ndash; fra 1949 til hennes død i 2018. De fikk to barn. Agassi bodede i Herzliya i Israel.

### Filosofi
Joseph Agassis faglige hovedinteresser var innen vitenskap, metafysikk, erkjennelsesteori og politikk. Han nevnte at filosofien er intet hvis ikke rasjonalistisk; i over femti år studerte han rasjonaliteten innen vitenskap, metafysikken og i demokratisk politikk.

Agrassi fremmet en filosofi i samme gate som Popper. Han ignorerte mange av de problemer mange andre vitenskapsfilosofer er opptatt av, de særlig det om teorivalg. Han var engasjert i problemene innen teknologiens filosofi, blant annet av valget av vitenskapelige teorier og ideer som det ville være verdt å applisere og implementere.

### Israelsk politikk
Agassi uttrykte seg kritisk om bosetter&shy;bevegelsen og gikk gikk inn for at Israel skulle separere seg fra det verdensomspennende jødiske fellesskap: «*The flimsy excuse – the notion that Israel belongs to the Jewish people and not to the Israeli nation – is the very threat to its independence. It is therefore imperative that Israel should recognize its nation as separate and different from the Jewish people.*»

### Global politikk
Agassi publiserte meget om global politikk og om metodologier for å implementere global politikk. Hans metodologi var prosessuell men uten å foreskrive systematiske prosedyrer. Hans krav til dem som utarbeider global politikk er minimalistiske: små metodologiske forandringer kan føre til resultater i stor skala.

Agassi gikk også inn for at man fikk opp globale problemer som almene agendaer i forskjellige fora, i serdeleshet i *workshops* der diskusjoner holdes om forholdsavtalte agendaer.

## Publikasjoner
### Bøker på engelsk
* *Towards an Historiography of Science, History and Theory*, Beiheft 2, 1963; facsimile reprint, Middletown: Wesleyan University Press, 1967.
* ''The Continuing Revolution: A History of Physics From The Greeks to Einstein'', New York: McGraw Hill, 1968.
* *Faraday as a Natural Philosopher*, Chicago, Chicago University Press, 1971.
* *Science in Flux, Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science*, Dordrecht, Reidel, 28, 1975. 
* *(med Yehuda Fried) Paranoia: A Study in Diagnosis*, Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science, 50, 1976.
* *Towards a Rational Philosophical Anthropology*, Haag: Martinus Nijhoff, 1977.
* *Science and Society: Studies in the Sociology of Science*, Boston Studies, 65, 1981.
* *(med Yehuda Fried) Psychiatry as Medicine*, Dordrecht: Kluwer, 1983.
* *Technology: Philosophical and Social Aspects*, Dordrecht: Kluwer, 1985.
* *The Gentle Art of Philosophical Polemics: Selected Reviews and Comments*, LaSalle IL: Open Court, 1988.
* (med Nathaniel Laor) *Diagnosis: Philosophical and Medical Perspectives*, Dordrecht: Kluwer, 1990.
* *The Siblinghood of Humanity: Introduction to Philosophy*, Delmar NY: Caravan Press, 1990, 1991.
* *Radiation Theory and the Quantum Revolution*, Basel: Birkhäuser, 1993.
* *A Philosopher's Apprentice: In Karl Popper's Workshop*, Series in the Philosophy of Karl R. Popper and Critical Rationalism, Amsterdam and Atlanta GA: Editions Rodopi, 1993. Second edition, 2008. Contents
* *Liberal Nationalism for Israel: Towards an Israeli National Identity*, Jerusalem and New York: Gefen. Translation from the Hebrew book of 1984.
* *Science and Culture*, Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science, 231, 2003.
* (with I. C. Jarvie) *A Critical Rationalist Aesthetics*, Series in the Philosophy of Karl R. Popper and Critical Rationalism, Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2008. 
* (with Abraham Meidan) *Philosophy from a Skeptical Perspective*, NY and Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
* *Science and Its History: A Reassessment of the Historiography of Science*, Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science, 253, 2008. (This includes a corrected reprint of *Towards an Historiography of Science, History and Theory*)
### Bøker på hebraisk
* Letters to My Sister Concerning Contemporary Philosophy, Omer: Sarah Batz, 1976 1977. New enlarged edition, Tel-Aviv, Yedioth Aharonoth Books and Chemed Books, 2000.
* (med Dov Rappel) Philosophy of Education: A Philosophical Dialogue, Israeli Ministry of Defense, 1979.
* Between Faith and Nationality: Towards an Israeli National Identity, Tel-Aviv: Papirus, Tel-Aviv University, 1984. Second Edition, Revised and enlarged, 1993. English translation, 1999.
* (med Moshe Berent, og Judith Buber Agassi), Israeli National Awareness, Discussion Paper No. 11&ndash;88, 1988. Sapir Center for Development, Tel-Aviv University.
* Albert Einstein: Unity and Diversity, Israeli Ministry of Defense, 1989, 1994, and 2000.
* The Philosophy of Technology, Israeli Ministry of Defense, 1990.
* J. A., Judith Buber Agassi and Moshe Berent, Who is an Israeli? Rehovot: Kivunim, 1991. A variant of the Discussion Paper.
* The History of Modern Philosophy from Bacon to Kant (1600&ndash;1800): An Introduction. Tel-Aviv: Ramot, Tel-Aviv University, 1993 and reprints.
* An Introduction to Modern Philosophy, Israeli Ministry of Defense, 1996.
* (med Yeshayahu Leibowitz) Chemi Ben-Noon, editor, Conversations Concerning the Philosophy of Science, Israeli Ministry of Defense, 1996.
* (med Yeshayahu Leibowitz) Chemi Ben-Noon, editor, The Limits of Reason: Thought, Science and Religion; Yeshayahu Leibowitz and Joseph Agassi in Conversation, Jerusalem: Keter, 1997.
### Bøker på italiensk
* Scienza, metodolgia e societá, red.: Michael Segre, Roma: Luiss Edizioni, 2000. 186 pp.
* Michael Segre: Accademia e società, Conversazioni con Joseph Agassi, Rubbatino Editore, 2004, 129 pages.
* Joseph Agassi, *La filosofia e l'individuo &ndash; Come un filosofo della scienza vede la vita*, Di Renzo Editore, Roma, 2005

### Bøker redigerte
* Psychiatric Diagnosis: Proceedings of an International Interdisciplinary Interschool Symposium, Bielefeld Universität, 1978, Philadelphia: Balaban Intl. Science Service, 1981. 184 pp.
* (With Robert S. Cohen), Scientific Philosophy Today: Essays in Honor of Mario Bunge, Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science, 67, 1982. 503 pp.
* (With I. C. Jarvie), Rationality: The Critical View, Dordrecht: Kluwer, 1987. xi+462 pp.
* Hebrew Translation of Karl Popper's The Open Society and Its Enemies, Jerusalem, Shalem Publications, forthcoming, 2005.
### Online

*A Note on Smith's Term "Naturalism" http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/SMITH.pdf
*Anthropomorphism in Science http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/anthro.pdf
*Brainwashing http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/anthro.pdf
*Bye Bye Weber http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/weber.pdf
*Can Adults Become Genuinely Bilingual? http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/adults.pdf
*Causality and Medicine http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/causality.pdf
*Deception: A View from the Rationalist Perspective http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/decfin.pdf
*Deconstructing Post-Modernism: Gellner and Crocodile Dundee http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/croc.pdf
*Dissertation without tears http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/phd.pdf
*Halakha and Agada http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/agada.pdf
*Israeli Judaism http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/deshen.pdf
*Jacob Katz on Jewish Social History http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/KATZ.pdf
*Karl Popper http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/obit.pdf
*Leibniz's Place in the History of Physics http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/Leibniz.pdf
*Let a Thousand Flowers Bloom: Popper's Popular Critics http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/flowers.pdf
*Liberal Forensic Medicine http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/forensic.pdf
*Liberal Nationalism for Israel http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/engtrans.pdf
*Liberal Nationalism (Chapters from the book in Russian) https://web.archive.org/web/20160424003641/http://www.tau.ac.il/%7Eagass/joseph-papers/liberal%20nationalism.pdf
*Movies Seen Many Times http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/movies.pdf
*Neo-Classical Economics as 18th Century Theory of Man http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/neoclass.pdf
*One Palestine http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/palestine.pdf
*On the Limits of Scientific Explanation: Hempel and Evans-Pritchard https://web.archive.org/web/20060530041754/http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/LIMITS.pdf
*On the open grave of Hillel Kook http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/kookeng.pdf
*Prescriptions for Responsible Psychiatry http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/prescrip.pdf
*Quanta in Context http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/symp.pdf
*Rights and Reason http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/RIGHTS.DOC
*Science Education Without Pressure http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/pressure.pdf
*Scientific Literacy http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/literold.pdf
*Summary of AFOS Workshop, 1994 http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/afos.pdf
*Tautology and Testability in Economics http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/tautology.pdf
*Technology: Philosophical and Social Aspects http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/technoln.pdf The Gro
*Brundtland Report (1987) Or, The Logic of Awesome Decisions http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/gro.pdf
*The Heuristic Bent http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/bent.pdf
*The Interface of Philosophy and Physics http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/INTER.pdf
*The Ivory Tower and the Seat of Power http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/tower.pdf
*The Lakatosian Revolution http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/lakrev.pdf
*The Last Refuge of the Scoundrel http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/sc.pdf
*The Novelty of Chomsky's Theories http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/chomsky.pdf
*Theoretical Bias in Evidence: a Historical Sketch http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/bias.pdf
*The Philosophy of Science Today http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/shanker.pdf
*The Role of the Philosopher among the Scientists: Nuisance or Necessity? http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/backsea.pdf
*The Theory and Practice of the Welfare State https://web.archive.org/web/20060118052833/http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/welfare.pdf
*To Save Verisimilitude http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/save.pdf
*Training to Survive the Hazard Called Education http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/hazard.pdf
*Variations on the Liar's Paradox http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/liar.pdf
*Verisimilitude http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/ver.pdf
*Who Discovered Boyle's Law? http://www.tau.ac.il/~agass/joseph-papers/boyle-who.pdf

## Referanser


## Eksterne lenker
* Joseph Agassis hjemmeside (engelsk)	
* Verker tilgjengelig i Oria