Analysis of the book "Ashtray or a Man Who Denies Reality"

A critical look at human scientific and intellectual achievements has played an important role in the development of empirical knowledge in the new era. But if the critical view leads to the denial of truth and reality, it finds a dogmatic nature that contradicts the nature of criticism and destroys trust in knowledge and reason. Ashtray by focusing on the views of Thomas Kuhn, shows that Kuhn is on such a path in his work. In this book, Morris, in addition to criticizing the content of relativism in Kuhn's work, also pays attention to the psychological and social consequences of denying reality. His ultimate goal is to show that relativists, by relying on ambiguous language and misconceptions of empirical knowledge, not only destroy the common human logic that is the rational basis of the experimental sciences, but also destroy moral principles. They justify continuity of war and killing. In contrast to relativism, he defends a kind of moderate realism that is equally distant from relativism and dogmatism, and builds trust in science with the possibility of critique. In his documentaries, Morris often critiques the prevailing worldview and seeks the truth. The philosophical point of view defended by him in this book is also in line with the common theme of these films.