Abstract

Physicist and philosopher of science Stephen Toulmin (London 1922 - Los Angeles 2009) published his last book Return to Reason in 2001 (Cambridge, MA). Review of translation in Dutch (2001). Introductory notes on his scholarly book reception in the Netherlands: An Examination of the Place of Reason in Ethics (1950), Wittgenstein's Vienna (1972, with Allan Janik), Cosmopolis. The Hidden Agenda of Modernity (1990). "Terug naar de Rede" contains a farewell to the quest for certainty and "the dreams of rationalism" (Isaac Newton, René Descartes, start of Modernity). Toulmin presents a fascinating historical and systematic plea for moral practice, practical reason and reflection in medical, political and moral issues. Michel de Montaigne's Essais (1580) supply stepping stones towards practical wisdom and "life with uncertainty".