Arndt Sorge
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199278909
- eISBN:
- 9780191706820
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199278909.003.0002
- Subject:
- Business and Management, International Business
Institutions can be considered as softer or harder typifications of reciprocally understood meanings attached to social patterns. Their origin is explained by the sociology of knowledge and the ...
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Institutions can be considered as softer or harder typifications of reciprocally understood meanings attached to social patterns. Their origin is explained by the sociology of knowledge and the interactionist school of sociology. They extend to more macro institutions or structures via the duality of social action. Societal space does two things: it divides action into institutionally and functionally differentiated action systems, and it breeds coherence across action systems with segmented meanings; societal effects make any action reverberate through the differentiated texture of action systems. Action systems are thus tightly coupled although institutional domains are loosely coupled (i.e., relatively autonomous). Society invariably has many layers that may be differentiated or conflated. Internationalization blends into and is interdependent with the layered architecture of society. It implies related processes of expansion and provincialization of social horizons.Less
Institutions can be considered as softer or harder typifications of reciprocally understood meanings attached to social patterns. Their origin is explained by the sociology of knowledge and the interactionist school of sociology. They extend to more macro institutions or structures via the duality of social action. Societal space does two things: it divides action into institutionally and functionally differentiated action systems, and it breeds coherence across action systems with segmented meanings; societal effects make any action reverberate through the differentiated texture of action systems. Action systems are thus tightly coupled although institutional domains are loosely coupled (i.e., relatively autonomous). Society invariably has many layers that may be differentiated or conflated. Internationalization blends into and is interdependent with the layered architecture of society. It implies related processes of expansion and provincialization of social horizons.
Nancy Whittier
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195325102
- eISBN:
- 9780199869350
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195325102.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
This chapter looks at countermovement organizing, focusing on the False Memory Syndrome Foundation (FMSF). It highlights the struggles over the social construction of knowledge that came with the ...
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This chapter looks at countermovement organizing, focusing on the False Memory Syndrome Foundation (FMSF). It highlights the struggles over the social construction of knowledge that came with the rise of the FMSF and its allies, and analyzing the political and cultural reasons for the movement's gains. It traces the frames used by the FMSF and analyzes the success of the frame emphasizing “memory science” and the unreliability of “recovered memories.” The chapter discusses the countermovement's tactics and its coalitions across the political spectrum, including with conservative, anti‐feminist, and progressive groups. It argues that the social construction of knowledge is an important part of social movements.Less
This chapter looks at countermovement organizing, focusing on the False Memory Syndrome Foundation (FMSF). It highlights the struggles over the social construction of knowledge that came with the rise of the FMSF and its allies, and analyzing the political and cultural reasons for the movement's gains. It traces the frames used by the FMSF and analyzes the success of the frame emphasizing “memory science” and the unreliability of “recovered memories.” The chapter discusses the countermovement's tactics and its coalitions across the political spectrum, including with conservative, anti‐feminist, and progressive groups. It argues that the social construction of knowledge is an important part of social movements.
Martin Kusch
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199231188
- eISBN:
- 9780191710827
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199231188.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
This chapter gives substance to the idea of a ‘communitarian value-driven epistemology’ by developing and combining ideas from Edward Craig's and Bernard Williams' ‘epistemic genealogy’ and Barry ...
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This chapter gives substance to the idea of a ‘communitarian value-driven epistemology’ by developing and combining ideas from Edward Craig's and Bernard Williams' ‘epistemic genealogy’ and Barry Barnes' and Steven Shapin's ‘sociology of knowledge’. In order to make transparent how this project might slot into more familiar, or more mainstream, projects, the paper maintains throughout a critical dialogue with Jon Kvanvig's position. The chapter is structured around an attempt to defend Craig's position against Kvanvig's criticisms: by treating the institution of testimony as a collective good underwritten by the intrinsic and interrelated values of accuracy and sincerity; by rendering protoknowledge attributions as ascriptions of honour; and by allowing attributions of protoknowledge to be intertwined with attributions of freedom. The view that emerges is that the core of our knowledge practices comprises institutions of testimony, and that these practices are a collective good. Less
This chapter gives substance to the idea of a ‘communitarian value-driven epistemology’ by developing and combining ideas from Edward Craig's and Bernard Williams' ‘epistemic genealogy’ and Barry Barnes' and Steven Shapin's ‘sociology of knowledge’. In order to make transparent how this project might slot into more familiar, or more mainstream, projects, the paper maintains throughout a critical dialogue with Jon Kvanvig's position. The chapter is structured around an attempt to defend Craig's position against Kvanvig's criticisms: by treating the institution of testimony as a collective good underwritten by the intrinsic and interrelated values of accuracy and sincerity; by rendering protoknowledge attributions as ascriptions of honour; and by allowing attributions of protoknowledge to be intertwined with attributions of freedom. The view that emerges is that the core of our knowledge practices comprises institutions of testimony, and that these practices are a collective good.
Frank Fischer
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199282838
- eISBN:
- 9780191712487
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199282838.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics
This chapter demonstrates the ways in which policy is more fundamentally a sociopolitical construct than technical/instrumental tool, as it is approached in much of policy science. Employing a ...
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This chapter demonstrates the ways in which policy is more fundamentally a sociopolitical construct than technical/instrumental tool, as it is approached in much of policy science. Employing a constructivist sociology of knowledge, the discussion illustrates the ways in which a policy is a product of multiple realities and, as such, is as much a matter for interpretive analysis as it is techno-empirical assessment. To clarify the theoretical position, the second half of the chapter demonstrates the point through the political struggle over sustainable development in environmental policy. Beyond technical knowledge, the case points to how policies are socially experienced — in particular, how they supply citizens with the social sense of collective participation in mutual ventures with fellow members of their own communities.Less
This chapter demonstrates the ways in which policy is more fundamentally a sociopolitical construct than technical/instrumental tool, as it is approached in much of policy science. Employing a constructivist sociology of knowledge, the discussion illustrates the ways in which a policy is a product of multiple realities and, as such, is as much a matter for interpretive analysis as it is techno-empirical assessment. To clarify the theoretical position, the second half of the chapter demonstrates the point through the political struggle over sustainable development in environmental policy. Beyond technical knowledge, the case points to how policies are socially experienced — in particular, how they supply citizens with the social sense of collective participation in mutual ventures with fellow members of their own communities.
Hans Blokland
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300110814
- eISBN:
- 9780300134827
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300110814.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
This chapter then turns to Karl Mannheim, whose diagnosis on the social problems during his time still hold true today. It identifies the criticisms and influence Mannheim's work had, which can be ...
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This chapter then turns to Karl Mannheim, whose diagnosis on the social problems during his time still hold true today. It identifies the criticisms and influence Mannheim's work had, which can be divided into the “sociology of planning” and the sociology of knowledge. It discusses several concepts and assumptions that come under the sociology of planning, before moving on to the idea of planning for freedom, where Mannheim planned to clarify people's undecided attitude toward planning. It also examines the main points of Mannheim's diagnosis, since these are important to the question of the consequences of modernization. The chapter ends with an assessment of both Max Weber and Karl Mannheim.Less
This chapter then turns to Karl Mannheim, whose diagnosis on the social problems during his time still hold true today. It identifies the criticisms and influence Mannheim's work had, which can be divided into the “sociology of planning” and the sociology of knowledge. It discusses several concepts and assumptions that come under the sociology of planning, before moving on to the idea of planning for freedom, where Mannheim planned to clarify people's undecided attitude toward planning. It also examines the main points of Mannheim's diagnosis, since these are important to the question of the consequences of modernization. The chapter ends with an assessment of both Max Weber and Karl Mannheim.
Alvin I. Goldman
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195138795
- eISBN:
- 9780199833252
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195138791.003.0009
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology
Philosophers, sociologists of knowledge, and other academics pursue the topic of social epistemology, but often in entirely disparate fashions. “Knowledge” is usually central to social epistemology, ...
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Philosophers, sociologists of knowledge, and other academics pursue the topic of social epistemology, but often in entirely disparate fashions. “Knowledge” is usually central to social epistemology, but some investigators take “knowledge” to be mere belief or institutionalized belief, whereas others take it to be at least true belief. Radical social epistemologists dismiss traditional epistemology and view their approach as a replacement or successor subject, whereas others see social epistemology as an extension of classical epistemology. Other contrasts include differences on the nature of the “social” and differences on the role, if any, for social constructivism. Social epistemologists often view their field as a normative one, but some concentrate on rationality, others on (e.g., testimonial) justification, and still others on social practices that conduce to knowledge.Less
Philosophers, sociologists of knowledge, and other academics pursue the topic of social epistemology, but often in entirely disparate fashions. “Knowledge” is usually central to social epistemology, but some investigators take “knowledge” to be mere belief or institutionalized belief, whereas others take it to be at least true belief. Radical social epistemologists dismiss traditional epistemology and view their approach as a replacement or successor subject, whereas others see social epistemology as an extension of classical epistemology. Other contrasts include differences on the nature of the “social” and differences on the role, if any, for social constructivism. Social epistemologists often view their field as a normative one, but some concentrate on rationality, others on (e.g., testimonial) justification, and still others on social practices that conduce to knowledge.
Phaedra Daipha
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780226298542
- eISBN:
- 9780226298719
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226298719.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Science, Technology and Environment
This book draws on a two-year ethnography of forecasting operations at the National Weather Service (NWS) to theorize decision-making in action. Contrary to popular wisdom, weather forecasters are ...
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This book draws on a two-year ethnography of forecasting operations at the National Weather Service (NWS) to theorize decision-making in action. Contrary to popular wisdom, weather forecasters are considerably better than most other so-called expert decision-makers at mastering uncertainty. Following them in their quest for ground truth, therefore, promises to hold the key to the analytically elusive process of diagnosis and prognosis as it actually happens. That is the ultimate objective of this book—by systematically excavating how weather forecasters achieve a provisional coherence in the face of deep uncertainty, how they harness diverse information to project themselves into the future, it endeavors to develop a better conceptual framework for studying uncertainty management in action. Accordingly, the six empirically substantive chapters of the book illuminate key aspects of the process of meteorological decision-making at the NWS: the institutionalized socio-technical environment in which forecasters operate, the forecast production routine; the distillation of atmospheric complexity; the negotiation of accuracy and timeliness in the face of hazardous weather and after a missed forecast; the organization of future anticipation at different time horizons; the tradeoffs of offering expert advice to multiple audiences. The proposed conceptual framework provides the analytic tools to maintain sustained attention to the stable cultural and broader social field of decision-making practice but without losing sight of the situationally-driven micro-context of action and interaction. It reinstates decision-makers as makers of decisions, creatively implementing institutional goals in locally rational ways in order to fashion a workable solution to the decision-making task at hand.Less
This book draws on a two-year ethnography of forecasting operations at the National Weather Service (NWS) to theorize decision-making in action. Contrary to popular wisdom, weather forecasters are considerably better than most other so-called expert decision-makers at mastering uncertainty. Following them in their quest for ground truth, therefore, promises to hold the key to the analytically elusive process of diagnosis and prognosis as it actually happens. That is the ultimate objective of this book—by systematically excavating how weather forecasters achieve a provisional coherence in the face of deep uncertainty, how they harness diverse information to project themselves into the future, it endeavors to develop a better conceptual framework for studying uncertainty management in action. Accordingly, the six empirically substantive chapters of the book illuminate key aspects of the process of meteorological decision-making at the NWS: the institutionalized socio-technical environment in which forecasters operate, the forecast production routine; the distillation of atmospheric complexity; the negotiation of accuracy and timeliness in the face of hazardous weather and after a missed forecast; the organization of future anticipation at different time horizons; the tradeoffs of offering expert advice to multiple audiences. The proposed conceptual framework provides the analytic tools to maintain sustained attention to the stable cultural and broader social field of decision-making practice but without losing sight of the situationally-driven micro-context of action and interaction. It reinstates decision-makers as makers of decisions, creatively implementing institutional goals in locally rational ways in order to fashion a workable solution to the decision-making task at hand.
Julian Go
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780190625139
- eISBN:
- 9780190625177
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190625139.003.0003
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Theory
This chapter explores the implications of postcolonial thought for social science. Rather than only charging social science for its practical complicity with imperialism, postcolonial thought offers ...
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This chapter explores the implications of postcolonial thought for social science. Rather than only charging social science for its practical complicity with imperialism, postcolonial thought offers an epistemic critique. It illuminates social science’s persistent Orientalism, analytic bifurcation, occlusion of colonial agency and Eurocentric metrocentrism. These are the legacies of social science’s metropolitan–imperial standpoint. They are imprints of empire upon the sociological body, and they weaken the analytic power and scope of the sociological imagination. Simply put, they mean that social science is not always as good as it should be. In answering the postcolonial challenge, we are left with a choice. We may dismiss the critique from postcolonial thought as irrelevant or quaint and then move on. Or we can accept it, engage it, and see where it takes us. This chapter places us in position to adopt the latter approach.Less
This chapter explores the implications of postcolonial thought for social science. Rather than only charging social science for its practical complicity with imperialism, postcolonial thought offers an epistemic critique. It illuminates social science’s persistent Orientalism, analytic bifurcation, occlusion of colonial agency and Eurocentric metrocentrism. These are the legacies of social science’s metropolitan–imperial standpoint. They are imprints of empire upon the sociological body, and they weaken the analytic power and scope of the sociological imagination. Simply put, they mean that social science is not always as good as it should be. In answering the postcolonial challenge, we are left with a choice. We may dismiss the critique from postcolonial thought as irrelevant or quaint and then move on. Or we can accept it, engage it, and see where it takes us. This chapter places us in position to adopt the latter approach.
Stanley Aronowitz
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231135412
- eISBN:
- 9780231509503
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231135412.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter first looks into Mills' relationship with pragmatism. It begins with a discussion of his first published essays on language and culture, which were written while he was still a graduate ...
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This chapter first looks into Mills' relationship with pragmatism. It begins with a discussion of his first published essays on language and culture, which were written while he was still a graduate student. These essays on the sociology of knowledge not only demonstrate the influence of pragmatism on his thinking but also his precocious audacity, which consists chiefly in his ambition to take on existing systematic knowledge of the social world, and both the theoretical underpinnings and the methodologies of the social sciences. The chapter then turn to Mills' first sustained intellectual work, his dissertation, A Sociological Account of Pragmatism, which was published in 1966 under the title Sociology and Pragmatism. What Mills achieves here is not only an examination of pragmatism from the perspective of a sociology of knowledge by showing the degree to which the institutions of “higher learning in America” influenced it as a philosophy but also an interrogation of the separation of sociology from philosophy.Less
This chapter first looks into Mills' relationship with pragmatism. It begins with a discussion of his first published essays on language and culture, which were written while he was still a graduate student. These essays on the sociology of knowledge not only demonstrate the influence of pragmatism on his thinking but also his precocious audacity, which consists chiefly in his ambition to take on existing systematic knowledge of the social world, and both the theoretical underpinnings and the methodologies of the social sciences. The chapter then turn to Mills' first sustained intellectual work, his dissertation, A Sociological Account of Pragmatism, which was published in 1966 under the title Sociology and Pragmatism. What Mills achieves here is not only an examination of pragmatism from the perspective of a sociology of knowledge by showing the degree to which the institutions of “higher learning in America” influenced it as a philosophy but also an interrogation of the separation of sociology from philosophy.
Neil Pollock and Neil Williams
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780198704928
- eISBN:
- 9780191774027
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198704928.003.0012
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Information Technology, Strategy
Revisiting the central concerns of this book, the chapter asks whether the current portrayal of the ‘performativity’ of markets as (partially or fully) built around financial/economic theories—is ...
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Revisiting the central concerns of this book, the chapter asks whether the current portrayal of the ‘performativity’ of markets as (partially or fully) built around financial/economic theories—is useful for analyzing business contexts. The chapter rejects the dichotomy in existing literature between implausibly ‘weak’ and ‘strong’ readings of the performativity of such expertise. The (strong) performativity thesis that portrays economic theory as ‘doing things to people’ seems less appropriate in a business setting in which cognitive authority is distributed amongst an array of sceptical and reflexive players. What may be at stake is less the performativity of knowledge than its performance i.e. its generation, circulation, validation, and consumption across a closely interacting network. The chapter argues for more systematic exploration of the epistemic systems of different types of business knowledge as pointers towards a Sociology of Business Knowledge.Less
Revisiting the central concerns of this book, the chapter asks whether the current portrayal of the ‘performativity’ of markets as (partially or fully) built around financial/economic theories—is useful for analyzing business contexts. The chapter rejects the dichotomy in existing literature between implausibly ‘weak’ and ‘strong’ readings of the performativity of such expertise. The (strong) performativity thesis that portrays economic theory as ‘doing things to people’ seems less appropriate in a business setting in which cognitive authority is distributed amongst an array of sceptical and reflexive players. What may be at stake is less the performativity of knowledge than its performance i.e. its generation, circulation, validation, and consumption across a closely interacting network. The chapter argues for more systematic exploration of the epistemic systems of different types of business knowledge as pointers towards a Sociology of Business Knowledge.
Daniel R. Huebner
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780226171371
- eISBN:
- 9780226171548
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226171548.003.0008
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Theory
The introduction explains the motivations, background, tools, and materials of the study. George Herbert Mead occupies a problematic position, because he is known primarily in a discipline in which ...
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The introduction explains the motivations, background, tools, and materials of the study. George Herbert Mead occupies a problematic position, because he is known primarily in a discipline in which he did not teach, for a book he did not write. In order to investigate the production of knowledge by and about Mead, the study makes the case for treating knowledge as social action. The implications of this formulation are examined, and this theory serves to integrate the parts of the study into a single, processual account. The major types of archival and primary document research utilized in the study are enumerated and considered. Finally, the basic progression of the substantive chapters and conclusion is outlined, as a way of cuing the reader in to the overall structure of the study and of its key arguments.Less
The introduction explains the motivations, background, tools, and materials of the study. George Herbert Mead occupies a problematic position, because he is known primarily in a discipline in which he did not teach, for a book he did not write. In order to investigate the production of knowledge by and about Mead, the study makes the case for treating knowledge as social action. The implications of this formulation are examined, and this theory serves to integrate the parts of the study into a single, processual account. The major types of archival and primary document research utilized in the study are enumerated and considered. Finally, the basic progression of the substantive chapters and conclusion is outlined, as a way of cuing the reader in to the overall structure of the study and of its key arguments.
Harry Collins
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- May 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780226052298
- eISBN:
- 9780226052328
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226052328.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
Based in the sociology of scientific knowledge the book describes, in real time, two potential discoveries of gravitational waves, known as the Equinox Event and Big Dog. These were made by the LIGO ...
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Based in the sociology of scientific knowledge the book describes, in real time, two potential discoveries of gravitational waves, known as the Equinox Event and Big Dog. These were made by the LIGO and Virgo detectors. There is additional tension because the signals might have been deliberately injected into the detectors – so called ‘blind injections’. Scientific discovery is shown to depend on many kinds of decisions not normally thought of as belonging to science. The role and nature of statistics is also examined. Wider conclusions are drawn about the moral nature of science and about the methodology of the social sciences, particularly participant observation.Less
Based in the sociology of scientific knowledge the book describes, in real time, two potential discoveries of gravitational waves, known as the Equinox Event and Big Dog. These were made by the LIGO and Virgo detectors. There is additional tension because the signals might have been deliberately injected into the detectors – so called ‘blind injections’. Scientific discovery is shown to depend on many kinds of decisions not normally thought of as belonging to science. The role and nature of statistics is also examined. Wider conclusions are drawn about the moral nature of science and about the methodology of the social sciences, particularly participant observation.
Jonathan B. Edelmann
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199641543
- eISBN:
- 9780191732232
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199641543.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism, Religious Studies
Returning to the conflict (discussed in Chapter 3) between the epistemologies of this Hindu theology and modern science, this chapter examines the important and often overlooked role that testimony ...
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Returning to the conflict (discussed in Chapter 3) between the epistemologies of this Hindu theology and modern science, this chapter examines the important and often overlooked role that testimony has in the practice of science. It seeks a comparative understanding of the complex roles that testimony has in each tradition, showing the ways they are similar and different, as well as demonstrating the conceptual similarities between ‘objectivity’ in the sciences and in Hindu theology. Furthermore, it examines hermeneutical traditions inherent within Vaishnava history for reinterpreting the Bhāgavata in faithful and reasonable ways, arguing that these traditions must be drawn from when reconstructing Hindu thought after its encounter with the Western sciences.Less
Returning to the conflict (discussed in Chapter 3) between the epistemologies of this Hindu theology and modern science, this chapter examines the important and often overlooked role that testimony has in the practice of science. It seeks a comparative understanding of the complex roles that testimony has in each tradition, showing the ways they are similar and different, as well as demonstrating the conceptual similarities between ‘objectivity’ in the sciences and in Hindu theology. Furthermore, it examines hermeneutical traditions inherent within Vaishnava history for reinterpreting the Bhāgavata in faithful and reasonable ways, arguing that these traditions must be drawn from when reconstructing Hindu thought after its encounter with the Western sciences.
David Bloor
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226060941
- eISBN:
- 9780226060934
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226060934.003.0011
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
This chapter begins with a brief account and defense of the main features of the Strong Program in the sociology of knowledge and the perspective it is designed to encourage. It is a perspective very ...
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This chapter begins with a brief account and defense of the main features of the Strong Program in the sociology of knowledge and the perspective it is designed to encourage. It is a perspective very different from the naive, philosophical narratives identified at the end of the last chapter and mentioned in the introduction. The chapter then addresses two broader questions. First, was the resistance to the circulatory theory of lift an all-too-typical example of British failings in the field of technological innovation? The author argues against this pessimistic reading here. Second, what about the controversial topic of “relativism”? Aviation, as a successful and impressive technology, is often cited as a quick and decisive refutation of relativism. This line of antirelativist argument is groundless and obscures the most striking characteristics of aerodynamic knowledge.Less
This chapter begins with a brief account and defense of the main features of the Strong Program in the sociology of knowledge and the perspective it is designed to encourage. It is a perspective very different from the naive, philosophical narratives identified at the end of the last chapter and mentioned in the introduction. The chapter then addresses two broader questions. First, was the resistance to the circulatory theory of lift an all-too-typical example of British failings in the field of technological innovation? The author argues against this pessimistic reading here. Second, what about the controversial topic of “relativism”? Aviation, as a successful and impressive technology, is often cited as a quick and decisive refutation of relativism. This line of antirelativist argument is groundless and obscures the most striking characteristics of aerodynamic knowledge.
Daniel R. Huebner
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780226171371
- eISBN:
- 9780226171548
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226171548.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Social Theory
This study contributes to the sociology of knowledge and the history of the human sciences by tracing the complex social action processes through which knowledge is produced about a major classical ...
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This study contributes to the sociology of knowledge and the history of the human sciences by tracing the complex social action processes through which knowledge is produced about a major classical author, George Herbert Mead. The case raises acute questions regarding how authoritative knowledge comes to be produced about an intellectual and about the social nature of knowledge production in academic scholarship. Instead of treating Mead’s problematic reputation as a separate topic of study from his own intellectual biography, the analysis reconceptualizes both as essentially knowledge production processes with empirical connections in identifiable social actions. Substantive chapters utilize archival and primary document research to examine the centrality of Mead’s public speaking and engagement with the social problems of territorial Hawaii, the variety of representations Mead’s students made of his courses and his students’ influences on him, the problematic process of constructing posthumous volumes attributed to Mead, the mobilization of controversial claims about him by former students on the basis of their sense of his approval and collaboration, the development of patterns of published reference to Mead along lines of social connection and in response to local institutional transformations, and the reconstruction of domains of Mead’s research that have been neglected in dominant accounts of his philosophy. The study provides a novel, productive approach to knowledge making in scholarship, which focus on empirical social action processes as they connect and change over time instead of any single set of documents, concepts, mechanisms, or individuals.Less
This study contributes to the sociology of knowledge and the history of the human sciences by tracing the complex social action processes through which knowledge is produced about a major classical author, George Herbert Mead. The case raises acute questions regarding how authoritative knowledge comes to be produced about an intellectual and about the social nature of knowledge production in academic scholarship. Instead of treating Mead’s problematic reputation as a separate topic of study from his own intellectual biography, the analysis reconceptualizes both as essentially knowledge production processes with empirical connections in identifiable social actions. Substantive chapters utilize archival and primary document research to examine the centrality of Mead’s public speaking and engagement with the social problems of territorial Hawaii, the variety of representations Mead’s students made of his courses and his students’ influences on him, the problematic process of constructing posthumous volumes attributed to Mead, the mobilization of controversial claims about him by former students on the basis of their sense of his approval and collaboration, the development of patterns of published reference to Mead along lines of social connection and in response to local institutional transformations, and the reconstruction of domains of Mead’s research that have been neglected in dominant accounts of his philosophy. The study provides a novel, productive approach to knowledge making in scholarship, which focus on empirical social action processes as they connect and change over time instead of any single set of documents, concepts, mechanisms, or individuals.
Philip A. Sullivan
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- February 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195117257
- eISBN:
- 9780199785995
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195117255.003.0006
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
Building on a discussion of the nature of scientific knowledge, it is argued that a convincing demonstration of the presence of social values in the content of such knowledge requires showing that it ...
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Building on a discussion of the nature of scientific knowledge, it is argued that a convincing demonstration of the presence of social values in the content of such knowledge requires showing that it occurs in disciplines where the knowledge has become stable, or has a record of accurate prediction. Two studies of this type are reviewed: a feminist critique of fluid mechanics, and an analysis by an Edinburgh sociologist of a dispute in the early 20th-century development of statistics. Both studies are shown to be fatally flawed. The first is riddled with elementary technical errors, making its subsequent case for male bias meaningless. The second ignores fundamental mathematical questions at issue in the dispute, leading its author to cast about for implausible sociological explanations.Less
Building on a discussion of the nature of scientific knowledge, it is argued that a convincing demonstration of the presence of social values in the content of such knowledge requires showing that it occurs in disciplines where the knowledge has become stable, or has a record of accurate prediction. Two studies of this type are reviewed: a feminist critique of fluid mechanics, and an analysis by an Edinburgh sociologist of a dispute in the early 20th-century development of statistics. Both studies are shown to be fatally flawed. The first is riddled with elementary technical errors, making its subsequent case for male bias meaningless. The second ignores fundamental mathematical questions at issue in the dispute, leading its author to cast about for implausible sociological explanations.
Suzi Adams
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780823234585
- eISBN:
- 9780823240739
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823234585.003.0007
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General
Castoriadis's continuing reflections on science were critical in paving the way for a new reflection on physis and the creativity of nature. During the 1980s, Castoriadis's epistemological ...
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Castoriadis's continuing reflections on science were critical in paving the way for a new reflection on physis and the creativity of nature. During the 1980s, Castoriadis's epistemological reflections went beyond his discussion in The Imaginary Institution of Society to relativize further the claims of science. His approach to the epistemological and ontological status of science was distinctive, in that it simultaneously freed up a space for philosophical reflection, in general, and on nature, in particular. He argued that science not only provided knowledge about nature, but that it also presumed a philosophy of nature. Three questions informed his discussion: First, how must the world be in order for a particular kind of objective knowledge to be possible? Second, how must the world be in order for a non-cumulative history of science to exist? Third, what is the relation between imagination, knowledge, and truth?Less
Castoriadis's continuing reflections on science were critical in paving the way for a new reflection on physis and the creativity of nature. During the 1980s, Castoriadis's epistemological reflections went beyond his discussion in The Imaginary Institution of Society to relativize further the claims of science. His approach to the epistemological and ontological status of science was distinctive, in that it simultaneously freed up a space for philosophical reflection, in general, and on nature, in particular. He argued that science not only provided knowledge about nature, but that it also presumed a philosophy of nature. Three questions informed his discussion: First, how must the world be in order for a particular kind of objective knowledge to be possible? Second, how must the world be in order for a non-cumulative history of science to exist? Third, what is the relation between imagination, knowledge, and truth?
Jerry A. Jacobs
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780226069296
- eISBN:
- 9780226069463
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226069463.001.0001
- Subject:
- Education, Higher and Further Education
Jacobs raises questions about the increasing popularity of concept of interdisciplinarity, which is becoming a powerful force in American higher education. Reformers assert that blurring the ...
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Jacobs raises questions about the increasing popularity of concept of interdisciplinarity, which is becoming a powerful force in American higher education. Reformers assert that blurring the boundaries between traditional disciplines would promote more rapid advances in research, more useful solutions to complex public problems, and more effective teaching and learning. Jacobs maintains that the critiques of established disciplines, such as history, economics and biology, are often over-stated and misplaced. He shows that disciplines are remarkably porous and continually incorporate new methods and ideas from other fields. Drawing on diverse sources of data, Jacobs considers many case studies, including the diffusion of ideas between fields, with a special focus on education research; the creation of interdisciplinary scholarly journals; the rise of new fields from existing ones; American studies programs; cross-listed courses, team teaching and specialized undergraduate degrees. Jacobs broadens the inquiry, looking beyond individual research collaborations to the system of disciplines and the long-term trajectories of research frontiers. Over time, successful interdisciplinary breakthroughs recreate many of the key features of established disciplines. He questions whether efforts to integrate knowledge across domains are likely to succeed, since interdisciplinary research itself is often quite specialized. Finally, these efforts may produce unintended consequences, since an interdisciplinary university would likely promote greater centralization of academic decision making in the offices of deans and presidents. Over the course of the book, Jacobs turns many of the criticisms of disciplines on their heads while making a powerful defense of the enduring value of liberal arts disciplines.Less
Jacobs raises questions about the increasing popularity of concept of interdisciplinarity, which is becoming a powerful force in American higher education. Reformers assert that blurring the boundaries between traditional disciplines would promote more rapid advances in research, more useful solutions to complex public problems, and more effective teaching and learning. Jacobs maintains that the critiques of established disciplines, such as history, economics and biology, are often over-stated and misplaced. He shows that disciplines are remarkably porous and continually incorporate new methods and ideas from other fields. Drawing on diverse sources of data, Jacobs considers many case studies, including the diffusion of ideas between fields, with a special focus on education research; the creation of interdisciplinary scholarly journals; the rise of new fields from existing ones; American studies programs; cross-listed courses, team teaching and specialized undergraduate degrees. Jacobs broadens the inquiry, looking beyond individual research collaborations to the system of disciplines and the long-term trajectories of research frontiers. Over time, successful interdisciplinary breakthroughs recreate many of the key features of established disciplines. He questions whether efforts to integrate knowledge across domains are likely to succeed, since interdisciplinary research itself is often quite specialized. Finally, these efforts may produce unintended consequences, since an interdisciplinary university would likely promote greater centralization of academic decision making in the offices of deans and presidents. Over the course of the book, Jacobs turns many of the criticisms of disciplines on their heads while making a powerful defense of the enduring value of liberal arts disciplines.
Simone Tosoni and Trevor Pinch
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780262035279
- eISBN:
- 9780262336550
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262035279.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Technology and Society
Based on several rounds of academic interview and conversations with Trevor Pinch, the book introduces the reader to the field of Science and Technology Studies (STS), and in particular to the social ...
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Based on several rounds of academic interview and conversations with Trevor Pinch, the book introduces the reader to the field of Science and Technology Studies (STS), and in particular to the social constructionist approach to science, technology and sound. Through the lenses of Pinch’s lifetime work, STS students, and scholars in fields dealing with technological mediation, are provided with an in-depth overview, and with suggestions for further reading, on the most relevant past and ongoing debates in the field. The book starts presenting the approach launched by the Bath School in the early sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK), and follows the development of the field up to the so called “Science wars” of the ‘90s, and to the popularization of the main acquisitions of the field by Trevor Pinch and Harry Collins’ Golem trilogy. Then, it deals with the sociology of technology, and presents the Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) approach, launched by Trevor Pinch and Wiebe Bijker in 1984 and developed in more than 30 years of research, comparing it with alternative approaches like Bruno Latour’s Actor-Network theory. Five issues are addressed in depth: relevant social groups in the social construction of technology; the intertwining of social representations and practices; the importance of tacit knowledge in SCOT’s approach to the nonrepresentational; the controversy over nonhuman agency; and the political implications of SCOT. Finally, it presents the main current debates in STS, in particular in the study of materiality and ontology, and presents Pinch’s more recent work in sound studies.Less
Based on several rounds of academic interview and conversations with Trevor Pinch, the book introduces the reader to the field of Science and Technology Studies (STS), and in particular to the social constructionist approach to science, technology and sound. Through the lenses of Pinch’s lifetime work, STS students, and scholars in fields dealing with technological mediation, are provided with an in-depth overview, and with suggestions for further reading, on the most relevant past and ongoing debates in the field. The book starts presenting the approach launched by the Bath School in the early sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK), and follows the development of the field up to the so called “Science wars” of the ‘90s, and to the popularization of the main acquisitions of the field by Trevor Pinch and Harry Collins’ Golem trilogy. Then, it deals with the sociology of technology, and presents the Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) approach, launched by Trevor Pinch and Wiebe Bijker in 1984 and developed in more than 30 years of research, comparing it with alternative approaches like Bruno Latour’s Actor-Network theory. Five issues are addressed in depth: relevant social groups in the social construction of technology; the intertwining of social representations and practices; the importance of tacit knowledge in SCOT’s approach to the nonrepresentational; the controversy over nonhuman agency; and the political implications of SCOT. Finally, it presents the main current debates in STS, in particular in the study of materiality and ontology, and presents Pinch’s more recent work in sound studies.
Noretta Koertge (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 1998
- Published Online:
- February 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780195117257
- eISBN:
- 9780199785995
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195117255.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Science
The interdisciplinary enterprise of Science, Technology and Society Studies (STS) fosters the view that the results of scientific inquiry are social constructions that are strongly influenced by ...
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The interdisciplinary enterprise of Science, Technology and Society Studies (STS) fosters the view that the results of scientific inquiry are social constructions that are strongly influenced by ideology and special interests. Academics working within traditions of postmodernism and cultural studies use both theoretical analysis and historical case studies to defend their allegations that the objectivity and empirical character of science have been vastly overrated. This anthology, with essays by philosophers, historians, scientists, and engineers, scrutinizes these claims in detail. Inspired by the Sokal hoax, these essays provide devastating refutations of the most central and widely trumpeted claims of the postmodernist critique of science. Included are clear analyses of philosophical concepts such as relativism, theory ladenness, underdetermination of theory by evidence, scientific experimentation, objectivity, the context of discovery, the role of metaphors in science, and sociology of scientific knowledge. The historical episodes discussed come from alchemy, the Scientific Revolution, Darwinian evolutionary theory, reproductive biology, particle physics, fluid mechanics, relativity theory, and statistics. Implications are drawn for science education, science journalism, science development, and the historiography of science.Less
The interdisciplinary enterprise of Science, Technology and Society Studies (STS) fosters the view that the results of scientific inquiry are social constructions that are strongly influenced by ideology and special interests. Academics working within traditions of postmodernism and cultural studies use both theoretical analysis and historical case studies to defend their allegations that the objectivity and empirical character of science have been vastly overrated. This anthology, with essays by philosophers, historians, scientists, and engineers, scrutinizes these claims in detail. Inspired by the Sokal hoax, these essays provide devastating refutations of the most central and widely trumpeted claims of the postmodernist critique of science. Included are clear analyses of philosophical concepts such as relativism, theory ladenness, underdetermination of theory by evidence, scientific experimentation, objectivity, the context of discovery, the role of metaphors in science, and sociology of scientific knowledge. The historical episodes discussed come from alchemy, the Scientific Revolution, Darwinian evolutionary theory, reproductive biology, particle physics, fluid mechanics, relativity theory, and statistics. Implications are drawn for science education, science journalism, science development, and the historiography of science.
