Steve Fuller

The Philosophy of Science and Technology Studies

• Gebundenes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

As the field of Science and Technology Studies (STS) has become more established, it has increasingly hidden its philosophical roots. While the trend is typical of disciplines striving for maturity, Steve Fuller, a leading figure in the field, argues that STS has much to lose if it abandons philosophy. In his characteristically provocative style, he offers the first sustained treatment of the philosophical foundations of STS and suggests fruitful avenues for further research. With stimulating discussions of the Science Wars, the Intelligent Design Theory controversy, and theorists such as Donna Haraway and Bruno Latour, Philosophy of Science and Technology Studies is required reading for students and scholars in STS and the philosophy of science.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd (Sales)
• Seitenzahl: 208
• Erscheinungstermin: 16. Dezember 2005
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 237mm x 178mm x 17mm
• Gewicht: 399g
• ISBN-13: 9780415941044
• ISBN-10: 0415941040
• Artikelnr.: 21073136

Autorenporträt

Steve Fuller is Professor of Sociology at the University of Warwick, England. Formally trained in history, philosophy, and sociology of science, he is best known for his pioneering work in social epistemology. His most recent books include Thomas Kuhn: A Philosophical Historyfor Our Times and Knowledge Management Foundations.

Inhaltsangabe

Table of Contents:I: Introduction: The Conspicuous Absence of Philosophy
from Science & Technology StudiesII: The Sociology of Knowledge: The
Philosophical Backdrop to STS1. Philosophical Foundations and Main
Sociological Traditions2. Science as a Special Problem for the Sociology of
Knowledge3. Kuhn's Chequered Legacy to STS4. The Punch Line: A Sociology of
Science that is Not a Sociology of Knowledge5. Relativism and the Illusion
of Autonomy in Science6. STS's Janus-faced Antirealism: Relativism versus
Constructivism7. Conclusion: So Is Relativism the Wrong Target?III:
Philosophy in, of, and beyond the Scientific Field Site8. Making Philosophy
Safe for STS: The Rise of the Underlaborer9. Philosophy by Sociological
Means: STS as Fieldwork10. STS Catches Philosophy by the Achilles Heel: The
Problem of Replication11. What Is Living and Undead in Actor-Network
Theory12. STS Fieldwork as a Reflection of the Shifting Material Conditions
of Scientific Work13. New Horizons for Laboratory Life: Science as a Site
of Generational Conflict and Jurisdictional AmbiguityIV: Postmodern
Positivism: STS by Another Name?14. Platonism as Proto-Positivism15. The
Dialectical History of Positivism16. Postmodernism as Positivism's
Bastard's Child17. Motivating the Science Wars: The Politics of
Popularizing and Esotericizing Science18. The Elusive Spontaneous
Philosophy of the Scientists Defended in the Science Wars19. Does Research
Fraud Matter? Reflections on the Sokal Hoax as a Social Experiment20. What
Should Have Been Done About Sokal? What Can Be Done About Positivism?V:
Re-Enchanting Science: Beyond Puritans and Gnostics21. The Science Wars as
Signaling the End of Scientific Puritanism22. The Secularization of Science
as a Precondition to Its Re-enchantment23. Re-enchanting Science with a
Vengeance: Gnostic Scientism24. Prolegomena to the Hidden History of
Gnostic Biology25. Distinguishing the Enchanted and Disenchanted Mind: The
Mark of Theodicy26. Two Disenchanted Theodicies: Invisible Hand and Natural
Selection27. The Cost of Disenchantment: A Failed Scientific Defense of
Human Freedom28. Conclusions: Meeting Weber's Challenge and Transcending
the Science WarsVI: Citizen Science: Cultivating a Life in STS29.
Introduction: Beware of Greeks Bearing Historical Precedents30. Expertise
and Its Discontents: Some Institutional Alternatives31. Institutionalizing
the Public Understanding of Science in Consensus Conferences32. The
Prospects for Scientific Citizenship Today33. Conclusion: Towards a
Rhetorical Reclamation of ScienceNotesIndex