What's So Bad About Scientism? Moti Mizrahi Florida Institute Of
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
Beyond the Scientific Method
ISSUES AND TRENDS Jeffrey W. Bloom and Deborah Trumbull, Section Coeditors Beyond the Scientific Method: Model-Based Inquiry as a New Paradigm of Preference for School Science Investigations MARK WINDSCHITL, JESSICA THOMPSON, MELISSA BRAATEN Curriculum and Instruction, University of Washington, 115 Miller Hall, Box 353600, Seattle, WA 98195, USA Received 19 July 2007; revised 21 November 2007; accepted 29 November 2007 DOI 10.1002/sce.20259 Published online 4 January 2008 in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). ABSTRACT: One hundred years after its conception, the scientific method continues to reinforce a kind of cultural lore about what it means to participate in inquiry. As commonly implemented in venues ranging from middle school classrooms to undergraduate laboratories, it emphasizes the testing of predictions rather than ideas, focuses learners on material activity at the expense of deep subject matter understanding, and lacks epistemic framing relevant to the discipline. While critiques of the scientific method are not new, its cumulative effects on learners’ conceptions of science have not been clearly articulated. We discuss these effects using findings from a series of five studies with degree-holding graduates of our educational system who were preparing to enter the teaching profession and apprentice their own young learners into unproblematic images of how science is done. We then offer an alternative vision for investigative science—model-based inquiry (MBI)— as a system of activity and discourse that engages learners more deeply with content and embodies five epistemic characteristics of scientific knowledge: that ideas represented in the form of models are testable, revisable, explanatory, conjectural, and generative. -
Science Studies and the History of Science Author(S): Lorraine Daston Reviewed Work(S): Source: Critical Inquiry, Vol
Science Studies and the History of Science Author(s): Lorraine Daston Reviewed work(s): Source: Critical Inquiry, Vol. 35, No. 4, The Fate of Disciplines Edited by James Chandler and Arnold I. Davidson (Summer 2009), pp. 798-813 Published by: The University of Chicago Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/599584 . Accessed: 15/12/2011 10:03 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. The University of Chicago Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Critical Inquiry. http://www.jstor.org Science Studies and the History of Science Lorraine Daston Introduction: Hard-hearted Adamant The current relation between science studies and the history of science brings to mind the opening scenes of A Midsummer Night’s Dream (or, minus the fairies, the high school comedy of your choice): Helena loves Demetrius, who used to love Helena, but now loves Hermia, who loves Lysander. A perfervid atmosphere of adolescence hangs over the play: rash promises, suicide threats, hyperbolic but sincere pledges of love and en- mity, and, above all, the breathless sense of everything being constantly up for grabs. -
Reexamining the Problem of Demarcating Science and Pseudoscience by Evan Westre B.A., Vancouver Island University, 2010 a Thesis
Reexamining the Problem of Demarcating Science and Pseudoscience By Evan Westre B.A., Vancouver Island University, 2010 A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS ©Evan Westre, 2014 All Rights Reserved. This thesis may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without the permission of the author. Supervisory Committee Reexamining the Problem of Demarcating Science and Pseudoscience By Evan Westre B.A., Vancouver Island University, 2010 Dr. Audrey Yap: Supervisor (Department of Philosophy) Dr. Jeffrey Foss: Departmental Member (Department of Philosophy) ii Abstract Supervisory Committee Dr. Audrey Yap: Supervisor (Department of Philosophy) Dr. Jeffrey Foss: Departmental Member (Department of Philosophy) The demarcation problem aims to articulate the boundary between science and pseudoscience. Solutions to the problem have been notably raised by the logical positivists (verificationism), Karl Popper (falsificationism), and Imre Lakatos (methodology of research programmes). Due, largely, to the conclusions drawn by Larry Laudan, in a pivotal 1981 paper which dismissed the problem of demarcation as a “pseudo-problem”, the issue was brushed aside for years. Recently, however, there has been a revival of attempts to reexamine the demarcation problem and synthesize new solutions. My aim is to survey two of the contemporary attempts and to assess these approaches over and against the broader historical trajectory of the demarcation problem. These are the efforts of Nicholas Maxwell (aim-oriented empiricism), and Paul Hoyningen-Huene (systematicity). I suggest that the main virtue of the new attempts is that they promote a self-reflexive character within the sciences. -
STS Departments, Programs, and Centers Worldwide
STS Departments, Programs, and Centers Worldwide This is an admittedly incomplete list of STS departments, programs, and centers worldwide. If you know of additional academic units that belong on this list, please send the information to Trina Garrison at [email protected]. This document was last updated in April 2015. Other lists are available at http://www.stswiki.org/index.php?title=Worldwide_directory_of_STS_programs http://stsnext20.org/stsworld/sts-programs/ http://hssonline.org/resources/graduate-programs-in-history-of-science-and-related-studies/ Austria • University of Vienna, Department of Social Studies of Science http://sciencestudies.univie.ac.at/en/teaching/master-sts/ Based on high-quality research, our aim is to foster critical reflexive debate concerning the developments of science, technology and society with scientists and students from all disciplines, but also with wider publics. Our research is mainly organized in third party financed projects, often based on interdisciplinary teamwork and aims at comparative analysis. Beyond this we offer our expertise and know-how in particular to practitioners working at the crossroad of science, technology and society. • Institute for Advanced Studies on Science, Technology and Society (IAS-STS) http://www.ifz.tugraz.at/ias/IAS-STS/The-Institute IAS-STS is, broadly speaking, an Institute for the enhancement of Science and Technology Studies. The IAS-STS was found to give around a dozen international researchers each year - for up to nine months - the opportunity to explore the issues published in our annually changing fellowship programme. Within the frame of this fellowship programme the IAS-STS promotes the interdisciplinary investigation of the links and interaction between science, technology and society as well as research on the development and implementation of socially and environmentally sound, sustainable technologies. -
Introduction to Science and Technology Studies
Introduction to Science and Technology Studies Waseda University, SILS, Science, Technology and Society (LE202) The basic concepts Let’s take some very simplistic definitions of what we will be studying in this class. Science: Investigations of the physical world, including us and the stuff we make Technology: Making stuff, including stuff used by society, and in the production and dissemination of science Society: The sum total of our interactions as humans, including the interactions that we engage in to figure things out and to make things It should be clear that all of these are deeply interconnected. As this class proceeds, we will begin to develop a better picture of the fundamental nature of this interconnection. The field of Science and Technology Studies In this class we will explore the interaction of science, technology and society, especially in the recent past (20th & 21st centuries). • Science and Technology Studies (STS) is a relatively recent discipline, originating in the 60s and 70s, following Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962). STS was the result of a “sociological turn” in science studies. • STS makes the assumption that science and technology are essentially intertwined and that they are each profoundly social and profoundly political. • We will spend some time trying to define science and technology in the next two weeks. • Today, I will try to make the case that science and technology are both social and political. Being critical In this class, we will try to develop a critical stance towards science and technology. This does not mean that we are going to cast them in a negative light, or that we need to develop a dislike for them. -
PHYSICS, PHILOSOPHY and PSYCHOANALYSIS Essays in Honor of Adolf Grilnbaum
PHYSICS, PHILOSOPHY AND PSYCHOANALYSIS Essays in Honor of Adolf Grilnbaum Edited by R. s. COHEN Boston University and L. LAUDAN Virginia Polytechnic Institute D. REIDEL PUBLISHING COMPANY A MEMBER OF THE KLUWER ACADEMIC PUBLISHERS GROUP DORDRECHT I BOSTON I LANCASTER Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Main entry under title: Physics, philosophy, and psychoanalysis. (Boston studies in the philosophy of science; v. 76) Bibliography: p. Includes index. 1. Physics-Philo sophy-Addresses, essays, lectures. 2. Philos- ophy-Addresses, essays, lectures. 3. Psychoanalysis-Addresses, essays;lectures. 4. Griinbaum, Adolf. I. Griinbaum, Adolf. II. Cohen, Robert Sonne. III. Series. Q174.B67 vol. 76 [QC6.21 501s 1530'.011 83-4576 ISBN-I3: 978-94-009-7057-1 e-ISBN-13: 978-94-009-7055-7 DOl: 10.1007/978-94-009-7055-7 Published by D. Reidel Publishing Company, P.O. Box 17,3300 AA Dordrecht, Holland. Sold and distributed in the U.S.A. and Canada by Kluwer Boston Inc., 190 Old Derby Street, Hingham, MA 02043, U.S.A. In all other countries, sold and distributed by Kluwer Academic Publishers Group, P.O. Box 322, 3300 AH Dordrecht, Holland. All Rights Reserved. Copyright © 1983 by D. Reidel Publishing Company, Dordrecht, Holland and copyright holders as specified on appropriate pages within. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 15t edition 1983 No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any informational storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner. -
Intro to Science Studies I
PHIL 209A / SOCG 255A / HIGR 238 / COGR 225A Intro to Science Studies I Fall 2017 Instructor: Kerry McKenzie [email protected] Seminars: Tuesday 9.30-12.20pm, HSS 3027. Office Hours: Wednesday 2-4pm, HSS 8088. 1 Overview. This course is a philosophically slanted introduction to Science Studies. Our central question is a conceptual one, whose relevance to Science Studies should speak for itself – namely, what is science, and what distinguishes science from other fields? In grappling with this question we’ll familiarize ourselves with central works in the philosophy of science canon, and make glancing acquaintance with some more contemporary issues in scientific epistemology and metaphysics. But our guiding motif is a normative one: what, if anything, makes science entitled to the privileged status that it enjoys within culture? In more detail. The ‘question of demarcation’ – that of what, if anything, makes what we call ‘science’ science – was a central preoccupation of many of the major 20th century philosophers of science. While interest in this topic waned after the appearance of Larry Laudan’s ‘Demise of the Demarcation Problem’ in 1983, the question of what separates science from ‘pseudoscience’ is now making something of a comeback. In this course, we will review the approaches to demarcation offered by the philosophers Popper, Kuhn, and Lakatos – all of which serve as concise introductions to the dominant themes of their work as a whole – and then examine some more contemporary approaches more centred on pragmatics and the philosophy of language. We will then consider how homeopathy – for most a pseudoscience par excellence – fares with regard to the criteria we’ll have studied. -
From Fleck's Denkstil to Kuhn's Paradigm: Conceptual Schemes and Incommensurability Babette E
Fordham University Masthead Logo DigitalResearch@Fordham Articles and Chapters in Academic Book Philosophy Collections 2003 From Fleck’s Denkstil to Kuhn’s Paradigm: Conceptual Schemes and Incommensurability Babette Babich Fordham University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://fordham.bepress.com/phil_babich Part of the Continental Philosophy Commons, History of Philosophy Commons, Medicine and Health Commons, Philosophy of Science Commons, and the Sociology of Culture Commons Recommended Citation Babich, Babette, "From Fleck’s Denkstil to Kuhn’s Paradigm: Conceptual Schemes and Incommensurability" (2003). Articles and Chapters in Academic Book Collections. 7. https://fordham.bepress.com/phil_babich/7 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Philosophy at DigitalResearch@Fordham. It has been accepted for inclusion in Articles and Chapters in Academic Book Collections by an authorized administrator of DigitalResearch@Fordham. For more information, please contact [email protected]. This article was downloaded by:[Ingenta Content Distribution] On: 23 December 2007 Access Details: [subscription number 768420433] Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK International Studies in the Philosophy of Science Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t713427740 From Fleck's Denkstil -
Social Empiricism and Science Policy Kristina Rolin and K
Science Studies 2/2008 Social Empiricism and Science Policy Kristina Rolin and K. Brad Wray Miriam Solomon’s Social Empiricism is an exceptional work in contemporary philoso- phy of science in that it aims to contribute to science policy, and not merely to a philo- sophical debate about the social nature of scientifi c knowledge. In an attempt to con- tribute to science policy, Solomon proposes a novel theory of scientifi c rationality. She claims that we should evaluate scientifi c communities on the basis of how well they succeed in distributing research effort, instead of evaluating the reasoning and deci- sion-making of individual scientists. We argue that Solomon’s anti-individualist theory of scientifi c rationality does not provide an adequate account of epistemic responsibil- ity. We argue also that social empiricism fails to be relevant to science policy because science policy makers are not capable of identifying the kind of factors that social em- piricism deems as relevant to science policy. Keywords: philosophy of science, social epistemology, science policy During the last three decades a number ally or collectively (see e.g., Haack, 1996; of scholars in science and technology Rolin, 2002). Philosophers of science studies have challenged philosophy of have responded to concerns about the science by claiming that social values role of social values in the production play a more signifi cant role in the pro- of scientifi c knowledge in a variety of duction of scientifi c knowledge than ways. One response has been to design what philosophers have acknowledged ways to strengthen the methods of sci- (see e.g., Barnes, 1977; Bloor, 1991; Proc- entifi c reasoning in the hope of mini- tor, 1991; Shapin and Schaffer, 1985). -
Reconstructing the Past, Constructing the Present: Can Science Studies and the History of Science Live Happily Ever After?
Reconstructing the past, Constructing the Present: Can Science Studies and the History of Science Live Happily Ever after? Author(s): Sheila Jasanoff Source: Social Studies of Science, Vol. 30, No. 4 (Aug., 2000), pp. 621-631 Published by: Sage Publications, Ltd. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/285783 Accessed: 26-02-2016 19:31 UTC Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/ info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Sage Publications, Ltd. is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Social Studies of Science. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 128.103.149.52 on Fri, 26 Feb 2016 19:31:33 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions sss COMMENT ABSTRACT Historical and contemporary social studies of science and technology have developed an asymmetrical relationship in recent years. While historical research has been regarded as crucial to the project of contemporary theorizing, science studies is still regarded by many as incompatible with history of science's mission of faithfully reconstructing the past. This Comment suggests that the two fields can usefully collaborate in the task of democratizing science and technology. They have in common an interest in making science and technology more transparent, resurrecting vanished actors and voices, representing the hybrid networks of science and society and, not least, educating students about the societal dimensions of science and technology. -
Kuhn's Paradigm of Paradigms: Historical and Epistemological
Max Planck Research Library for the History and Development of Knowledge Proceedings 8 Pietro Daniel Omodeo: Kuhn’s Paradigm of Paradigms: Historical and Epistemological Coordinates of The Copernican Revolution In: Alexander Blum, Kostas Gavroglu, Christian Joas and Jürgen Renn (eds.): Shifting Paradigms : Thomas S. Kuhn and the History of Science Online version at http://edition-open-access.de/proceedings/8/ ISBN 978-3-945561-11-9 First published 2016 by Edition Open Access, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science under Creative Commons by-nc-sa 3.0 Germany Licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/de/ Printed and distributed by: Neopubli GmbH, Berlin http://www.epubli.de/shop/buch/50013 The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de Chapter 5 Kuhn’s Paradigm of Paradigms: Historical and Epistemological Coordinates of The Copernican Revolution Pietro Daniel Omodeo I shall not try to explain here the reasons and causes that produced the spiritual revolution of the sixteenth century. It is for our purpose sufficient to describe it, to describe the mental or intellectual attitude of modern science. Alexandre Koyré (1943) It was a revolution beside which the French Revolution was a child’s play, a world struggle beside which the struggles of the Diadochi ap- pear insignificant. Principles ousted one another, intellectual heroes overthrew each other with unheard-of rapidity […] All this is sup- posed to have taken place in the realm of pure thought. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels (1846) The Historical and Epistemological Centrality of Copernicus for Kuhn The Renaissance astronomer Nicholas Copernicus, his scientific achievement, its impact and the reception of the heliocentric planetary theory occupied a special place in Thomas Kuhn’s reflections on science, both historical and philosophical. -
The Humanist Perspective, in Social Science : the Case of Erich Fromm.
THE HUMANIST PERSPECTIVE, IN SOCIAL SCIENCE: THE CASE OF ERICH FROMM KENNETH 0 ' BRI EN B.A. (Honours) Social Sciences, University of Leicester, England, 1968 M.A., Sociology, Simon Fraser University, 1969 A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in the Department of Pol itical Science, Sociology and Anthropology @ KENNETH O'BRIEN 1972 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY April 1972 APPROVAL I Name : Kenneth 0' Brien Degree : Doctor of Phi 1osophy Title of Di ertation: The Humanist Perspective in Soci a1 Science: The Case of Erich Fromm Examining Committee: Chairman: Gary Rush Ernest Becker Senior Supervisor Karl Peter Heribert Adam Jeral d Zasl ove John ~fiaar External Examiner University of Cal ifornia, Santa Cruz, Cal ifornia Date Approved: L$L3L3A97L I ABSTRACT The dissertation is an examination of Erich Fromm's contribu- tion to humanist social science and a discussion of this contribution. It is suggested that From~n'smajor contribution is not accessible to social scientists in its directly apparent form. As a serious contri- bution to social science the immediately apparent meanings, of Fromm's ideas which are rendered at first reading of his writings, are quite 'deceptive. ' This deceptive quality in Fromm's opus has tended to re- sult in a number of critical articles and books on Fromm which stress his contributions as being that of an ethical philosopher rather than as a social scientist. This type of judgement has serious implications for the present situation whereby Fronun's work is generally regarded to be on the periphery of "institutional ized social science" conceptual- izations and consequently for advancement of the more recent development toward theoretical integration of the various disciplines which come under the rubric of the social sciences (i.e., sociology, social psy- chology, pol itical science and anthropology) .