Sociology of Scientific Knowledge
week 5
Economic
Methodology
From observation to scientific fact
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Objective connotation
Subjective connotation
Intersubjective
connotation
Richard Butler’s Triangle of
Relationships in Social Inquiry
Investigation of ...
Context of Discovery
Context of Justification
Eureka!
Research results
The sociological shift
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Traditional philosophy of science focuses on the rules
of proper scientific method and such things as logic,
truth, role of assumptions, use of evidence, etc. that
influence acceptance and rejection of theories
Sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK) puts all of this
aside, and focuses on the sociological behavior of
scientists in terms of their motives and interests as
members of communities of scientists to understand
their acceptance or rejection of theories
Kuhn’s influence
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The implication of Kuhn’s work is that scientists make
decisions about science for reasons they are unaware
of
There is a disconnect between what they believe and
the reasons for their beliefs
Before Kuhn it was believed social factors influenced
the conditions under science was practiced, but did not
influence the content of science
Kuhn’s emphasis on ‘world views’ changes this
Robert Merton
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The Sociology of
Science (1973)
Focus is the social or
cultural preconditions for
empirical science
These values traceable
to values of ascetic
Protestantism of 17th
century Europe
4 defining norms of science
(CUDOS)
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Communism (= communalism) the common ownership of
scientific discoveries, according to which scientists give up
intellectual property rights in exchange for recognition and esteem
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Disinterestedness according to which scientists are
rewarded for acting in ways that outwardly appear to be selfless
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Universalism according to which claims to truth are evaluated
in terms of universal or impersonal criteria, and not on the basis of
race, class, gender, religion, or nationality
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Organized skepticism all ideas must be tested and are
subject to rigorous, structured community scrutiny
Naturalistic Turn
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Investigation of practice itself
Positive Philosophy
Scientific practice is investigated like nature is
investigated by scientists
The Edinburgh School ‘strong
programme’
Starting point is a ‘naturalistic’ approach to
scientific knowledge; scientists are to be
investigated just as we would any other natural
phenomena
4 principles
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Causality: it examines the conditions
(psychological, social, and cultural) that bring
about claims to a certain kind of knowledge.
Impartiality: it examines successful as well as
unsuccessful knowledge claims.
Symmetry: the same types of explanations are
used for successful and unsuccessful
knowledge claims alike.
Reflexivity: it must be applicable to sociology
itself.
The Edinburgh School ‘strong
programme’
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One specific approach to explaining scientific beliefs:
beliefs are explained in terms of the social interests of
scientists
Scientists’ social interests are based on their particular
place in the overall pattern of social relationships:
personal, group, professional, class, national, etc.
Empirical in orientation; knowledge is what scientists
take it to be, not what philosophers say it is
Bruno Latour
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(with Steve Woolgar)
Laboratory Life: The
(Social) Construction of
Scientific Facts (1979)
Science in Action: How
to Follow Scientists and
Engineers through
Society (1987)
Opening Pandora's Black Box
Left face: ready-made
science
Right face: science in the
making
Laboratory studies approach
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Focus: the daily practices of scientists in their
laboratories or worksites and how their theories reflect
their nature of their practical activity
An ethnographical approach
Micro-social in emphasis, and based on case studies
Social constructionist perspective:
– explanations are highly detailed and contextual, and
so are ‘constructed’ around what gets emphasis
– the world is a consequence rather than a cause of
science, and nature has little to do with science
Philosophical problems: relativism
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Epistemological relativism: ‘truth’ and ‘knowledge’ are
relative to specific societies and historical
circumstances
Empirical foundationalism: scientific laws based on
evidence have ‘incorrigible’ foundations
Theory-ladenness of observations: theories can never
be tested by evidence because evidence presupposes
those theories
Is theory always relative to context and history?
Economics and SSK
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Economics of science (ES): study of economic
factors that influence the conditions under
which science is practiced, but which do not
influence the content of science; called the ‘old’
economics of science
Economics of scientific knowledge (ESK): the
application of economic models to the
determination of scientists’ beliefs; called the
‘new’ economics of science
ES: Science policy
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Application of the standard tools of welfare economics,
externalities, and public goods to determine the optimal
level of scientific research
Two views of basic scientific research:
– creates positive externalities and underproduced in
competitive markets
– is a pure public good
Recommended policy:
– Government should subsidize basic scientific
research
– Patents/property rights allow recovery of positive
spillovers
ESK: The Dasgupta and David
model
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‘open science’: a system of social organization
which makes scientific results available as
quickly as possible
openness is incentive-compatible with a reward
system based on self-interest
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Rewards depend on priority of discoveries
Discoveries must be made public to provide credit
Credit only for reliable and sound discoveries
Compensation should favor competition winner
ESK: Kitcher
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Social epistemology: science is organized socially, so
scientific standards are social ones
Goal: increase the ratio of reliable beliefs to total
beliefs in the population
Means: arrange social institutions in most epistemically
efficient way possible
Principle: knowledge is promoted by cognitive diversity,
or through competition
Model: industrial organization of cognitive labor
SSK and ESK
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Sociological approaches rather than
psychological approaches
What are the psychological mechanisms that
influence beliefs and scientists’ interaction?
What are the forms of communication between
scientists?
How do scientists influence one another?