Theories of Science and Research
1. From Science to Research:
A Historical Introduction
Andrew Jamison
By way of introduction...
Looking for an expression that could capture the
change that has occurred in the last century and a half in the relation
between science and society, I can find no better way than to say that
we have shifted from Science to Research. Science is certainty;
Research is uncertainty. Science is supposed to be cold, straight and
detached; Research is warm, involving and risky. Science puts an end
to the vagaries of human disputes; Research fuels controversies by
more controversies. Science produces objectivity by escaping as
much as possible from the shackles of ideology, passions and
emotions; Research feeds on all of those as so many handles to render
familiar new objects of enquiry .
Bruno Latour (in Science 1998)
What is science?

A part of society (macro level)
• economy, military
• state, civil society
• culture, everyday life

Institutional systems (meso level)
• research, education and dissemination
• technological innovations, product development

Forms of knowledge (micro level)
• theoretical: academic disciplines
• practical: skills, competence
• ethical: values, assessment
The social functions of science

Economic (natural and engineering sciences)
”useful knowledge” (Francis Bacon), artefacts

Social-administrative (social sciences)
”positive knowledge” (August Comte), facts

Cultural-spiritual (human sciences)
”enlightenment” (Immanuel Kant), ideas
Natural and engineering sciences

forces of production, weapons of destruction

motors of economic growth and development

sources of competition and competitiveness

intellectual property and commodities
Uses of the social sciences

sources of advice for policy making

a basis of administrative expertise and competence

elements of organizational management

tools for dealing with, or solving social problems
The humanities in society

public education, or cultivation (bildung, bildning)

elements in ethical-political debates

sources of cultural, or ethnic identity

a basis for democratic theory and practice
Scientific institutions

Research and educational systems


Innovation and business systems


universities, academic institutions
companies, commercial institutions
Communication and dissemination systems

journals, media(ting) institutions
The research system

a tradition of ”academic community”

relative autonomy, or independence

internal procedures of accountability

peer-review quality assessment
Systems of innovation

business firms and commercial networks

dependence on sponsorship

external criteria of problem selection

economic forms of assessment
Forms of scientific knowledge

Theoretical-philosophical (episteme) ”know why”


Practical-technical (techne) ”know how”


explanation, logical, or deductive rationality
understanding: instrumental, or inductive rationality
Ethical-political (fronesis) ”know what”

reason: communicative, or moral rationality
Science as theory

logical methods of argumentation

abstract (cause-effect) rationality

search for explanatory laws

a realist, or factual notion of truth
Science as practice

experimental methods of discovery

instrumental (means-ends) rationality

search for workable tools and instruments

a constructivist, or artefactual notion of truth
Science as ethics

reflective methods of judgment

communicative (values-action) rationality

search for reasonable ways of living

a pragmatic, or social notion of truth
A Brief History of Science



Ancient, or Traditional wisdom, up to about 1600

spiritual knowledge, distinctive regional modes

gap between theory (episteme) and practice (techne)
Modern, or Western science, from about 1660 to 1980

instrumental, rational, universal knowledge

functional interdependence of science and technology
Global, or Technoscience, from about 1980

multiple forms of knowledge, commercial networks of innovation

combinations of science and technology
What was science in ancient
civilizations?

As a part of society (macro level)
• primarily used for purposes of conquest
• expert advice to imperial authorities
• separate cultures of ”wise men” and technicians

Institutional systems (meso level)
• largely informal education and research systems
• linked to infrastructural maintenance and social control

Forms of knowledge (micro level)
• (theo)logical theories
• embodied, artisanal practical knowledge
• personalized ethical-religious wisdom
What was science in the 17th century?

As a part of society
• providing ”intelligence” and expertise for monarchs
• oriented toward mining, navigation, warfare
• an emerging ideology for a new ”class”

Institutional systems
• academies of science, state laboratories
• trade and commerce (e.g. East India companies)

Forms of knowledge
• analytical and mathematical theories
• experimental and observational practices
• utilitarian ethics (”the protestant ethic”)
What is (techno)science today?

As a part of society

basic administrative tools
direct productive – and destructive - force

dominant ideology, or cultural belief system


Institutional systems



integration of research and education: ”higher education”
symbiosis of technology and science: ”systems of innovation”
Forms of knowledge

complex and diverse theories

hybrid, collaborative forms of practice
ethical relativism and pluralism

An Age of Technoscience

blurring discursive boundaries


breaking down institutional borders


between science (episteme) and technology (techne)
between public and private, economic and academic
mixing skills and knowledge

across faculties, disciplines, and societal domains
Theories of Science and Research
2. The Emergence of
Western Science
Andrew Jamison
The Making of Modern Science
From the Reformation…
to the “scientific revolution”
reform of society
reform of philosophy
visionary, utopian
realistic, pragmatic
decentralized organization
(central) academy
technical improvements
scientific development
informal communication
formal publications
The Economic Story-Line

The agricultural revolution, ca 600-900

The urban migration and growth of towns

The industrial revolution of the 12th century

Exploration and international trade

Mining and the rise of capitalism
From Arnold Pacey,
The Maze of Ingenuity
The Cultural Story Line

A religion of the book, a supernatural God

Separation of nature and humanity

Monasticism and labor discipline

The rediscovery of ancient wisdom

A magical belief-system and sense of wonder

The hybrid imagination of the Renaissance
The ”Cathedral Crusade”
The influence of technology

Agricultural innovations (heavy plough)

Military innovations (guns and sails)

Regulation of time (mechanical clocks)

The Asian connection (compass, windmills)

Invention of printing
Johan Gutenberg and
his Bible
”Like any other extension
of man, typography had
psychic and social
consequences that
suddenly shifted
previous boundaries and
patterns of culture.”
Marshall McLuhan,
Understanding Media
(1964: 186)
Modern Science as Cultural Appropriation

At the discursive level:
• A mechanical philosophy, or world-view
• A language of mathematics

At the institutional level:
• Media of communication
• Academic organizations

At the practical level:
• Technical applications
• Experiments, instruments and methods
At the discursive level...
Francis Bacon (1561-1626):
”Human knowledge and human
power meet in one; for where
the cause is not known the
effect cannot be produced.
Nature to be commanded must
be obeyed...”
At the institutional level...
Gresham College in London, where the
Royal Society first met in 1660 – and
where the first scientific ”journal” was
published in 1666
At the practical level...
Robert Hooke and his microscope
Robert Boyle and his air pump
Modern Scientific Knowledge
Instrumental
”a rationality of means” (Weber)
Experimental
”logic of discovery” (Popper)
Systematic
”the order of things” (Foucault)
Reductionist
”one-dimensional thought” (Marcuse)
Objectifying
”the death of nature” (Merchant)
Futuristic
”the myth of progress” (von Wright)
Quantitative
”the measure of reality” (Crosby)
Modern Science as Hubris

scientism, or scientific rationalism:


positivism, or logical empiricism:


science as a new (secular) religion
science as superior to other ways of knowing
universalism, or cultural imperialism:

Western science as valid everywhere
Modern Science as Hybrids

Hybrid identities:

artist-engineers (e.g. Leonardo da Vinci)

scholar-craftsmen (e.g. Tycho Brahe)

Connecting episteme (theory) and techne (practice)

An experimental culture, or way of life

Meeting place between thinking and doing

Mixing ideas and action
The hybrid imagination 1

The ”Renaissance Men”: Leonardo and co.

Artists and engineers in combination

Humanism combined with magic

Leads to the invention of experimentation

A kind of collective creativity

A new vision of humanity: homo faber, man the maker
Leonardo da Vinci:
The artist-engineer
The hybrid imagination 2

Scholars and craftsmen in combination

e.g. Paracelsus, Tycho Brahe, Galileo, Huygens

Inspired by Luther and ”Protestant Ethic”

Connected theory to observation

Leads to the invention of modern science

A new vision for humanity: secular enlightenment
Tycho Brahe:
The scholarcraftsman
Christiaan Huygens
1629-1695
”The world is my country,
Science is my religion”
His pendulum clock
his telescopic
equipment
...and onto the enlightenment:
Denis Diderot and his encyclopedia