"Longino's integrative account of knowledge represents a significant advance in our understanding of the
interaction of the cognitive and the social dimensions of knowledge. It is a substantial contribution--the most
thoughtful and sophisticated attempt thus far."
--Richard Grandy, Rice University
"This is the first compelling diagnosis of what has gone awry in the raging 'science wars.' Rising above both
sides to see what each can contribute, it presents a powerful constructive account of how to overcome the dichotomy
between those who see science as rational and those who see it as the product of social forces. It offers a novel
account of knowledge that accommodates the concerns of both philosophers and sociologists. Finally, it contributes
to the development of pluralistic theories of science by demonstrating the varieties of pluralism exhibited by
actual instances of scientific theorizing."
--Elizabeth Anderson, University of Michigan
Publisher Web Site, August, 2003
Summary
Helen Longino seeks to break the current deadlock in the ongoing wars between philosophers of science and sociologists
of science--academic battles founded on disagreement about the role of social forces in constructing scientific
knowledge. While many philosophers of science downplay social forces, claiming that scientific knowledge is best
considered as a product of cognitive processes, sociologists tend to argue that numerous noncognitive factors influence
what scientists learn, how they package it, and how readily it is accepted. Underlying this disagreement, however,
is a common assumption that social forces are a source of bias and irrationality. Longino challenges this assumption,
arguing that social interaction actually assists us in securing firm, rationally based knowledge. This important
insight allows her to develop a durable and novel account of scientific knowledge that integrates the social and
cognitive.
Longino begins with a detailed discussion of a wide range of contemporary thinkers who write on scientific knowledge,
clarifying the philosophical points at issue. She then critically analyzes the dichotomous understanding of the
rational and the social that characterizes both sides of the science studies stalemate and the social account that
she sees as necessary for an epistemology of science that includes the full spectrum of cognitive processes. Throughout,
her account is responsive both to the normative uses of the term knowledge and to the social conditions in which
scientific knowledge is produced.
Building on ideas first advanced in her influential book Science as Social Knowledge, Longino brings her account
into dialogue with current work in social epistemology and science studies and shows how her critical social approach
can help solve a variety of stubborn problems. While the book focuses on epistemological concerns related to the
sociality of inquiry, Longino also takes up its implications for scientific pluralism. The social approach, she
concludes, best allows us to retain a meaningful concept of knowledge in the face of theoretical plurality and
uncertainty.
Table of Contents
Preface and Acknowledgments ix
Chapter One: Introduction: The Rational-Social Dichotomy
Chapter Two: Taking Social Studies of Science Seriously
Chapter Three: The Philosophers Respond
Chapter Four: Disassembling the Rational-Social Dichotomy
Chapter Five: Socializing Cognition
Chapter Six: Socializing Knowledge
Chapter Seven: Clarifications and Responses
Chapter Eight: Pluralism and Local Epistemolgies
Chapter Nine: Conclusion