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Science and Society

Studies in the Sociology of Science

  • Book
  • © 1981

Overview

Authors:
  1. Joseph Agassi

    1. Boston University, USA
      Tel-Aviv University, Israel

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Part of the book series: Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science (BSPS, volume 65)

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Table of contents (34 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xxi
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Introduction: Science in Its Social Setting

    • Joseph Agassi
    Pages 1-17

  3. The Present State of the Philosophy of Science

    • Joseph Agassi
    Pages 18-32

  4. Was Wittgenstein Really Necessary?

    • Joseph Agassi
    Pages 33-44

  5. Epistemology as an Aid to Science

    • Joseph Agassi
    Pages 45-54

  6. Externalism

    • Joseph Agassi
    Pages 55-67

  7. The Autonomy of Science

    • Joseph Agassi
    Pages 68-76

  8. The Legitimation of Science

    • Joseph Agassi
    Pages 77-84

  9. Sociologism in Philosophy of Science

    • Joseph Agassi
    Pages 85-103

  10. Revolutions in Science, Occasional or Permanent?

    • Joseph Agassi
    Pages 104-118

  11. Cultural Lag in Science

    • Joseph Agassi
    Pages 119-131

  12. Storage and Communication of Knowledge

    • Joseph Agassi
    Pages 132-141

  13. The Economics of Scientific Publications

    • Joseph Agassi
    Pages 142-155

  14. Revising the Referee System

    • Joseph Agassi
    Pages 156-163

  15. Scientific Schools and Their Success

    • Joseph Agassi
    Pages 164-191

  16. Genius in Science

    • Joseph Agassi
    Pages 192-209

  17. Scientists as Sleepwalkers

    • Joseph Agassi
    Pages 210-222

  18. The Logic of Scientific Inquiry

    • Joseph Agassi
    Pages 223-238

  19. The Choice of Scientific Problems

    • Joseph Agassi
    Pages 239-252

  20. Between Metaphysics and Methodology

    • Joseph Agassi
    Pages 253-261
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Keywords

About this book

"If a science has to be supported by fraudulent means, let it perish. " With these words of Kepler, Agassi plunges into the actual troubles and glories of science (321). The SOciology of science is no foreign intruder upon scientific knowledge in these essays, for we see clearly how Agassi transforms the tired internalistJexternalist debate about the causal influences in the history of science. The social character of the entire intertwined epistemological and practical natures of the sciences is intrinsic to science and itself split: the internal sociology within science, the external sociology of the social setting without. Agassi sees these social matters in the small as well as the large: from the details of scientific communication, changing publishing as he thinks to 'on-demand' centralism with less waste (Ch. 12), to the colossal tension of romanticism and rationality in the sweep of historical cultures. Agassi is a moral and political philosopher of science, defending, dis­ turbing, comprehending, criticizing. For him, science in a society requires confrontation, again and again, with issues of autonomy vs. legitimation as the central problem of democracy. And furthermore, devotion to science, pace Popper, Polanyi, and Weber, carries preoccupational dangers: Popper's elitist rooting out of 'pseudo-science', Weber's hard-working obsessive . com­ mitment to science. See Agassi's Weberian gloss on the social psychology of science in his provocative 'picture of the scientist as maniac' (437).

Authors and Affiliations

  • Boston University, USA

    Joseph Agassi

  • Tel-Aviv University, Israel

    Joseph Agassi

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Science and Society

  • Book Subtitle: Studies in the Sociology of Science

  • Authors: Joseph Agassi

  • Series Title: Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-6456-6

  • Publisher: Springer Dordrecht

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

  • Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 1981

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-94-011-6458-0Published: 16 June 2012

  • eBook ISBN: 978-94-011-6456-6Published: 06 December 2012

  • Series ISSN: 0068-0346

  • Series E-ISSN: 2214-7942

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XXII, 536

  • Number of Illustrations: 1 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: Science, Humanities and Social Sciences, multidisciplinary

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