Sociology of Science

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The sociology of science studies science as a social institution and focuses on scientists as a social group, as well as on their interaction with other social groups.

Overlap

This special sociology partially overlaps with the sociology of knowledge (which, in addition to scientific knowledge , also deals with everyday knowledge , religion , world views , ideologies , utopias , mysticism, etc.). The sociology of science is to investigate the focal points of the individual scientific areas and their significance for social progress as well as the functioning of the sciences themselves. As scientific standards and rhetoric are increasingly dominant due to the rationalization and scientification of the lifeworld , institutions and society , the sociology of science developed into a major branch of research in sociology.

object

The sociology of science deals with

  • the social conditions of scientific and technical progress ,
  • the social differentiation as well as the internal differentiation of the scientific system,
  • the relationships between people and scientific objects,
  • the internal scientific or ideological social norms that the scientists follow,
  • the mechanisms of reputation attribution to academic achievements as well
  • the practice of scientific knowledge production (in all scientific disciplines).

As a sub-discipline of sociology, the sociology of science illuminates the effects of political decisions, economic framework conditions and incentives as well as communication widespread in the mass media on the actions and expectations of scientists. One branch of the sociology of science is feminist philosophy of science .

The interplay of internal and external dynamics also has an impact on epistemology : If one follows the “radical” program ( strong program ) of the sociology of science, research appears as a unique social process; The production of “hard” scientific knowledge ( natural science ), constructed by the researchers in the context of the action “ laboratory ”, is examined for its social constitutional conditions, that is, for its embedding in practical contexts.

literature

Introductions

  • Walter L. Bühl : Introduction to the Sociology of Science . CH Beck: Munich 1974.
  • Massimiano Bucchi: Science in Society. An introduction to the sociology . Routledge, London 2004, ISBN 0-415-32200-6 .
  • Matthew David: Science in society . Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke 2005, ISBN 0-333-99348-9 (Very good introduction with case studies; true to his program of "reflexive epistemological diversity", David explains the main paradigms; the strong program of the Edinburgh School, the discourse-analytical-ethnographic, the Marxist and feminist approaches, their similarities and divergences, possible combinations and the political context).
  • Peter Weingart : Sociology of Science . transcript Verlag, Bielefeld 2003, ISBN 3-933127-37-8 .

"Classic"

  • Boris Hessen : The Social and Economic Roots of Newton 's Principia . Done Publ., New York 1931.
  • Ludwik Fleck : Origin and Development of a Scientific Fact. Introduction to the teaching of thinking style and thinking collective . Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt / M. 2008, ISBN 978-3-518-27912-0 (reprint of the Basel 1935 edition).
  • Thomas S. Kuhn : The Structure of Scientific Revolutions ("The Structure of Scientific Revolutions", 1962). Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt / M. 2008 [German first 1967], ISBN 978-3-518-27625-9 .
  • Robert K. Merton : Development and Change of Research Interests. Essays on the sociology of science ("The Sociology of Science"). Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt / M. 1985, ISBN 3-518-57710-7 .
  • Talcott Parsons , Gerald M. Platt: The American University. A contribution to the sociology of knowledge ("The American University"). Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt / M. 1990, ISBN 3-518-57899-5 .
  • Pierre Bourdieu : The specificity of the scientific field and the social conditions of the progress of reason . In: Social Science Information . Vol. 14, 1975, pp. 19-47.
  • Bruno Latour , Steve Woolgar : Laboratory Life. The social construction of scientific facts . Sage Publ., Beverly Hills, Calif. 1979, ISBN 0-8039-0993-4 .
  • Karin Knorr-Cetina : The Fabrication of Knowledge. On the anthropology of natural science ("The manufacture of knowledge"). Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt / M. 1984, ISBN 3-518-58007-8 .
  • Sandra Harding : Feminist philosophy of science. On the relationship between science and gender . Argument-Verlag, Hamburg 1999, ISBN 3-88619-384-5 .

more books

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Carl Friedrich Gethmann in: Enzyklopädie Philosophie und Wissenschaftstheorie , Vol. 4, 1996, p. 732.
  2. ↑ Georgi Schischkoff (ed.): Philosophical dictionary. Alfred Kröner, Stuttgart 14th edition 1982, ISBN 3-520-01321-5 , p. 760.