Understanding Historical and Sociological Sensibilities in Science and Society

1. Todays lecture • Historical sensibilities I: The issue of change • Historical sensibilities II: The issue of social, political and cultural factors • Sociological sensibilities: The issue of how science works

2. History of science and ideas • Founded in 1936 • Presented as an answer to the problem of the two cultures in the 1950s and 1960s • Today oriented towards new questions of how to understand science on different levelss

3. Historical sensibilities I: The issue of change • The scientific revolution: - Coherent event in the 17th century - Mechanization of the universe - Challenge against aristotelian philosophy - Optimism of the possibilities of obtaining knowledge - Modern empiricism, ideas about scientific methods

4. Historical sensibilities I:The issue of change • Thomas Kuhn - Normal science in paradigms - Anomalies occur, constitutes a crisis for the paradigm - A scientific revolution has occured - Different paradigms are incommensurable, cannot communicate

5. Historical sensibilities II – social, political, cultural and organisational factors

6. Historical sensibilities II:Twentieth century genetics • The political roots of science • The importance of organisational forms – big science means certain questions • The importance of predictions of future science – takes on cultural forms.

7. Historical sensibilities II: Science and society • Natural sciences gained more resources during the 20th century • Allocation of resources from national, political and economic resources • Science under governmental planning: science could produce technological progress • A new class of professional experts • Science became visible in the cultural debate

8. Historical sensibilities II:Some institutional aspects • The bonds between science and society got stronger • Scientific professionals replaced amateurs • Professional associations, journals, meetings, standardized education • New disciplines: geology, biology, physiology • A rapid industrialisation and urbanisation • Modern national states • A national science policy in the 1930s

9. Historical sensibilities II: Science and society - summary • Society gained influence over science and science gained influence over society • The overarching argument was that science was a productive force • Scientific institutionalisation was a product of the modern national states

10. Sociological sensibilities: The issue of how science works

11. Common roots and features in Science and Technology Studies • The protest movements of the 1960s • Constructivism • Critique of linear models and of technological determinism

12. The flaws of technological determinism ¤ A bad model for historic change: disregards a lot of important things. ¤ Isolates technology from human actions ¤ Misrepresents the relationship between science and technology ¤ Misrepresents the relationship between technology and industry

13. General themes in Science and Technology Studies • Critical view of what is being studied • Assumes a position outside of science and sees it as an activity among others • Denies the isolation of science and technology from each other – speaks of a seamless web • Guided by a willingness to place science and technology in a broader social and historical context

14. Sociology of science • Social processes explain phenomena • Why social groups hold scientific beliefs • Studies controversies • Does not study psychological processes, genious or ”right” or ”wrong”

15. The Golem • Discusses how normal science evolves through uncertainties and controversies • Sociological in scope: human action, interaction and negotiations • Messiness of experiments – experimenters regress • Controversies die away quietly