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Cultures without Culturalism: The Making of Scientific Knowledge

Cultures without Culturalism: The Making of Scientific Knowledge

Edited by

Duke University Press

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822373094

Copyright:

This content is made freely available by the publisher. It may not be redistributed or altered. All rights reserved.

ISBN electronic:

978-0-8223-7309-4

Publication date:

2017

Book Chapter

Introduction

By

Karine Chemla

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;

Evelyn Fox Keller

Evelyn Fox Keller

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Doi:

https://doi.org/10.1215/9780822373094-001

Published:

March 2017

This content is made freely available by the publisher. It may not be redistributed or altered. All rights reserved.

The introduction presents the key questions the book addresses and draws on its chapters to outline an approach to cultural diversity in scientific practice. It begins by laying out both the attractions of invoking a concept of culture in studies of science and the main difficulties that often arise as a result. It then focuses on the constituent elements and features of cultures that appear essential to characterize a given way of carrying out scientific activities. A more global approach is subsequently introduced to illustrate the variations in scale at which analysis must be conducted. Finally, the introduction outlines what is at stake for the history and philosophy of science in considering cultural diversity. It emphasizes in particular the historiographic implications of identifying multiple scientific cultures, both synchronically and diachronically.

culturalism, constituent elements and features of scientific cultures, culture as a problematic concept, diachronic and synchronic variations

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