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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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References

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,

K.

2014

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The Dangers and Promises of Comparative History of Science

.”

Sartoniana

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:

13

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44

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A. C.

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Styles of Scientific Thinking in the European Tradition: The History of Argument and Explanation Especially in the Mathematical and Biomedical Sciences and Arts

.

London

:

Duckworth

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Crombie

,

A. C.

1995

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Commitments and Styles of European Scientific Thinking

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History of Science

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225

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Culturalism: Culture as Political Ideology

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Entstehung und Entwicklung einer wissenschaftlichen Tatsache: Einführung in die Lehre vom Denkstil und Denkkollektiv

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Benno Schwabe

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The Genesis and Development of a Scientific Fact

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and

Merton

R. K.

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University of Chicago Press

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Introduction: The Context of Disunity

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The Disunity of Science: Boundaries, Context, and Power

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Oxford

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‘Style’ for Historians and Philosophers

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Studies in History and Philosophy of Science

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(

1

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–

20

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Hacking

,

I.

2012

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‘Language, Truth and Reason’ Thirty Years Later

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Studies in History and Philosophy of Science

43

:

599

–

609

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Keller

,

E. F.

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Making Sense of Life: Explaining Biological Development with Models, Metaphors, and Machines

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Cambridge, MA

:

Harvard University Press

.

Knorr Cetina

,

K.

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Epistemic Cultures: How the Sciences Make Knowledge

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Cambridge, MA

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Culture in Global Knowledge Societies: Knowledge Cultures and Epistemic Cultures

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Hanrahan

N. W.

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65

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Oxford

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Kowalenko

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Styles of Scientific Thinking Can Kill

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Wanderer

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,

8

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10

.

Cape Town

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University of Cape Town

.

Accessed July 29, 2015. http://www.cilt.uct.ac.za/sites/default/files/image_tool/images/160/Conference%20abstracts.pdf

.

Kuhn

,

T.

1962

.

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

.

Chicago

:

University of Chicago Press

.

Kuhn

,

T.

1970

.

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

. 2nd ed., with postscript.

Chicago

:

University of Chicago Press

.

Petitjean

,

P.

, and

Domingues

H. M. B.

.

2007

. “

1947–1950: Quand l’Unesco a cherché à se démarquer des histoires européocentristes

.”

halshs-00166355. Accessed June 15, 2016. http://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00166355/document

.

Rheinberger

,

H.-J.

1997

.

Toward a History of Epistemic Things: Synthesizing Proteins in the Test Tube

.

Stanford, CA

:

Stanford University Press

.

Said

,

E. W.

1978

.

Orientalism

.

London

:

Routledge and Kegan Paul

.

Figures & Tables

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

References

Chemla

,

K.

2014

. “

The Dangers and Promises of Comparative History of Science

.”

Sartoniana

27

:

13

–

44

.

Available at http://www.sartonchair.ugent.be/file/288

.

Cohen

,

R. S.

, and

Schnelle

T.

.

1986

.

Cognition and Fact: Materials on Ludwik Fleck

.

Dordrecht

:

Kluwer

.

Crombie

,

A. C.

1994

.

Styles of Scientific Thinking in the European Tradition: The History of Argument and Explanation Especially in the Mathematical and Biomedical Sciences and Arts

.

London

:

Duckworth

.

Crombie

,

A. C.

1995

. “

Commitments and Styles of European Scientific Thinking

.”

History of Science

33

:

225

–

238

.

Eriksen

,

J.-M.

, and

Stjernfelt

F.

.

2009

. “

Culturalism: Culture as Political Ideology

.”

Eurozine

,

January

9

.

Accessed January 25, 2016. http://www.eurozine.com/articles/2009-01-09-eriksenstjernfelt-en.html

.

Fleck

,

L.

1935

.

Entstehung und Entwicklung einer wissenschaftlichen Tatsache: Einführung in die Lehre vom Denkstil und Denkkollektiv

.

Basel

:

Benno Schwabe

.

Fleck

,

L.

1979

.

The Genesis and Development of a Scientific Fact

.

Foreword by Thomas Kuhn

. Translated by

Trenn

T. J.

and

Merton

R. K.

.

Chicago

:

University of Chicago Press

.

Galison

,

P.

1996

. “

Introduction: The Context of Disunity

.” In

The Disunity of Science: Boundaries, Context, and Power

, ed.

Galison

P.

and

Stump

D. J.

,

1

–

33

.

Palo Alto, CA

:

Stanford University Press

.

Galison

,

P.

, and

Stump

D. J.

.

1996

.

The Disunity of Science: Boundaries, Context, and Power

.

Palo Alto, CA

:

Stanford University Press

.

Geertz

,

C.

2000

.

Available Light: Anthropological Reflections on Philosophical Topics

.

Princeton, NJ

:

Princeton University Press

.

Hacking

,

I.

1982

. “

Language, Truth and Reason

.” In

Rationality and Relativism

, ed.

Hollis

M.

and

Lukes

S.

,

48

–

66

.

Oxford

:

Blackwell

.

Hacking

,

I.

1992

. “

‘Style’ for Historians and Philosophers

.”

Studies in History and Philosophy of Science

23

(

1

):

1

–

20

.

Hacking

,

I.

2012

. “

‘Language, Truth and Reason’ Thirty Years Later

.”

Studies in History and Philosophy of Science

43

:

599

–

609

.

Keller

,

E. F.

2002

.

Making Sense of Life: Explaining Biological Development with Models, Metaphors, and Machines

.

Cambridge, MA

:

Harvard University Press

.

Knorr Cetina

,

K.

1999

.

Epistemic Cultures: How the Sciences Make Knowledge

.

Cambridge, MA

:

Harvard University Press

.

Knorr Cetina

,

K.

2005

. “

Culture in Global Knowledge Societies: Knowledge Cultures and Epistemic Cultures

.” In

The Blackwell Companion to the Sociology of Culture

, ed.

Jacobs

M. D.

and

Hanrahan

N. W.

,

65

–

79

.

Oxford

:

Blackwell

.

Kowalenko

,

R.

2011

. “

Styles of Scientific Thinking Can Kill

.” In

Two-Day Workshop “On Hacking’s ‘Style(s) of Thinking,’”

ed.

Ritchie

J.

and

Wanderer

J.

,

8

–

10

.

Cape Town

:

University of Cape Town

.

Accessed July 29, 2015. http://www.cilt.uct.ac.za/sites/default/files/image_tool/images/160/Conference%20abstracts.pdf

.

Kuhn

,

T.

1962

.

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

.

Chicago

:

University of Chicago Press

.

Kuhn

,

T.

1970

.

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

. 2nd ed., with postscript.

Chicago

:

University of Chicago Press

.

Petitjean

,

P.

, and

Domingues

H. M. B.

.

2007

. “

1947–1950: Quand l’Unesco a cherché à se démarquer des histoires européocentristes

.”

halshs-00166355. Accessed June 15, 2016. http://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00166355/document

.

Rheinberger

,

H.-J.

1997

.

Toward a History of Epistemic Things: Synthesizing Proteins in the Test Tube

.

Stanford, CA

:

Stanford University Press

.

Said

,

E. W.

1978

.

Orientalism

.

London

:

Routledge and Kegan Paul

.