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Scientific community: formulations and critique of a sociological motif.

Authors :
Jacobs, Struan
Source :
British Journal of Sociology. Jun87, Vol. 38 Issue 2, p266-276. 11p.
Publication Year :
1987

Abstract

The article traces the career of the concept scientific community through three discernible stages. The formative stages is presented by Ludwik Fleck's Genesis and Development of a Scientific Fact. It was learned that one of the early expositions of the theme that scientific knowledge is socially conditioned, Fleck's work revolves around the correlative concepts of thought collective and thought style. Thomas Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, was discussed. Stage three in the career of the concept scientific community is marked by criticism and the development of alternative models. During the 1960s and 70s, the view prevailed among metascientists that scientific knowledge is produced by communities of specialists. In the works of leading contemporary philosophers of science, as in many historical studies, the existence of scientific communities was assumed without question or argument. Kuhn's paper represents a watershed in the histories of both the concept itself and the entire discipline of sociology of science. Social integration in science was considered a result of a consensus about strategic norms or standards. Findings on the examination of the concept scientific community through the related works of Kuhn and Fleck, the Polish scientist and scientist knowledge, was presented.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
00071315
Volume :
38
Issue :
2
Database :
Academic Search Index
Journal :
British Journal of Sociology
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
6789215
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.2307/590536