Objectivity, Science and Society: Interpreting nature and society in the age of the crisis of science

467 Pages·2008·29.096 MB·English

by  Paul A Komesaroff

ROUTLEDGE LIBRARY EDITIONS: HISTORY

AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE

OBJECTIVITY, SCIENCE AND

SOCIETY
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OBJECTIVITY, SCIENCE AND
SOCIETY
Interpreting Nature and Society in the Age of
the Crisis of Science
PAUL A. KOMESAROFF
Volume 18
First published in 1986
This edition first published in 2009 by
Routledge
2Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa
business
©1986 Paul A. Komesaroff
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented,
including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Acatalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Acatalog record for this book has been requested
First issued in paperback 2013
ISBN 13: 978-0-415-84907-4 (pbk)
ISBN 13: 978-0-415-42029-7 (Set)
ISBN 13: 978-0-415-47487-0 (Volume 18)
Publisher’sNote
The Publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this
reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original copies
may be apparent.
Disclaimer
The Publishers have made every effort to trace copyright holders and
would welcome correspondence from those they have been unable to
contact.
OBJECTIVITY, SCIENCE
AND SOCIETY
INTERPRETING NATURE AND SOCIETY
IN THE AGE OF THE CRISIS OF SCIENCE
Paul A. Komesaroff
ROUTLEDGE & KEGAN PAUL
LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published in 1986
by Routledge & Kegan Paul pic
11 New Fetter Lane. London EC4P 4EE
Published in the USA by Routledge & Kegan Paul Inc.
in association with Methuen Inc.
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
Set in 10 on llpt Monophoto Times
and printed in Great Britain
by Butler & Tanner Ltd. Frome and London
© Paul A. Komesaroff 1986
No part of this book may be reproduced in
any form without permission from the publisher,
except for the quotation of briefp assages
in criticism
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Komesaroff, Paul A.
Objectivity, science, and society.
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. Science--Philosophy. 2. Science-- Social aspects.
3. Objectivity. I. Title.
Q175.K651986 306'.45 85-25739
British Library CIP Data also available
ISBNO-7102-038J 0
Contents
Preface VB
Acknowledgments
X
Part I
The sociology of science: Issues and hypotheses, orientations
and disorientations
Antecedents: Science and society; objectivism; some
philosophical issues 3
2 The contemporary sociology of science: A source of
problems and possibilities 31
3 The philosophy of science and social theory: The
contemporary debates 57
Part II
Husserl: Insights and dilemmas
4 Husserl's Formal and Transcendental Logic: The
phenomenological account of the structure of science 103
5 Husserl's Crisis of European Sciences: Science and the
social world 142
Part III
Objectivist science and capitalism: The possibility of
non-objectivist science
6 Objectivity and capitalism: The theory of fetishism 173
7 Relativity theory and philosophy 207
v
CONTENTS
Part IV
The diversity within modern science
8 Phenomenology and structuralism 233
9 Quantum mechanics and philosophy 256
Part V
Introduction to the sociology of objectivity
10 Introduction to the theory of object domains 295
11 The sociology of objectivity 335
Part VI
Conclusions
12 Epilogue: Paths to be explored 371
Notes 379
Bibliography 416
Index 450
vi
Preface
This is an essay in the philosophy and sociology of natural science.
It begins with the assumption that science today faces many prob
lems regarding its social meaning, its technical applications and its
internal content. The contemporary theories of science, further
more, seem not altogether adequate to meet the challenges con
fronting them. This does not mean that there are insufficient re
sources available within modern thought to identify or to interpret
the great issues at stake. On the contrary, deep insights have been
won by both modern philosophy and modern social theory; the
problem is rather that the two great bodies of thought, represented
by natural science and contemporary philosophy, have so far failed
to make proper contact. Both science and philosophy have been
assumed to follow their own characteristic mode of discourse,
according to their own special, internal imperatives. Hence the
profound discoveries of each have been withheld from the other -
to the detriment of both. One of the tasks facing modern science is
to redress this circumstance; to apply the innovations won by the
human sciences to outstanding dilemmas both within and regarding
the sciences of nature, and conversely, to realize within contem
porary philosophy and social theory the rich treasures of insight of
modern science.
Two main areas of interest will occupy our attention in this
essay. On the one hand we will be concerned with the content of
science, with its assertions and its implications. On the other, we
shall be considering the dependence of this content on social vari
ables - that is, on contingencies specific to a given social and
historical configuration. In order to reveal the deep connection
Vll