Narratives and Comparisons Adversaries or Allies in Understanding Science?

206 Pages·2021·6.081 MB·English

by  Martin Carrier, Rebecca Mertens, Carsten Reinhardt

Martin Carrier, Rebecca Mertens, Carsten Reinhardt (eds.)
Narratives and Comparisons
Adversaries or Allies in Understanding Science?
The volume has grown out of the workshop »Practices of Comparing and Narra-
ting in the Sciences« within the collaborative research center on Practices of Com-
parison (SFB 1288, Praktiken des Vergleichens).
The workshop took place at Bielefeld University in April 2018 and was organized
by Veronika Hofer.

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Contents
Introduction
NarrativesandComparisons:
AdversariesorAlliesinUnderstandingScience?
MartinCarrier,RebeccaMertens,CarstenReinhardt.................................. 7
DoesNarrativeMatter?
EngenderingBeliefinElectromagneticTheory
M.NortonWise.....................................................................29
HistoricalNarrativeversusComparative Description?
GenreandKnowledgeinAlexandervonHumboldt’sPersonalNarrative
ChristinePeters....................................................................63
OntheNarrativeOrderofExperimentation
Hans-JörgRheinberger.............................................................85
TheFlowerPeopleofShanidar
TellingaNewTaleaboutourNeanderthalBrothers
OliverHochadel....................................................................99
NarratingandComparingintheOrganizationofResearchProjects
RebeccaMertens.................................................................. 123
Seeing,Comparing,Narrating
Making-oftheMiddleAgesintheEarlyHistoryofArt
JorisCorinHeyder ................................................................ 145
NarratingArtHistory
PracticesofComparinginExhibitionsandWrittenSurveyswith
regardtodocumentaI
BrittaHochkirchen................................................................ 175
Authors.........................................................................203
Introduction
Narratives and Comparisons:
Adversaries or Allies in Understanding Science?
MartinCarrier,RebeccaMertens,CarstenReinhardt
1. PracticesofComparingandNarratingintheSciences
and Humanities
In this volume, we aim to explore the ways in which comparing is related
toothersocialandepistemicactivitiesinknowledgegenerationprocessesin
thesciences,humanitiesandthearts.1 Weparticularlyemphasizetherela-
tionshipbetweencomparingandnarratinginepistemicpractice.Oneofour
centralgoalsistoclarifythepotentialofnarrativesfordrawingcomparisons,
thatis,thewayinwhichnarrativescanenable,supportorhinderthepractice
ofcomparing.Furthermore,thisvolumeseekstolocatenarratingandcom-
paring within the conceptual and methodological,material,and discursive
practicesthatareinvolvedinknowledgegenerationprocesses.Thefocuson
practicealsomeansforustolookmorecloselyattherelationsbetweenthose
activities and processes which form the conditions for using both compar-
isonsandnarrativessuccessfullyintheproductionofknowledge.Wedothis
1 ThefollowingchaptershavebeencomposedintheframeworkoftheCollaborative
ResearchCenterSFB1288“PracticesofComparing.ChangingandOrderingtheWorld”,
BielefeldUniversity,Germany:“Introduction,”“HistoricalNarrativeversusCompara-
tiveDescription?GenreandKnowledgeinAlexandervonHumboldt’sPersonalNarra-
tive,”“Narratingandcomparingintheorganizationofresearchprojects,”“Seeing,Com-
paring,Narrating,Making–oftheMiddle-AgesintheEarlyHistoryofArt,”“Narrating
ArtHistory:PracticesofComparinginExhibitionsandWrittenSurveyswithregardto
documentaI.”TheworkhasbeenfundedbytheGermanResearchFoundation(DFG),
subprojectC04:VergleichshindernisseindenNaturwissenschaftenundihreÜberwin-
dung.DasBeispielderMolekulargenetik.WethankGinaMariaKleinforhersupport
infinalizingthemanuscript.
8 MartinCarrier,RebeccaMertens,CarstenReinhardt
bytakingintoaccountrelatedactivities,suchasmeasuringandclassifying,
modeling,andestablishingnormsandcategories,aswellastheorganization
andpopularizationofknowledge.Inparticular,wediscussandhopefullycon-
tributetodissolvingtheoftenassumedoppositionbetweentheroleofnarra-
tivesinscientificexplanation,ontheonehand,andinunderstanding,onthe
other.Weproposethatnarrativepracticeiscloselylinkedto,ifnotevenpart
of,whatmanyscientificexplanationsachieve.Wethuspaycloseattentionto
theexplanatoryroleandpotentialofnarrativesasusedinthenaturalsciences
andthehumanities,amongothersinhistoriography,anthropologyandpa-
leontology,aswellasphysics,biologyandchemistry.InlinewithKaiseret
al.(2014)andGlennan(2010),2 weseeacloseconnectionbetweentheuseof
narrativesinunfoldinghistoricalevents,ontheonehand,andasexplanatory
toolsinthesciences,ontheother.
Itdoesnotcomeasasurprisethatweemphasizecomparingasacrucial
part in practicing the sciences and humanities.Comparing is such a pow-
erful tool in the production of knowledge that it even became part of the
verynamesofdisciplines:comparativeanatomy,comparativelaw,andcom-
parativeliteraturestudies.Inhistoriography,comparingbecameoneofthe
methodologicalcornerstonesofmodernsocialandculturalhistory.3 Ingen-
eral,andnotrelatedtojustthesciencesandthehumanities,theimportance
andubiquityofcomparisonintheestablishmentofsocialorderandnorms,
aswellasameansofgraspingtheunknownin(inter-)culturalencounters,
hasrecentlybeenemphasizedbyAngelikaEppleandWalterErhart.Drawing
comparisonsisunderstoodhereasanactivitywhichisalwayssituatedwithin
particularculturalpractices,enforcingcertainwaysandendsofcomparing
andsuppressingothers,therebystronglyshapingsocialdiscoursesandstruc-
tures.4Oneofthebestknownpostulatesabouttheconstitutiveroleofcertain
2 Kaiser,Marie,andDanielPlenge,“Introduction:PointsofContactbetweenBiologyand
History.”InExplanationintheSpecialSciences.TheCaseofBiologyandHistory,editedby
M.I.Kaiser,O.R.Scholz,D.Plenge,andA.Hüttemann.Amsterdam:Springer,2013.See
aswellGlennan,Stuart,“Mechanisms,Causes,andtheLayeredModeloftheWorld,”
PhilosophyandPhenomenologicalResearch81(2),2010:362-381.
3 Welskopp,Thomas,“ComparativeHistory,”EuropeanHistoryOnline(EGO),publishedby
theInstituteofEuropeanHistory(IEG),Mainz2010-12-03.URL:http://www.ieg-ego.eu/
welskoppt-2010-enURN:urn:nbn:de:0159-20100921414[2019/06/24].
4 Epple,Angelika,andWalterErhart,“DieWeltbeobachten.PraktikendesVergleichens.”
InDieWeltbeobachten.PraktikendesVergleichens,editedbyA.EppleandW.Erhart,
Frankfurta.M.:Campus,2015,7f.
Introduction 9
formsofcomparisonformodernculturehasbeenintroducedbyMichelFou-
caultinTheOrderofThings,whereheidentifiesdifferencemakingasoneof
the most important epistemic activities in the history of modern Western
thought,whileclaimingthat“differencemaking”partiallyreplacesanalogical
thinkingandsimilarity-drivenstrategies.Inkeepingwithsuchapproaches,
weunderlinetheepistemicsignificanceofcomparing.Drawingcomparisons
involvesatleasttwocomparataandatertiumcomparationis,thelatterdefining
theperspectiveofthecomparisoninquestion.5 Thus,overthelast50years,
comparinghasbeenestablishedasawelldeveloped,andwellconnected,epis-
temicactivityinthesciencesandhumanities,placedalongsideanddemar-
catedfromothermethodologies.
Whilescienceandculturalstudieshavebynowcarvedoutawidelyrecog-
nizedroleforcomparinginthesciencesandhumanities,thesamecannotbe
saidaboutnarrating.Althoughrecentstudiesemphasizingthecrucialimpor-
tanceofmetaphorsandanalogiesinresearch6caninpartsbetracedbackto
classicsinthefield,suchastheworkofLudwikFleck,7thestudyofnarration
hasenteredsciencestudiesatabroaderscaleonlyveryrecently.8Partially,this
mightbeduetothepreconceivednotionthattellingastoryis,atbest,part
ofcommunicatingresults,andcertainlynotcrucialinproducingthem.This
viewischallengedatseverallevelsinthecontributionstothisvolume.More-
over,evenwellfoundedclaimsaboutestablishingthecentralroleofnarratives
5 Epple,Angelika,“EinpraxeologischerZugangzurGeschichtederGlobalisierung/en.”In
DieWeltbeobachten.PraktikendesVergleichens,editedbyA.EppleandW.Erhart,Frank-
furta.M.:Campus,2015,163.SeeaswellSass,Hartmutvon,“Vergleicheverstehen.
EinleitendeVorwegnahmen.”InHermeneutikdesVergleichens.Strukturen,Anwendungen
undGrenzenkomparativerVerfahren,editedbyA.MautzandH.v.Sass,Würzburg:Kö-
nigshausen&Neumann,2011,27.
6 Mertens,Rebecca,TheConstructionofAnalogy-BasedResearchPrograms.TheLock-and-
KeyAnalogyin20thCenturyBiochemistry,Bielefeld:transcriptVerlag,2019.Frigg,Ro-
manandStephanHartmann,“ModelsinScience,”TheStanfordEncyclopediaofPhilos-
ophy(Summer2018Edition),editedbyEdwardN.Zalta,https://plato.stanford.edu/
cgi-bin/encyclopedia/archinfo.cgi?entry=models-science.Morgan,MaryS.,TheWorld
inTheModel.HowEconomistsWorkandThink,Cambridge(UK):CambridgeUniversity
Press,2012.
7 Fleck,Ludwik,GenesisandDevelopmentofaScientificFact,Chicago:UniversityofChicago
Press,1979.
8 Morgan,MaryS.,andNortonWise,“NarrativeScienceandNarrativeKnowing.Intro-
ductiontoSpecialIssueonNarrativeScience,”StudiesinHistoryandPhilosophyofScience
62,2017:1-5.
10 MartinCarrier,RebeccaMertens,CarstenReinhardt
inresearchhavebeendisputed.AnexampleisHaydenWhite’sMetahistory,9
whichwascriticizedforitsrathernarrowmethodologicalapproachandthe
factthatitkeptbeingrestrictedtoasinglefield.Thecontributorstothisvol-
umebothincreasethenumberofmethodologicalaccesspointsandwidenthe
rangeofstudyfields.Asaresult,theroleofnarrativesinawidespectrumof
scientificandhumanisticfieldsisbroughtintoview.
Arguably,thereasonsforchangingthestatusofnarratinginthesciences
andhumanitiesforthebetterhaveemergedfromtworecentdevelopments.
Thefirsthasitsoriginsinthefieldofsciencestudiesproper.Sincethebegin-
ningofsocialstudiesofscience,theinfluenceofthesocialcontextinoneway
oranotheronscientificpracticeandcontenthasbeenadefiningfeature,giv-
ingrisetonewsubfields,suchassocialepistemology.Amongthose,theclaim
thatsocial,culturalandpoliticalvalidityarecrucialsourcesofscientificau-
thorityhasrecentlybecomeastapleofstudiesinpoliticalepistemology.10The
keyquestionthatfollowsfromthisviewforusishowdosocialacceptance,
societalvalidityandepistemicauthorityactbackonresearchpractices,and
in what circumstances do narratives play a role in this? Recently,Safia Az-
zouniandStefanBöschen,intheirintroductiontoavolumelinkingnarra-
tion and scientific validity,have pointed to some general characteristics in
thisregard.11 Intheirview,scientificandsocialactorscreatenarrations,or
scenarios,ofhowthefeaturesofthescientificproblemathandarerelatedto
eachother.Thesescenariosoftencompetewithorevenexcludeeachother,
andthisaddstothedifficultyforachievingscientificandsocietalconsensus.
Thedebatesonclimatechangeareacaseinpointwherequestionsofevidence
cometothefore:evidencebywhom,forwhataim,andtowhatoutcome?Nar-
rativesplayacentralroleinsuchdebates,andjustlyhavebecomeakeyentry
pointofsciencestudiesforanalyzingvariousconstellationsofscienceinso-
ciety.
9 White,Hayden,Metahistory.TheHistoricalImaginationinNineteenthCenturyEurope,Bal-
timore:JohnsHopkinsUniv.Press,1973.
10 Straßheim,Holger,“PoliticsandPolicyExpertise.”InHandbookofCriticalPolicyStudies,
editedbyF.Fisheretal.,CheltenhamUK/NorthamptonMA:EdwardElgar,2015,319-
340.
11 Azzouni,Safia,andStefanBöschen,“ErzählungundGeltung.Einproblemorientierter
AusgangspunktundvieleFragen.”InErzählungundGeltung.WissenschaftzwischenAu-
torschaftundAutorität,editedbyS.Azzouni,S.Böschen,andC.Reinhardt,Weilerswist:
VelbrückWissenschaft,2015,9-31.
Introduction 11
Thisfruitfuldevelopmentinsciencestudieshasbeenstrengthenedbya
movementinnarrativestudiesthathasbroadenedtheconceptofnarrative
andatthesametimehasintroducedadditionalfieldsofanalysis.Thisisthe
second development that we wish to highlight here.More and more it has
becomeacceptedinliteraturestudiestoincludenon-fictionaltextsinstudy-
ing narration. This has not been traditionally the case, though. In the last
decadeorso,however,thenarrativeborderbetweennon-fictionandfiction
hasbeenblurredbyhighlightingtheirstructuralsimilarities.Whiletherange
forstudyingnarrativeshasbeenwidened,sohastheunderstandingofnarra-
tive.Inthisview,narrativesarenotjuststories,andnarratingismuchmore
thanmerestory-tellingeventhoughitincludesthelatter.Here,narrativesare
understoodashigher-orderstructuresofhowstoriesarerelatedtoeachother.
Theyconstitutepatternsofstory-tellinginboththeirtemporalandstructural
dimensions.Whilesinglestoriesarebasedonacertaintimelineorstage-set-
ting,and establish individual links between the events told and the agents
described,narrativesinadditionoftenimplementgeneraltemporalandcon-
figurationalpatternsofwhatcountsasagrippingtimelineandaconvincing
plot.“GoodbeatsEvil,”or“Successaftersevereobstacleshavebeenovercome”
areexamples.12Itisimportanttonotethatnarrativescontainbothtemporal
andstructuralorconfigurationaldimensionsinconstitutingsuchhigheror-
derpatternsofbothtimelineandstage-setting(seebelowsect.4).
Thus,thestudyofnarrativespointstokeyfeaturesofreasoninginthesci-
encesandhumanities.Narrativescontributetotheanalysisofcausalityand
contingency in offering patterns of how the entities in question are linked
andinoutliningwhatkindsofprocessesplayaroleintheirevolution.Itthus
mayverywellbethatnarrativessupportepistemicpracticesofdrawingcom-
parisonsinthesciencesandthehumanities.Narrativessometimesenableor
facilitatecomparisonsandexplanations.
2. ComparisonandNarrativeasMethodologicalTools
Inthefollowingsections,westressthisproductiveroleofnarrativesfordraw-
ingcomparisonsbyaddressingfeaturesofscientificpractice.Drawingcom-
parisonsisanimportantmethodologicaltoolforproducingorderinconcep-
tualrespectandforcopingwithnewandunaccustomedobjectsandphenom-
12 AzzouniandBöschen,“ErzählungundGeltung,”17.
12 MartinCarrier,RebeccaMertens,CarstenReinhardt
ena.Whatwedoincreatingorderisassimilatingwhatisunknowninpart
towhatwearefamiliarwith.Thus,weisolateanddelimitthenovelandun-
expectedelements.Thisisachievedbyinvokingrelationsofsimilaritysothat
hopefullymerelyafewelementsareleftthatdonotfitestablishedcategories.
Accordingly,themethodofdrawingcomparisonsservestoanchornewitems
atfamiliarpiersandhelpsusnavigatethroughunchartedwatersofbewilder-
mentandsurprise.
However,thehandytoolofcomparingdoesnotalwaysworkwellingen-
eratingtransparencyandclarity.Drawingcomparisonsisjeopardizedbyob-
staclesandbarriers.Sometimesitisdifficulttoestablishacommonground
orasharedyardstickthatcouldprovideastandardofsimilarityagainstwhich
differencescouldbecompared.Forinstance,itisdifficulttoassesswhether
asufficientamountofsignificantfeaturesissharedbetweentheconceptsof
chemicalelementbeforeandaftertheChemicalRevolution.PriortotheRev-
olution,chemicalelementswerethoughttobeabstractbearersofchemical
propertiessuchascombustibilityoracidity.Theirabstractnaturewassup-
posed to imply that elements are not material in themselves.Elements are
no substances and cannot be isolated in chemical analysis for this reason.
Theyratherexplainpropertiesofmaterialsubstances.Iftheywerematerial
themselves,wewouldrunintoacircularity.AftertheChemicalRevolution,
elementswereconceivedasend-pointsofchemicalanalysisandarethusdefi-
nitelytobefoundinthelaboratory.Theexplanatoryandtheoperationalcon-
cepts of chemical element are widely disparate and threatened by non-com-
mensurability,i.e.,thelackofsignificantsharedproperties.
Inadifferentvein,Kuhniansemanticincommensurabilityisproducedbya
cross-classificationofsimilarityclasses.Forinstance,theearlynotionofvirus
broketheconfinesofthethen-contemporaryclusterofpropertiesassignedto
bacteriaandtoxins,respectively.Virusesarecontagiousandreproducedinor-
ganisms,whichshowedthemtobeofthesamekindasbacteria,buttheypass
throughfiltersthatwithholdbacteria.Therefore,virusescouldnotbecellsand
looked rather like toxins.As a result,applying the standard procedures for
categorizing biological entities generated conflicting judgments.The newly
discovered entities transcended existing conceptual boundaries and defied
comparativeanalysisforthisreason.
Howcansuchobstaclestocomparisonbeovercome?Oneoftheoptions
istointroduceintermediatestagesthatcombinefeaturesfrombothendsof
theconceptualspectrumortoinvoketransitorystepsthatgraduallyleadfrom
oneendtotheother.Abridgenotionofchemicalelementintroducedtheidea