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"The Knowledge Book" is a unique interdisciplinary reference work
for students and researchers concerned with the nature of
knowledge. It is the first work of its kind to be organized on the
assumption that whatever else knowledge might be, it is
intrinsically social. The book consists of 42 alphabetically
arranged entries on key concepts at the intersection of philosophy
and sociology - what used to be called "sociology of knowledge" but
is now increasingly called "social epistemology". The entries
include concepts common to disciplines that in recent years have
devoted more of their attention to knowledge: cultural studies,
communication studies, information science, education, policy
studies and business studies. Special attention is given to
concepts from the emerging field of science and technology studies.
Each entry presents a short, self-contained essay providing an
overview of a concept and concludes with suggestions for further
reading. All the entries are fully cross-referenced, allowing
readers to both make connections and follow their own interests.
In this second edition of Steve Fuller's original work Philosophy,
Rhetoric, and the End of Knowledge: A New Beginning for Science and
Technology Studies, James Collier joins Fuller in developing an
updated and accessible version of Fuller's classic volume. The new
edition shifts focus slightly to balance the discussions of theory
and practice, and the writing style is oriented to advanced
students. It addresses the contemporary problems of knowledge to
develop the basis for a more publicly accountable science. The
resources of social epistemology are deployed to provide a positive
agenda of research, teaching, and political action designed to
bring out the best in both the ancient discipline of rhetoric and
the emerging field of science and technology studies (STS). The
authors reclaim and integrate STS and rhetoric to explore the
problems of knowledge as a social process--problems of increasing
public interest that extend beyond traditional disciplinary
resources. In so doing, the differences among disciplines must be
questioned (the exercise of STS) and the disciplinary boundaries
must be renegotiated (the exercise of rhetoric). This book
innovatively integrates a sophisticated theoretical approach to the
social processes of creating knowledge with a developing
pedagogical apparatus. The thought questions at the end of each
chapter, the postscript, and the appendix allow the reader to
actively engage the text in order to discuss and apply its
theoretical insights. Creating new standards for interdisciplinary
scholarship and communication, the authors bring numerous
disciplines into conversation in formulating a new kind of rhetoric
geared toward greater democratic participation in the
knowledge-making process. This volume is intended for students and
scholars in rhetoric of science, science studies, philosophy, and
communication, and will be of interest in English, sociology, and
knowledge management arenas as well.
The most important and exciting recent development in the
philosophy of science is its merging with the sociology of
scientific knowledge. Here is the first text book to make this
development available.
The theory of knowledge, or epistemology, is often regarded as a
dry topic that bears little relation to actual knowledge practices.
Knowledge: The Philosophical Quest in History addresses this
perception by showing the roots, developments and prospects of
modern epistemology from its beginnings in the nineteenth century
to the present day. Beginning with an introduction to the central
questions and problems in theory of knowledge, Steve Fuller goes on
to demonstrate that contemporary epistemology is enriched by its
interdisciplinarity, analysing keys areas including: Epistemology
as Cognitive Economics Epistemology as Divine Psychology
Epistemology as Philosophy of Science Epistemology as Sociology of
Science Epistemology and Postmodernism. A wide-ranging and
historically-informed assessment of the ways in which man has - and
continues to - pursue, question, contest, expand and shape
knowledge, this book is essential reading anyone in the Humanities
and Social Sciences interested in the history and practical
application of epistemology.
As the field of Science and Technology Studies (STS) has become
more established, it has increasingly hidden its philosophical
roots. While the trend is typical of disciplines striving for
maturity, Steve Fuller, a leading figure in the field, argues that
STS has much to lose if it abandons philosophy.
In his characteristically provocative style, he offers the first
sustained treatment of the philosophical foundations of STS and
suggests fruitful avenues for further research. With stimulating
discussions of the Science Wars, the Intelligent Design Theory
controversy, and theorists such as Donna Haraway and Bruno Latour,
Philosophy of Science and Technology Studies is required reading
for students and scholars in STS and the philosophy of science.
As the field of Science and Technology Studies (STS) has become
more established, it has increasingly hidden its philosophical
roots. While the trend is typical of disciplines striving for
maturity, Steve Fuller, a leading figure in the field, argues that
STS has much to lose if it abandons philosophy.
In his characteristically provocative style, he offers the first
sustained treatment of the philosophical foundations of STS and
suggests fruitful avenues for further research. With stimulating
discussions of the Science Wars, the Intelligent Design Theory
controversy, and theorists such as Donna Haraway and Bruno Latour,
Philosophy of Science and Technology Studies is required reading
for students and scholars in STS and the philosophy of science.
The most important and exciting recent development in the
philosophy of science is its merging with the sociology of
scientific knowledge. Here is the first text book to make this
development available.
This volume addresses the central question facing the future of
higher education around the world, whether and why universities
need to exist at all. This book accepts the question’s premise:
It is not clear that the university is any longer needed as an
institution -- that is, unless its defenders recover what had made
the university the revolutionary institution that over the past two
centuries has not only defined the shape of modern systematic
inquiry but also the distinctiveness of the societies that have
housed them. In short, what is required is a reanimation of the
spirit of Wilhelm von Humboldt for our times; hence the book's
title and subtitle. Humboldt was responsible for relaunching the
university as the vanguard institution of 'Enlightenment' to which
we continue to pay lip service – and sometimes not much more than
that. Admittedly, the task of relaunching Humboldt today is made
difficult because many of the concrete achievements associated with
the Humboldtian university – not least academic disciplines and
nation-states – are increasingly seen as problematic if not
obsolete. However, the global reach of the Humboldtian vision in
its 19th century and 20th century heyday offers hope that it may be
recovered in the 21st century. The book focuses on the performative
character of the academic vocation, what Humboldt memorably
characterized as the 'unity of research and teaching' in the same
person, a role model for students and society at large. The book's
seven chapters develop this theme in a historically and
philosophically nuanced way in terms of the Humboldtian vision of
knowledge, sense of free expression and critical judgement, and
commitment to translation and publicity.
A KMCI Press book - a definitive title from the leading,
standard-setting KM organizationOnly book to describe fundamental
KM concepts and theoriesApproach roots theory in current state of
the procession/discipline
In this challenging and provocative book, Steve Fuller contends
that our continuing faith in science in the face of its actual
history is best understood as the secular residue of a religiously
inspired belief in divine providence. Our faith in science is the
promise of a life as it shall be, as science will make it one day.
Just as men once put their faith in God's activity in the world, so
we now travel to a land promised by science. In "Science", Fuller
suggests that the two destinations might be the same one. Fuller
sympathetically explores what it might mean to live scientifically.
Can science give a sense of completeness to one's life? Can it
account for the entirety of what it is to be human? And what does
our continuing belief in scientific progress say about us as a
species? In answering these questions, Fuller ranges widely over
the history of science and religion - from Aristotle and the
atomists to Dawkins and the neo-Darwinists - and takes a close look
at what science is, how its purpose has changed over the years, and
what role religion and in more recent years atheism have played in
its progression. Science, argues Fuller, is now undergoing its own
version of secularization. We are ceasing to trust science in its
institutional forms, formulated by an anointed class of science
priests, and instead we are witnessing the emergence of what Fuller
calls Protscience' - all sorts of people, from the New Age movement
to anti-evolutionists, claiming scientific authority as their own.
Fuller shows that these groups are no more anti-scientific than
Protestant sects were atheistic. Fearless and thought-provoking,
Science questions some of our most fundamental beliefs about the
nature and role of science, and is a distinct and important
contribution to debates about evolution, intelligent design,
atheism, humanism, the notion of scientific progress, and the
public understanding of science.
"The Knowledge Book" is a unique interdisciplinary reference work
for students and researchers concerned with the nature of
knowledge. It is the first work of its kind to be organized on the
assumption that whatever else knowledge might be, it is
intrinsically social. The book consists of 42 alphabetically
arranged entries on key concepts at the intersection of philosophy
and sociology - what used to be called "sociology of knowledge" but
is now increasingly called "social epistemology". The entries
include concepts common to disciplines that in recent years have
devoted more of their attention to knowledge: cultural studies,
communication studies, information science, education, policy
studies and business studies. Special attention is given to
concepts from the emerging field of science and technology studies.
Each entry presents a short, self-contained essay providing an
overview of a concept and concludes with suggestions for further
reading. All the entries are fully cross-referenced, allowing
readers to both make connections and follow their own interests.
In this second edition of Steve Fuller's original work Philosophy,
Rhetoric, and the End of Knowledge: A New Beginning for Science and
Technology Studies, James Collier joins Fuller in developing an
updated and accessible version of Fuller's classic volume. The new
edition shifts focus slightly to balance the discussions of theory
and practice, and the writing style is oriented to advanced
students. It addresses the contemporary problems of knowledge to
develop the basis for a more publicly accountable science. The
resources of social epistemology are deployed to provide a positive
agenda of research, teaching, and political action designed to
bring out the best in both the ancient discipline of rhetoric and
the emerging field of science and technology studies (STS). The
authors reclaim and integrate STS and rhetoric to explore the
problems of knowledge as a social process--problems of increasing
public interest that extend beyond traditional disciplinary
resources. In so doing, the differences among disciplines must be
questioned (the exercise of STS) and the disciplinary boundaries
must be renegotiated (the exercise of rhetoric). This book
innovatively integrates a sophisticated theoretical approach to the
social processes of creating knowledge with a developing
pedagogical apparatus. The thought questions at the end of each
chapter, the postscript, and the appendix allow the reader to
actively engage the text in order to discuss and apply its
theoretical insights. Creating new standards for interdisciplinary
scholarship and communication, the authors bring numerous
disciplines into conversation in formulating a new kind of rhetoric
geared toward greater democratic participation in the
knowledge-making process. This volume is intended for students and
scholars in rhetoric of science, science studies, philosophy, and
communication, and will be of interest in English, sociology, and
knowledge management arenas as well.
'Knowledge Management Foundations' is just what it claims, the
first attempt to provide a secure intellectual footing for the
myriad of practices called "knowledge management." A breath of
fresh air from the usual KM gurus, Fuller openly admits that the
advent of KM is a mixed blessing that often amounts to the conduct
of traditional management by subtler means. However, Fuller's deep
understanding of both the history of management theory and
knowledge production more generally enables him to separate the
wheat from the chaff of the KM literature.
This ground-breaking book will prove of interest to both academics
and practitioners of knowledge management. It highlights the ways
in which KM has challenged the values associated with knowledge
that academics have taken for granted for centuries. At the same
time, Fuller resists the conclusion of many KM gurus, that the
value of knowledge lies in whatever the market will bear in the
short term. He pays special attention to how information technology
has not only facilitated knowledge work but also has radically
altered its nature. There are chapters devoted to the revolution in
intellectual property and an evaluation of peer review as a quality
control mechanism. The book culminates in a positive re-evaluation
of universities as knowledge producing institutions from which the
corporate sector still has much to learn.
A KMCI Press book - a definitive title from the leading,
standard-setting KM organizationOnly book to describe fundamental
KM concepts and theoriesApproach roots theory in current state of
the procession/discipline
This book approaches post-truth and relativism in a
multidisciplinary fashion. Researchers from astrophysics,
philosophy, psychology, media studies, religious studies,
anthropology, social epistemology and sociology discuss and analyse
the impact of relativism and post-truth both within the academy and
in society at large. The motivation for this multidisciplinary
approach is that relativism and post-truth are multifaceted
phenomena with complex histories that have played out differently
in different areas of society and different academic disciplines.
There is hence a multitude of ways in which to use and understand
the concepts and the phenomena to which they refer, and a multitude
of critiques and defenses as well. No single volume can capture the
ongoing discussions in different areas in all their complexity, but
the different chapters of the book can function as exemplifications
of the ramifications these phenomena have had.
This book approaches post-truth and relativism in a
multidisciplinary fashion. Researchers from astrophysics,
philosophy, psychology, media studies, religious studies,
anthropology, social epistemology and sociology discuss and analyse
the impact of relativism and post-truth both within the academy and
in society at large. The motivation for this multidisciplinary
approach is that relativism and post-truth are multifaceted
phenomena with complex histories that have played out differently
in different areas of society and different academic disciplines.
There is hence a multitude of ways in which to use and understand
the concepts and the phenomena to which they refer, and a multitude
of critiques and defenses as well. No single volume can capture the
ongoing discussions in different areas in all their complexity, but
the different chapters of the book can function as exemplifications
of the ramifications these phenomena have had.
If nothing else, the twelve papers assembled in this volume should
lay to rest the idea that the interesting debates about the nature
of science are still being conducted by "internalists" vs.
"externalists,"" rationalists" vs. "arationalists, n or even
"normative epistemologists" vs. "empirical sociologists of
knowledge. " Although these distinctions continue to haunt much of
the theoretical discussion in philosophy and sociology of science,
our authors have managed to elude their strictures by finally
getting beyond the post-positivist preoccupation of defending a
certain division of labor among the science studies disciplines.
But this is hardly to claim that our historians, philosophers,
sociologists, and psychologists have brought about an "end of
ideology," or even an "era of good feelings," to their debates.
Rather, they have drawn new lines of battle which center more
squarely than ever on practical matters of evaluating and selecting
methods for studying science. To get a vivid sense of the new
terrain that was staked out at the Yearbook conference, let us
start by meditating on a picture. The front cover of a recent
collection of sociological studies edited by one of us (Woolgar
1988) bears a stylized picture of a series of lined up open books
presented in a typical perspective fashion. The global shape comes
close to a trapezium, and is composed of smaller trapeziums
gradually decreasing in size and piled upon each other so as to
suggest a line receding in depth. The perspective is stylized too.
If nothing else, the twelve papers assembled in this volume should
lay to rest the idea that the interesting debates about the nature
of science are still being conducted by "internalists" vs.
"externalists,"" rationalists" vs. "arationalists, n or even
"normative epistemologists" vs. "empirical sociologists of
knowledge. " Although these distinctions continue to haunt much of
the theoretical discussion in philosophy and sociology of science,
our authors have managed to elude their strictures by finally
getting beyond the post-positivist preoccupation of defending a
certain division of labor among the science studies disciplines.
But this is hardly to claim that our historians, philosophers,
sociologists, and psychologists have brought about an "end of
ideology," or even an "era of good feelings," to their debates.
Rather, they have drawn new lines of battle which center more
squarely than ever on practical matters of evaluating and selecting
methods for studying science. To get a vivid sense of the new
terrain that was staked out at the Yearbook conference, let us
start by meditating on a picture. The front cover of a recent
collection of sociological studies edited by one of us (Woolgar
1988) bears a stylized picture of a series of lined up open books
presented in a typical perspective fashion. The global shape comes
close to a trapezium, and is composed of smaller trapeziums
gradually decreasing in size and piled upon each other so as to
suggest a line receding in depth. The perspective is stylized too.
The theory of knowledge, or epistemology, is often regarded as a
dry topic that bears little relation to actual knowledge practices.
Knowledge: The Philosophical Quest in History addresses this
perception by showing the roots, developments and prospects of
modern epistemology from its beginnings in the nineteenth century
to the present day. Beginning with an introduction to the central
questions and problems in theory of knowledge, Steve Fuller goes on
to demonstrate that contemporary epistemology is enriched by its
interdisciplinarity, analysing keys areas including: Epistemology
as Cognitive Economics Epistemology as Divine Psychology
Epistemology as Philosophy of Science Epistemology as Sociology of
Science Epistemology and Postmodernism. A wide-ranging and
historically-informed assessment of the ways in which man has - and
continues to - pursue, question, contest, expand and shape
knowledge, this book is essential reading anyone in the Humanities
and Social Sciences interested in the history and practical
application of epistemology.
Thomas Kuhn's "Structure of Scientific Revolutions" has sold
over a million copies in more than twenty languages and has
remained one of the ten most cited academic works for the past half
century. In contrast, Karl Popper's seminal book "The Logic of
Scientific Discovery" has lapsed into relative obscurity. Although
the two men debated the nature of science only once, the legacy of
this encounter has dominated intellectual and public discussions on
the topic ever since.
Almost universally recognized as the modern watershed in the
philosophy of science, Kuhn's relativistic vision of shifting
paradigms -- which asserted that science was just another human
activity, like art or philosophy, only more specialized --
triumphed over Popper's more positivistic belief in science's
revolutionary potential to falsify society's dogmas. But has this
victory been beneficial for science? Steve Fuller argues that not
only has Kuhn's dominance had an adverse impact on the field but
both thinkers have been radically misinterpreted in the process.
This debate raises a vital question: Can science remain an
independent, progressive force in society, or is it destined to
continue as the technical wing of the military-industrial complex?
Drawing on original research -- including the Kuhn archives at MIT
-- Fuller offers a clear account of "Kuhn vs. Popper" and what it
will mean for the future of scientific inquiry.
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