대칭과 구성 : 과학지식사회학의 딜레마

초록

I discuss the crucial problems of Sociology of Scientific Knowledge(SSK), which has risen since 1980s as an influential and controversial research program in STS. My analysis focuses on their two essential features, symmetry and construction. I claim that SSK is not clear about how to understand their self-claimed 'symmetrical' method. I show that SSK faces serious difficulties no matter how we read their 'symmetry', either in a purely descriptive way or in a normative way as well. I also argue that the constructive method of SSK turns out to be not persuasive as it seems in many impressive case studies. It is because the actual implementations of symmetry tend to select only social factors while ignoring other significant epistemic factors in their descriptions of how scientific controversies are closed, or place the social factors at the end of their analysis in order to make them look salient. I employ Mackie's INUS condition analysis of causation to discuss this problem. Lastly I claim that SSK should weaken their claim about the constructive nature of scientific knowledge if they want to keep the politico-social significance of SSK

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