Social Constructivism and the Philosophy of Science

Description

Social constructivists maintain that we invent the properties of the world rather than discover them. Andre Kukla presents a comprehensive discussion of this important debate and analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of a range of constructivist arguments, illustrating the divide between the sociology and the philosophy of science through examples as varied as laboratory science, time, and criminality. Front Cover......Page 1 Back Cover......Page 2 TOC......Page 4 Preface......Page 6 Acknowledgements......Page 8 1 - Defining constructivism......Page 9 2 - Constructivism and the sociology of scientific knowledge......Page 15 3 - The varieties of dependence......Page 27 4 - The varieties of constitutive constructivisms......Page 32 5 - The empirical case for constructivism......Page 40 6 - The a priori case for constructivism......Page 52 7 - Three brief and inadequate objections to constructivism......Page 54 8 - The problem of misrepresentation......Page 59 9 - Constructive empiricism and social constructivism......Page 67 10 - The infinite regress of constructions......Page 76 11 - The Duhemian asymmetry......Page 88 12 - The problem of the two societies......Page 99 13 - Constructivism and time......Page 113 14 - Constructivism and logic......Page 127 15 - Relativism......Page 133 16 - Semantic constructivism......Page 144 17 - Irrationalism......Page 157 18 - Conclusions......Page 168 References......Page 172 Index......Page 176