Metascience and Politics

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Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1351309269
Total Pages : 583 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (513 download)

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Book Synopsis Metascience and Politics by : A. James Gregor

Download or read book Metascience and Politics written by A. James Gregor and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-03-25 with total page 583 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A central problem in political inquiry is the conceptual and linguistic informality of political science. For most of its history, the discipline has been largely pursued with the analytic and logical machinery of ordinary language. Likewise, there has been little effort to standardize how language is used, or to systematize theoretical procedures to insure methodological uniformity. In an effort to better understand and defend the research processes that attend, sustain, and foster the systematic credibility of political science, Gregor argues a special conceptual language is needed to enhance the rigor, replicability, articulation, and interpretation of political science's empirical findings. Gregor reviews the conceptual inventory of the social sciences in general with particular emphasis on distinctions between descriptive, theoretical, and normative language. He analyzes what might count as "objectivity" and "truth" in a given set of circumstances in an effort to standardize how political scientists make such distinctions. How "theory" and "explanation" might be assessed in less rigorous disciplines is also considered. Gregor is opposed to the postmodernist tendency to use "language games" in the social sciences that purport to close the gaps separating the discourses of knowledge, ethics and politics, but do so at the expense of clarity, rigor, and objectivity. In Gregor's view, these alternative perspectives have exploited vagueness and ambiguity in order to accomplish what they consider to be their political tasks. A substantial postscript to this edition traces some of the postmodernist perspectives to their origins in the works of particular individuals and to their history in the thought of twentieth-century Europe. Metascience and Politics attempts to address all these issues, with brevity and seriousness of purpose, in order to provide a defensible rationale for the scientific character of social and political studies. It will be of interest to political scientists, sociologists, philosophers, and intellectual historians. A. James Gregor is professor of political science at the University of California at Berkeley and an adjunct professor at Command and Staff College, U.S. Marine Corps University at Quantico, Virginia. He has also been awarded the Order of Merit by the President of the Italian Republic for his contribution to Italy as a nation through his published works. He is the author of Giovanni Gentile: Philosopher of Fascism, Interpretations of Fascism, Phoenix: Fascism in Our Time, and Marxism, China, and Development, all published by Transaction.

The Politics of Chemistry

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Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1108482430
Total Pages : 311 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (84 download)

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Book Synopsis The Politics of Chemistry by : Agustí Nieto-Galan

Download or read book The Politics of Chemistry written by Agustí Nieto-Galan and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2019-08-22 with total page 311 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nieto-Galan examines the political role of chemistry in twentieth-century Spain, enriching understandings of the relationship between science and power.

The Scientific Journal

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Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 022655337X
Total Pages : 389 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (265 download)

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Book Synopsis The Scientific Journal by : Alex Csiszar

Download or read book The Scientific Journal written by Alex Csiszar and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2018-06-25 with total page 389 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Not since the printing press has a media object been as celebrated for its role in the advancement of knowledge as the scientific journal. From open communication to peer review, the scientific journal has long been central both to the identity of academic scientists and to the public legitimacy of scientific knowledge. But that was not always the case. At the dawn of the nineteenth century, academies and societies dominated elite study of the natural world. Journals were a relatively marginal feature of this world, and sometimes even an object of outright suspicion. The Scientific Journal tells the story of how that changed. Alex Csiszar takes readers deep into nineteenth-century London and Paris, where savants struggled to reshape scientific life in the light of rapidly changing political mores and the growing importance of the press in public life. The scientific journal did not arise as a natural solution to the problem of communicating scientific discoveries. Rather, as Csiszar shows, its dominance was a hard-won compromise born of political exigencies, shifting epistemic values, intellectual property debates, and the demands of commerce. Many of the tensions and problems that plague scholarly publishing today are rooted in these tangled beginnings. As we seek to make sense of our own moment of intense experimentation in publishing platforms, peer review, and information curation, Csiszar argues powerfully that a better understanding of the journal’s past will be crucial to imagining future forms for the expression and organization of knowledge.

The Savant and the State

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Publisher : JHU Press
ISBN 13 : 1421405229
Total Pages : 421 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (214 download)

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Book Synopsis The Savant and the State by : Robert Fox

Download or read book The Savant and the State written by Robert Fox and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2012-09 with total page 421 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This debate, Fox argues, became a contest for the hearts and minds of the French citizenry.

Galileo's Idol

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Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 022616697X
Total Pages : 211 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (261 download)

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Book Synopsis Galileo's Idol by : Nick Wilding

Download or read book Galileo's Idol written by Nick Wilding and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2014-11-27 with total page 211 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book looks at Galileo's friend, student, and patron, Gianfrancesco Sagredo (1571-1620). Sagredo's life brings to light the relationship between the production, distribution, and reception of political information and scientific knowledge.

Social Science for What?

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Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262358751
Total Pages : 409 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (623 download)

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Book Synopsis Social Science for What? by : Mark Solovey

Download or read book Social Science for What? written by Mark Solovey and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2020-07-07 with total page 409 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How the NSF became an important yet controversial patron for the social sciences, influencing debates over their scientific status and social relevance. In the early Cold War years, the U.S. government established the National Science Foundation (NSF), a civilian agency that soon became widely known for its dedication to supporting first-rate science. The agency's 1950 enabling legislation made no mention of the social sciences, although it included a vague reference to "other sciences." Nevertheless, as Mark Solovey shows in this book, the NSF also soon became a major--albeit controversial--source of public funding for them.

Politics of Nature

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Publisher : Harvard University Press
ISBN 13 : 0674039963
Total Pages : 320 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (74 download)

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Book Synopsis Politics of Nature by : Bruno Latour

Download or read book Politics of Nature written by Bruno Latour and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2009-07-01 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A major work by one of the more innovative thinkers of our time, Politics of Nature does nothing less than establish the conceptual context for political ecology—transplanting the terms of ecology into more fertile philosophical soil than its proponents have thus far envisioned. Bruno Latour announces his project dramatically: “Political ecology has nothing whatsoever to do with nature, this jumble of Greek philosophy, French Cartesianism and American parks.” Nature, he asserts, far from being an obvious domain of reality, is a way of assembling political order without due process. Thus, his book proposes an end to the old dichotomy between nature and society—and the constitution, in its place, of a collective, a community incorporating humans and nonhumans and building on the experiences of the sciences as they are actually practiced. In a critique of the distinction between fact and value, Latour suggests a redescription of the type of political philosophy implicated in such a “commonsense” division—which here reveals itself as distinctly uncommonsensical and in fact fatal to democracy and to a healthy development of the sciences. Moving beyond the modernist institutions of “mononaturalism” and “multiculturalism,” Latour develops the idea of “multinaturalism,” a complex collectivity determined not by outside experts claiming absolute reason but by “diplomats” who are flexible and open to experimentation.

Liberty and the Pursuit of Knowledge

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Publisher : University of Pittsburgh Press
ISBN 13 : 0822986280
Total Pages : 168 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (229 download)

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Book Synopsis Liberty and the Pursuit of Knowledge by : arren Schmaus

Download or read book Liberty and the Pursuit of Knowledge written by arren Schmaus and published by University of Pittsburgh Press. This book was released on 2018-09-25 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: French philosopher Charles Renouvier played an influential role in reviving philosophy in France after it was proscribed during the Second Empire. Drawn to the ideals of the French Revolution, Renouvier came to recognize that the free will and civil liberties he supported were essential to the pursuit of science, contrary to the ideologies of positivists and socialists who would restrict liberty in the name of science. He struggled against monarchy and religious authority in the period up through 1848 and defended a liberal, secular form of political organization at a critical turning point in French history, the beginning of the Third Republic. As Warren Schmaus argues, Renouvier’s work provides an example of one way in which philosophy of science can succeed in bringing about change in political life—by critiquing political ideologies that falsely claim absolute certainty on religious, scientific, or any other grounds. Liberty and the Pursuit of Knowledge explores the understudied relationship between Renouvier’s philosophy of science and his political philosophy, shedding new light on the significance of his thought for the history of philosophy.

Resisting Scientific Realism

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Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 1108415210
Total Pages : 237 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (84 download)

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Book Synopsis Resisting Scientific Realism by : K. Brad Wray

Download or read book Resisting Scientific Realism written by K. Brad Wray and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2018-11 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides a spirited defence of anti-realism in philosophy of science. Shows the historical evidence and logical challenges facing scientific realism.

Totalitarianism and Political Religion

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Publisher : Stanford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0804783683
Total Pages : 317 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (47 download)

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Book Synopsis Totalitarianism and Political Religion by : A. Gregor

Download or read book Totalitarianism and Political Religion written by A. Gregor and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2012-03-07 with total page 317 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The totalitarian systems that arose in the twentieth century presented themselves as secular. Yet, as A. James Gregor argues in this book, they themselves functioned as religions. He presents an intellectual history of the rise of these political religions, tracing a set of ideas that include belief that a certain text contains impeccable truths; notions of infallible, charismatic leadership; and the promise of human redemption through strict obedience, selfless sacrifice, total dedication, and unremitting labor. Gregor provides unique insight into the variants of Marxism, Fascism, and National Socialism that dominated our immediate past. He explores the seeds of totalitarianism as secular faith in the nineteenth-century ideologies of Ludwig Feuerbach, Moses Hess, Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Giuseppe Mazzini, and Richard Wagner. He follows the growth of those seeds as the twentieth century became host to Leninism and Stalinism, Italian Fascism, and German National Socialism—each a totalitarian institution and a political religion.

Impressionable Biologies

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Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 135168938X
Total Pages : 218 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (516 download)

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Book Synopsis Impressionable Biologies by : Maurizio Meloni

Download or read book Impressionable Biologies written by Maurizio Meloni and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-01-10 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the twentieth century, genes were considered the controlling force of life processes, and the transfer of DNA the definitive explanation for biological heredity. Such views shaped the politics of human heredity: in the eugenic era, controlling heredity meant intervening in the distribution of "good" and "bad" genes. However, since the turn of the twenty-first century, this centrality of genes has been challenged by a number of "postgenomic" disciplines. The rise of epigenetics in particular signals a shift from notions of biological fixedness to ideas of plasticity and "impressionability" of biological material. This book investigates a long history of the beliefs about the plasticity of human biology, starting with ancient medicine, and analyses the biopolitical techniques required to govern such permeability. It looks at the emergence of the modern body of biomedicine as a necessary displacement or possibly reconfiguration of earlier plastic views. Finally, it analyses the returning of plasticity to contemporary postgenomic views and argues that postgenomic plasticity is neither a modernistic plasticity of instrumental management of the body nor a postmodernist celebration of potentialities. It is instead a plasticity that disrupts clear boundaries between openness and determination, individual and community, with important implications for notions of risk, responsibility and intervention.

Freedom's Laboratory

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Publisher : Johns Hopkins University Press
ISBN 13 : 1421439085
Total Pages : 313 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (214 download)

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Book Synopsis Freedom's Laboratory by : Audra J. Wolfe

Download or read book Freedom's Laboratory written by Audra J. Wolfe and published by Johns Hopkins University Press. This book was released on 2020-08-04 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Closing in the present day with a discussion of the 2017 March for Science and the prospects for science and science diplomacy in the Trump era, the book demonstrates the continued hold of Cold War thinking on ideas about science and politics in the United States.

Science on a Mission

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Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 022673241X
Total Pages : 749 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (267 download)

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Book Synopsis Science on a Mission by : Naomi Oreskes

Download or read book Science on a Mission written by Naomi Oreskes and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2021-04-19 with total page 749 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A vivid portrait of how Naval oversight shaped American oceanography, revealing what difference it makes who pays for science. What difference does it make who pays for science? Some might say none. If scientists seek to discover fundamental truths about the world, and they do so in an objective manner using well-established methods, then how could it matter who’s footing the bill? History, however, suggests otherwise. In science, as elsewhere, money is power. Tracing the recent history of oceanography, Naomi Oreskes discloses dramatic changes in American ocean science since the Cold War, uncovering how and why it changed. Much of it has to do with who pays. After World War II, the US military turned to a new, uncharted theater of warfare: the deep sea. The earth sciences—particularly physical oceanography and marine geophysics—became essential to the US Navy, which poured unprecedented money and logistical support into their study. Science on a Mission brings to light how this influx of military funding was both enabling and constricting: it resulted in the creation of important domains of knowledge but also significant, lasting, and consequential domains of ignorance. As Oreskes delves into the role of patronage in the history of science, what emerges is a vivid portrait of how naval oversight transformed what we know about the sea. It is a detailed, sweeping history that illuminates the ways funding shapes the subject, scope, and tenor of scientific work, and it raises profound questions about the purpose and character of American science. What difference does it make who pays? The short answer is: a lot.

Big Science and Research Infrastructures in Europe

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Publisher : Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN 13 : 183910001X
Total Pages : 288 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (391 download)

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Book Synopsis Big Science and Research Infrastructures in Europe by : Katharina C. Cramer

Download or read book Big Science and Research Infrastructures in Europe written by Katharina C. Cramer and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2020-08-28 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This thought-provoking book expands on the notion that Big Science is not the only term to describe and investigate particularly large research projects, scientific collaborations and facilities. It investigates the significant overlap between Big Science and Research Infrastructures (RIs) in a European context since the early twenty-first century. Contributions to this innovative book not only augment the study of Big Science with new perspectives, but also launch the study of RIs as a promising new line of inquiry.

Tradition, Interpretation, and Science

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Publisher : SUNY Press
ISBN 13 : 9780887063718
Total Pages : 396 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (637 download)

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Book Synopsis Tradition, Interpretation, and Science by : John S. Nelson

Download or read book Tradition, Interpretation, and Science written by John S. Nelson and published by SUNY Press. This book was released on 1986-01-01 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book reassesses the academic field of political theory and brings into sharp relief its problems and opportunities. Here for the first time, diverse theorists coordinate their arguments through a common focus. This focus is the writing of John G. Gunnell. Gunnell attacks a set of myths said to plague almost every recent theory about politics: the myth of the given, the myth of science, myths of theory, the myth of tradition, and the myth of the political. He argues that these all alienate political theory from substantive inquiry and actual practice. Contributors include Richard E. Flathman, Russell L. Hanson, George Kateb, Paul F. Kress, J. Donald Moon, John S. Nelson, J.G.A. Pocock, Herbert G. Reid, Ira L. Strauber, Nathan Tarcov, and Sheldon S. Wolin. They respond on behalf of projects in the new history of political theory, epic theory, phenomenology, traditional theory, and political deconstruction. These discussions also address the theories of Hans-Georg Gadamer, Jürgen Habermas, Karl Marx, Leo Strauss, Alain Touraine, and Ludwig Wittgenstein. At the conclusion of the volume, Gunnell reconsiders his arguments in light of the respondent's remarks. His challenges thus provide a series of confrontations - both exciting and provocative - among major theorists. The result is a lively debate about what political theory is, how it relates to political history and practice, and how it involves epistemology. The authors probe a broad range of questions about practices of politics and traditions of discourse, and they identify priorities for the future of the field.

Vitamin C and Cancer

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Publisher : Springer
ISBN 13 : 1349096067
Total Pages : 277 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (49 download)

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Book Synopsis Vitamin C and Cancer by : Evelleen Richards

Download or read book Vitamin C and Cancer written by Evelleen Richards and published by Springer. This book was released on 1991-06-18 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A study of the development and rejection of vitamin C as a treatment for cancer, this text also explores the evaluation process of such a contentious treatment. Based on social, economic and financial considerations, it sees these decisions as political rather than objective assessments.

Science in Democracy

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Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262513048
Total Pages : 371 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (625 download)

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Book Synopsis Science in Democracy by : Mark B. Brown

Download or read book Science in Democracy written by Mark B. Brown and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2009-08-14 with total page 371 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An argument that draws on canonical and contemporary thinkers in political theory and science studies—from Machiavelli to Latour—for insights on bringing scientific expertise into representative democracy. Public controversies over issues ranging from global warming to biotechnology have politicized scientific expertise and research. Some respond with calls for restoring a golden age of value-free science. More promising efforts seek to democratize science. But what does that mean? Can it go beyond the typical focus on public participation? How does the politics of science challenge prevailing views of democracy? In Science in Democracy, Mark Brown draws on science and technology studies, democratic theory, and the history of political thought to show why an adequate response to politicized science depends on rethinking both science and democracy. Brown enlists such canonical and contemporary thinkers as Machiavelli, Hobbes, Rousseau, Dewey, and Latour to argue that the familiar dichotomy between politics and science reinforces a similar dichotomy between direct democracy and representative government. He then develops an alternative perspective based on the mutual shaping of participation and representation in both science and politics. Political representation requires scientific expertise, and scientific institutions may become sites of political representation. Brown illustrates his argument with examples from expert advisory committees, bioethics councils, and lay forums. Different institutional venues, he shows, mediate different elements of democratic representation. If we understand democracy as an institutionally distributed process of collective representation, Brown argues, it becomes easier to see the politicization of science not as a threat to democracy but as an opportunity for it.