Philosophy, rhetoric, and the end of knowledge : the coming of science and technology studies
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
Philosophy, rhetoric, and the end of knowledge : the coming of science and technology studies
(Rhetoric of the human sciences)
University of Wisconsin Press, c1993
- : pbk
Available at 9 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
  Norway
  United States of America
Note
Includes bibliographical references (p. 393-414) and index
Description and Table of Contents
Description
Steve Fuller argues that the methods used in the emerging discipline of science and technology studies (STS) are potential tools for breaking down communication barriers that exist between disciplines within the academy, and between the academy and society. He contends that STS scholars have empirically established the "constructed" character of academic knowledge, and he calls for all scholars to acknowledge the rhetorical component of knowledge production. In this context, knowledge becomes a political entity that governs people and their effects, rather than a thing or a property. Fuller advocates and demonstrates the infusion of moral and political consideration into questions that had previously been confined to epistemology and the philosophy of science. Fuller calls this position "social epistemology", and here he offers a positive agenda of research, teaching and political action to deal with the complex problems of academic knowledge today.
His four case studies reveal the social epistemologist engaged in delicate interdisciplinary negotiations between philosophy and psychology, sociology and cognitive science, political science and economics, and humanistic and social scientific approaches to the study of science itself. He shows that these negotiations have major implications, not only for the structure and function of the university, but also for the conduct of academics in science policy forums. In addition, Fuller challenges those sceptical of his programme, including cultural relativists in general, and Stanley Fish in particular. Finally, he includes descriptions of both a course of study and a projected utopia, to invite readers to participate in "the end of knowledge".
by "Nielsen BookData"