The Library

CSI : Kuhn and Latour

Tools

Fuller, Steve, 1959-. (2012) CSI : Kuhn and Latour. Social Studies of Science, Vol.42 (No.3). pp. 429-434. ISSN 0306-3127

Text
WRAP_Fuller_Fuller-comments-revised without edits.pdf - Accepted Version
Restricted to Repository staff only until 3 April 2013.
Download (160Kb)

Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0306312712437228

Abstract

I have been always most moved by those whose views I have ended up opposing. I say 'ended up' because the views are typically ones in which I originally invested considerable study and interest. But then a version of the 'familiarity breeds contempt' principle sets in, and my intellectual immune system generates antibodies that ward off later, more virulent strains of such thinkers' thoughts. So fortified, I welcome the opportunity to reflect on the significance of Kuhn (1962) and Latour (1987), who have been influential figures in my thinking about science and technology studies (STS) ever since I began to encounter the field as a graduate student in the early 1980s. In fact, I had read The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (SSR) as part of Columbia University's required general education course, 'Contemporary Civilization', in 1976. As for Latour's work, I first read Laboratory Life in Mary Hesse’s MPhil seminar at Cambridge in 1980, and I remember purchasing my copy of Science in Action (SIA) in the Brunel University bookshop shortly after it came out in 1987. I had been there, I believe, courtesy of early Latour collaborator Steve Woolgar. The trip also coincided with the founding of the journal Social Epistemology at the Taylor & Francis headquarters in London. In both cases, my first impression was very favourable – in a way that did not extend to the rest of their works.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	Q Science > Q Science (General)
Divisions:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Sociology
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Kuhn, Thomas S. -- Criticism and interpretation, Latour, Bruno -- Criticism and interpretation, Science -- Philosophy
Journal or Publication Title:	Social Studies of Science
Publisher:	Sage Publications Ltd.
ISSN:	0306-3127
Date:	2012
Volume:	Vol.42
Number:	No.3
Page Range:	pp. 429-434
Identification Number:	10.1177/0306312712437228
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access
References:	Collins H and Evans R (2007) Rethinking Expertise. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Ferris T (2011) The world of the intellectual vs. the world of the engineer. Wired, 3 October. Fuller S (1988) Social Epistemology. Bloomington IN: Indiana University Press. Fuller S (2000) Thomas Kuhn: A Philosophical History for Our Times. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Fuller S (2006) The Philosophy of Science and Technology Studies. London: Routledge. Fuller S (2007) New Frontiers in Science and Technology Studies. Cambridge UK: Polity. Gibbons M, Limoges C, Nowotny H, Schwartzman S, Scott P, and Trow M (1994) The New Production of Knowledge. London: Sage. Jacob F (1977) Evolution and tinkering. Science 196 (4295): 1161-1166. Kuhn TS (1962). The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Latour B (1987) Science in Action. Milton Keynes UK: Open University Press. Latour B (1988) The Pasteurization of France. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press. Latour B (2004) Why has critique run out of steam? From matters of fact to matters of concern. Critical Inquiry 30: 225-248. Schaefer W (ed.) (1984) Finalization in Science. Dordrecht: Reidel. Shapin S (2008) The Scientific Life: A Moral History of a Late Modern Vocation. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Suppe F (ed.) (1977) The Structure of Scientific Theories. Urbana IL: University of Illinois Press. Weingart P (1997) From finalization to Mode 2: Old wine in new bottles? Social Science Information 36 (4): 591-613.
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/47948