David Bloor
Biographic Data
| ID | 300053 |
|---|---|
| NAME | David Bloor |
| GIVEN NAMES | David |
| FAMILY NAME | Bloor |
| SIGNATURE | BLOOR D |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Edinburgh |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 52 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 701 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 52 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1970 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2016 |
| H-INDEX | 8 |
Relativism Versus Absolutism
This essay is a follow-up to a previous article by the author, "Epistemic Grace: Antirelativism as Theology in Disguise," published in Common Knowledge 13, nos. 2-3 (2007): 250-80. Its central claim was that relativism and absolutism should be understood as categories that are mutually exclusive and jointly exhaustive; the two categories form a dichotomy, and thus the rejection of absolutism is a necessary and sufficient condition for the embrace…
Strong Program, Sociology of
Reply to Christopher Norris
In this paper David Bloor defends his sociological analysis of the disputes over the nature of aerodynamic lift described in his historical study The Enigma of the Aerofoil (2011). The criticisms expressed by Christopher Norris are rejected on the grounds that Norris systematically misrepresents the strong programme in the sociology of knowledge, e.g. by treating the principle of explanatory symmetry as if it meant ‘parity of esteem‘. Some of the…
The Network Collective
First-hand account of the rise and fall of a scientific paradigm Shows how scientific fiction turns to fact Highlights the origin of scientific hype Includes interviews with prominent scientists The network paradigm dominated immunological research from the early 1970s to the late 1980s. The originator, Niels Jerne, hypothesized that the vast diversity of antibodies in each individual forms a network of mutual "idiotypic" recognition, thus regula…
Sichtbarmachung, common sense and construction in fluid mechanics
Ideals and monisms
Epistemic Grace
Research Article| August 01 2007 Epistemic Grace: Antirelativism as Theology in Disguise David Bloor David Bloor Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Common Knowledge (2007) 13 (2-3): 250–280. https://doi.org/10.1215/0961754X-2007-007 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Twitter Permissions Search Site Citation David Bloor; Epistemic Grace: Antirelativism as Theology in Disguise. Common Knowledge 1 August 2007; 13 (2-3): 250–280.…
Institutions and Rule-Scepticism
In the original exchange with Michael Lynch two things were at stake: first, we disagreed on the best way to analyse science as a social activity, and second, we disagreed on how to exploit the legacy ofWittgenstein's work in the course of such an analysis (see Pickering, 1992). Lynch opts for an ethnomethodological approach, which is descriptive but not explanatory in any causal way; I opt for a form of the sociology of knowledge in which the as…
Boundaries, Contingencies and Rigor
A case study in the history of transonic aerodynamics, circa 1950, is used as a basis for reflecting on the character of the distinction between pure and applied mathematics, including the mathematics used by engineers. The case study is set against an historical background of disciplinary confrontation led by such eminent representatives of mathematics and aerodynamics as Garrett Birkhoff and Theodore von Kármán. The successful attempt to constr…
Obituary
What is a Social Construct
Ian Hacking The Social Construction of What? Cambridge, MA
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
For the Record
Anti-Latour
A Civil Skepticism
Changing Axes
The dialogue between natural scientists and sociologists has never been extensive. As everyone in our field knows, it is currently in danger of breaking down almost entirely. In the rancorous atmosphere created by recent attacks on the sociology of knowledge it is a pleasure to see a different attitude find expression, one which may be critical but which is also generous and civilized. Every sane person knows this is central to scientific activit…
Wittgenstein, Rules and Institutions
Thomas S. Kuhn (18 July 1922 - 17 June 1996)
Scientific Knowledge
Observation and experience interpretation words and world beyond experiences sociological projects drawing boundaries proof and self-evidence
Wittgenstein, rules and institutions
Remember the Strong Program
Before arriving at the Science Studies Unit in 1967 I took a degree in experimental psychology at Cambridge. Richard Gregory and Donald Broadbent were just two of the fine group of experimentalists Cambridge housed at that time. My exposure to the Psychological Laboratory and the Applied Psychology Unit was intellectually exciting, and I acquired a great respect for the discipline. It provided me with an orientation I have never lost. I want to m…
Remember the « Strong Programme
L’article propose une défense de la sociologie du savoir scientifique appelé le « Programme fort ». (Le « Programme faible » offre seulement une explication sociologique de l’erreur ou de la déviation). Le « Programme fort » considère que tous les énoncés de savoir ont besoin d’une explication de leur crédibilité. L’article propose de mettre en relation la position sociologique avec une position analogue développée par les psychologues de Cambrid…
Idealism and the Sociology of Knowledge
The sociology of scientific knowledge is an empirical discipline, but occasionally it can be fruitful to reflect on its methodological basis. Critics have sometimes claimed that it is committed to a form of `idealism' — that is, to discounting or playing down the input of the material world. This arises because sociologists often sum up their conclusions by saying that `knowledge is a social institution', or that `concepts are institutions'. If w…
The Threat of Logical Mathematism
The moving forces of history
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
Knowledge and social imagery
Anti-Latour
Wittgenstein and Mannheim on the sociology of mathematics
Durkheim and Mauss revisited
II.2 The Strengths of the Strong Programme
Idealism and the Sociology of Knowledge
The sociology of scientific knowledge is an empirical discipline, but occasionally it can be fruitful to reflect on its methodological basis. Critics have sometimes claimed that it is committed to a form of `idealism' — that is, to discounting or playing down the input of the material world. This arises because sociologists often sum up their conclusions by saying that `knowledge is a social institution', or that `concepts are institutions'. If w…
Epistemic Grace
Research Article| August 01 2007 Epistemic Grace: Antirelativism as Theology in Disguise David Bloor David Bloor Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Common Knowledge (2007) 13 (2-3): 250–280. https://doi.org/10.1215/0961754X-2007-007 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Twitter Permissions Search Site Citation David Bloor; Epistemic Grace: Antirelativism as Theology in Disguise. Common Knowledge 1 August 2007; 13 (2-3): 250–280.…
Cognitive Models of Science
Remember the Strong Program
Before arriving at the Science Studies Unit in 1967 I took a degree in experimental psychology at Cambridge. Richard Gregory and Donald Broadbent were just two of the fine group of experimentalists Cambridge housed at that time. My exposure to the Psychological Laboratory and the Applied Psychology Unit was intellectually exciting, and I acquired a great respect for the discipline. It provided me with an orientation I have never lost. I want to m…
The Living Foundations of Mathematics
Eric Livingston's book, The Ethnomethodological Foundations of Mathematics, addresses two of the most intriguing and difficult questions in the philosophy of mathematics. First, what is the nature of mathematical objects, for example, the circles and lines mentioned in geometrical theorems? Second, what is the nature of the compulsion that attaches to mathematical reasoning? The idealized and perfect circles whose properties are revealed in Eucli…
Boundaries, Contingencies and Rigor
A case study in the history of transonic aerodynamics, circa 1950, is used as a basis for reflecting on the character of the distinction between pure and applied mathematics, including the mathematics used by engineers. The case study is set against an historical background of disciplinary confrontation led by such eminent representatives of mathematics and aerodynamics as Garrett Birkhoff and Theodore von Kármán. The successful attempt to constr…
Changing Axes
The dialogue between natural scientists and sociologists has never been extensive. As everyone in our field knows, it is currently in danger of breaking down almost entirely. In the rancorous atmosphere created by recent attacks on the sociology of knowledge it is a pleasure to see a different attitude find expression, one which may be critical but which is also generous and civilized. Every sane person knows this is central to scientific activit…
Institutions and Rule-Scepticism
In the original exchange with Michael Lynch two things were at stake: first, we disagreed on the best way to analyse science as a social activity, and second, we disagreed on how to exploit the legacy ofWittgenstein's work in the course of such an analysis (see Pickering, 1992). Lynch opts for an ethnomethodological approach, which is descriptive but not explanatory in any causal way; I opt for a form of the sociology of knowledge in which the as…
A reply to Gerd Buchdahl
Ideals and monisms
Reply to J.W. Smith
Relativism Versus Absolutism
This essay is a follow-up to a previous article by the author, "Epistemic Grace: Antirelativism as Theology in Disguise," published in Common Knowledge 13, nos. 2-3 (2007): 250-80. Its central claim was that relativism and absolutism should be understood as categories that are mutually exclusive and jointly exhaustive; the two categories form a dichotomy, and thus the rejection of absolutism is a necessary and sufficient condition for the embrace…
Sichtbarmachung, common sense and construction in fluid mechanics
A Civil Skepticism
Remember the « Strong Programme
L’article propose une défense de la sociologie du savoir scientifique appelé le « Programme fort ». (Le « Programme faible » offre seulement une explication sociologique de l’erreur ou de la déviation). Le « Programme fort » considère que tous les énoncés de savoir ont besoin d’une explication de leur crédibilité. L’article propose de mettre en relation la position sociologique avec une position analogue développée par les psychologues de Cambrid…
Ordinary Human Inference as Material for the Sociology of Knowledge
Robert Nola claims that 'ordinary human inference' refutes the strong programme in the sociology of knowledge.' Since there are lots of such inferences, the result is a plethora of counter-examples. These reveal the sociology of knowledge, in the form defended by the present writer, to be an untenable construction based on 'fantastic' (125) behaviourist assumptions, denying any role to cognitive processes and postulating 'unmediated' stimulus-res…
Coleridge's Moral Copula
In 1840 J.S. Mill surveyed the intellectual landscape around him and reported that it was dominated by two great figures: Jeremy Bentham and Samuel Taylor Coleridge.' Between them, he said, they defined the terms of reflective thought, embodying the choices that had to be made and the dilemmas that had to be resolved. Cold calculation or warm sentiment? Individualism or community? Utilitarianism or Romanticism? If Mill was right then we should ex…
The structure of scientific inference
Is the Official Theory of Mind Absurd
Wittgenstein and Mannheim on the sociology of mathematics
Rearguard Rationalism Human Understanding. Volume I
A Philosophical Approach to Science
In October 1967, the Science Studies Unit at Edinburgh University began teaching courses on social aspects of science and technology to undergraduates in Science Faculty. From the start, these courses drew material from the disciplines of philosophy, history and sociology, selected in such a way as to introduce science students most effectively 'to ways of analysing the role of the scientist (both within the scientific community and in society at…
The structure of scientific inference
Knowledge and Social Imagery
The first edition of this book profoundly challenged and divided students of philosophy, sociology, and the history of science when it was published in 1976. In this second edition, Bloor responds in a substantial new Afterword to the heated debates engendered by his book.Bloor's book came out as a broadside that announced a new approach to the history and philosophy of science, an approach that became known as the strong programme.' . . . Now, a…
Polyhedra and the Abominations of Leviticus
How are social and institutional circumstances linked to the knowledge that scientists produce? To answer this question it is necessary to take risks: speculative but testable theories must be proposed. It will be my aim to explain and then apply one such theory. This will enable me to propose an hypothesis about the connexion between social processes and the style and content of mathematical knowledge
The Making of Mind
II.2 The Strengths of the Strong Programme
A reply to Gerd Buchdahl
Reply to Steven Lukes
Durkheim and Mauss revisited
Wittgenstein
This series aims to create a forum for debate between different theoretical and philosophical traditions in the social sciences. As well as covering broad schools of thought, the series will also concentrate upon the work of particular thinkers whose ideas have had a major impact on social science (these books appear under the sub-series title of "Theoretical Traditions in the Social Sciences"). The series is not limited to abstract theoretical d…
Coleridge's Moral Copula
In 1840 J.S. Mill surveyed the intellectual landscape around him and reported that it was dominated by two great figures: Jeremy Bentham and Samuel Taylor Coleridge.' Between them, he said, they defined the terms of reflective thought, embodying the choices that had to be made and the dilemmas that had to be resolved. Cold calculation or warm sentiment? Individualism or community? Utilitarianism or Romanticism? If Mill was right then we should ex…
The Strengths of the Strong Programme
The Sociology of Reasons
A Sociological Theory of Objectivity
I want to propose to you a theory about the nature of objectivity—a theory which will tell us something about its causes, its intrinsic character, and its sources of variation. The theory in question is very simple. Indeed, it is so simple that I fear you will reject it out of hand. Here is the theory: it is that objectivity is social . What I mean by saying that objectivity is social is that the impersonal and stable character that attaches to s…
Wittgenstein
Reply to J.W. Smith
Wittgenstein
The Living Foundations of Mathematics
Eric Livingston's book, The Ethnomethodological Foundations of Mathematics, addresses two of the most intriguing and difficult questions in the philosophy of mathematics. First, what is the nature of mathematical objects, for example, the circles and lines mentioned in geometrical theorems? Second, what is the nature of the compulsion that attaches to mathematical reasoning? The idealized and perfect circles whose properties are revealed in Eucli…
Knowledge and Reflexivity
Knowledge and social imagery
Wittgenstein's Lectures
Ordinary Human Inference as Material for the Sociology of Knowledge
Robert Nola claims that 'ordinary human inference' refutes the strong programme in the sociology of knowledge.' Since there are lots of such inferences, the result is a plethora of counter-examples. These reveal the sociology of knowledge, in the form defended by the present writer, to be an untenable construction based on 'fantastic' (125) behaviourist assumptions, denying any role to cognitive processes and postulating 'unmediated' stimulus-res…
Epistemology (40 works) · Philosophy (40 works) · Sociology (35 works) · Philosophy (25 works) · Computer Science (17 works) · Philosophy and History of Science (12 works) · Political science (12 works) · Psychology (10 works) · Social science (9 works) · Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice (7 works)