Experimental Systems

Historiality, Narration, and Deconstruction

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4516490
AutoresHans-Jörg Reinberger (University of Lübeck, autor de correspondencia)
Año1994
Volumen7
Número1
Páginas65-81
Fecha de publicación1994-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaScience in Context (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0269-8897 • E-ISSN: 1474-0664
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0269889700001599
OpenAlexW2030854005
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas55
Referencias citadas29

The ArgumentIn the first part of this paper, issues concerning an "epistemology of time" are raised. The Derridean theme of the historial movement of a trace is connected to Prigogine's notion of an operator-time. It is suggested that both conceptions can be used to characterize the dynamics of experimental systems in contemporary science. It is argued that such systems have, to speak with Hacking, "a life of their own" and that this is precisely the reason for their inherent unpredictability.In the second part, a case from the history of virology and cytomorphology is presented. The movement of a particular experimental system is followed in its peculiar tension between deferring and becoming different-i.e., between the persistence of a problem and the vagaries of its successive transformations. They are rendered possible by novel technical implementations, but they are not determined in any meaningful sense on a mere technological level.In conclusion, a point is made for a deconstructive approach to the history of science

Argument (complex analysis · Deconstruction (building · Hacker · Implementation · Theme (computing · History of Science and Medicine · Philosophy and History of Science