Depth Hermeneutics
Some Problems in Application to the Public Understanding of Science
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2327006 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Simon Locke (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1991 |
| Volume | 25 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 375-394 |
| Publication date | 1991-08-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Sociology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0038-0385 • E-ISSN: 1469-8684 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0038038591025003002 |
| OpenAlex | W2056144332 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 19 |
J. B. Thompson's recently proposed 'depth hermeneutical' method for the study of culture and ideology provides a clear and systematic account of the expectations of a critical approach to culture. However, in attempting to apply the method to one particular area of modern culture - science - certain unanticipated difficulties arise. In particular, there is exposed a crucial ambiguity regarding the relative status of the accounts offered by analysts and audiences, which if left unresolved threatens to undermine the whole intent of the method. This ambiguity is explored with reference to current research into one example of the public understanding of science - creationism - and the nature of scientists' discourse. It is suggested that the source of difficulty resides in Thompson's conception of the 'mobilised meaning' of cultural products, a conception that artificially restricts the range of possible meanings a given cultural product may have, in such a manner as to accord priority - albeit unintentionally - to analysts' readings, thereby undermining the stated view of audience readings as critical appropriations. Consequently, it is considered doubtful that Thompson has been fully successful in his aim to go beyond the limitations of 'semiotic' analyses
Ambiguity · Epistemology · Hermeneutics · Ideology · Linguistics · Meaning (existential) · Political science · Politics · Product (mathematics) · Semiotics · Social science · Sociology · Discourse Analysis in Language Studies · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition · Law · Philosophy · Rhetoric and Communication Studies
On the margins of science
Toward a rational society
A matter of record
British Social Attitudes: Special International Report
Science & Technology Studies
The Word and the World
The Dominant Ideology Thesis
Studies in the Theory of Ideology
Objectivity and elites
The encoding / decoding model
New Social Movements
Abusing Science, the Case against Creationism
Heresy, orthodoxy, and the politics of science
Opening Pandora's box
In the Beginning
The Construction of the Paranormal
Mass Communication and Modern Culture
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |