Jim Clark (see below) quotes Thomas Kuhn protesting against such
misconceptions of his pronouncements on science and epistemology as
"theory must be chosen for reasons that are ultimately personal and
subjective". This notion, I fear, has been taken up in the now
extensive literature (not to mention US university feminist studies
courses) purporting to show that there is a "feminist epistemology", or
more frequently, a "feminist science" that should be distinguished from
patriarchal traditional science. (In 1994 Paul Gross and Norman Levitt
observed that "Lately, a new academic industry has sprung up: feminist
criticism of science [which] claims to go to the heart of
methodological, conceptual, and epistemological foundations of science"
[*Higher Superstition*, 1994, p. 108].)
An interesting take on this:
"Feminists against traditional science, however, do not directly argue
for the claim that there is no unbiased stance to be had. Instead,
ironically, they appeal to male authority: e.g., Thomas Kuhn." ("The
Feminist Critique of Science", in Ellen R. Klein's *Feminism Under
Fire*, 1996, p. 44.)
Whether or not Klein is totally fair here to authors advocating a
distinctive feminist science, there is no disputing the fact that such
authors invariably cite Kuhn in support of their fundamental
contentions. In her chapter "Feminist Epistemology: Implications for
the Philosophy of Science", Cassandra L. Pinnock observes that
"[Sandra] Harding presents the strongest case for an epistemologically
relativist, feminist critique of science by using various
interpretations of T. Kuhn's *The Structure of Scientific Revolutions*
(1970) [among other sources]." (*Scrutinizing Feminist Epistemology: An
Examination of Gender in Science*, eds. Cassandra L. Pinnock, Noretta
Koertge, and Robert F. Almeder, 2003, p. 20.)
Interestingly, many of the most incisive critiques of a distinctive
feminist science and epistemology have come from feminists, e.g., Susan
Haack, Janet Radcliffe Richards, Cassandra L. Pinnock, Noretta Koertge,
Daphne Patai, Ellen R. Klein. My favourite chapter heading originating
from these authors is "Why Feminist Epistemology Isn't" (Janet
Radcliffe Richards, in *The Flight From Science and Reason*, eds. P.
Gross, N. Levitt and M. W. Lewis, 1997, pp. 385-412.)
Allen Esterson
Former lecturer, Science Department
Southwark College, London
allenester...@compuserve.com
http://www.esterson.org
------------------------------------------
Re: [tips] Crisis of the Humanities II - NYTimes.com
Jim Clark
Tue, 19 Oct 2010 20:59:56 -0700
>>> "michael sylvester" msylves...@copper.net> 19-Oct-10 9:27 PM >> (
>>> mailto:msylves...@copper.net> )
As a mobile disc jockey,I learnt that it is always best to play what
people
want to hear.I used to think that it would be nice to turn them on to
jazz but
it did not work.They wanted to hear David Allan Coe,Skynyrd,and AC/DC.
The
humanities and social sciences could possibly be history.Let me suggest
that
you read Thomas Kuhn
I have read Kuhn and particularly like the following passages:
"A number of them [philosophers], however, have reported that I believe
the
following: the proponents of incommensurable theories cannot
communicate with
each other at all; as a result, in a debate over theory-choice there
can be no
good reasons; instead theory must be chosen for reasons that are
ultimately
personal and subjective; some sort of mystical apperception is
responsible for
the decision actually reached. More than any other parts of the book,
the
passages on which these misconstructions rest have been responsible for
charges
of irrationality.
... Nothing about that relatively familiar thesis [i.e., importance of
persuasion] implies either that there are no good reasons for being
persuaded
or that those reasons are ultimately decisive for the group. Nor does
it even
imply that the reasons for choice are different from those usually
listed by
philosophers of science: accuracy, simplicity, fruitfulness, and the
like. "
(Kuhn, 1970, pp. 198-199)
Take care
Jim
James M. Clark
Professor of Psychology
204-786-9757
204-774-4134 Fax
j.cl...@uwinnipeg.ca
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