scholarly journals Introduction: The History of Social Epistemology

Episteme ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederick F. Schmitt ◽  
Oliver R. Scholz
Keyword(s):  
Social Factors ◽  
Social Epistemology ◽  
Social Factor ◽  
Sociology Of Science ◽  
Library Science ◽  
Epistemic Value ◽  
The Status ◽  
History Of ◽  
And Function ◽  
Contemporary Epistemology

Social epistemology is a burgeoning branch of contemporary epistemology. Since the 1970s, philosophers have taken an ever-increasing interest in such topics as the epistemic value of testimony, the nature and function of expertise, the proper distribution of cognitive labor and resources among individuals in communities, and the status of group reasoning and knowledge. This trend emerged against the resistance of the widely shared view that social considerations are largely irrelevant to epistemological concerns. The trend was stimulated by diverse approaches to the study of knowledge, in such fields as library science, educational theory, the sociology of science, and economics, and within philosophy itself, in the decades preceding the 1980s. To name only a few influences within philosophy, W. V. Quine promoted a naturalistic approach to knowledge, and many who accepted the relevance of nature to epistemology found it sensible to accept the relevance of social factors as well. Thomas S. Kuhn suggested that social factors precipitate revolutionary conceptual and doctrinal changes in the history of science. And feminist epistemologists uncovered the importance of gender differences in knowledge – a species of social factor.

scholarly journals Is science communication its own field?

2010 ◽  
Vol 09 (03) ◽  
pp. C04 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toss Gascoigne ◽  
Donghong Cheng ◽  
Michel Claessens ◽  
Jennifer Metcalfe ◽  
Bernard Schiele ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Science Communication ◽  
Academic Discipline ◽  
Sociology Of Science ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Research Field ◽  
Academic Disciplines ◽  
Common View ◽  
The Status ◽  
Disciplinary Field ◽  
History Of

The present comment examines to what extent science communication has attained the status of an academic discipline and a distinct research field, as opposed to the common view that science communication is merely a sub-discipline of media studies, sociology of science or history of science. Against this background, the authors of this comment chart the progress science communication has made as an emerging subject over the last 50 years in terms of a number of measures. Although discussions are still ongoing about the elements that must be present to constitute a legitimate disciplinary field, we show here that science communication meets four key elements that constitute an analytical framework to classify academic disciplines: the presence of a community; a history of inquiry; a mode of inquiry that defines how data is collected; and the existence of a communications network.

Social epistemology

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederick F. Schmitt
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Common Sense ◽  
Social Epistemology ◽  
Sociology Of Knowledge ◽  
Sociology Of Science ◽  
Epistemic Status ◽  
Normative Study ◽  
The Status ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Individual

Social epistemology is the conceptual and normative study of the relevance to knowledge of social relations, interests and institutions. It is thus to be distinguished from the sociology of knowledge, which is an empirical study of the contingent social conditions or causes of what is commonly taken to be knowledge. Social epistemology revolves around the question of whether knowledge is to be understood individualistically or socially. Epistemology has traditionally ascribed a secondary status to beliefs indebted to social relations – to testimony, expert authority, consensus, common sense and received wisdom. Such beliefs could attain the status of knowledge, if at all, only by being based on first-hand knowledge – that is, knowledge justified by the experience or reason of the individual knower. Since the work of the common sense Scottish philosopher Thomas Reid in the mid-eighteenth century, epistemologists have from time to time taken seriously the idea that beliefs indebted to social relations have a primary and not merely secondary epistemic status. The bulk of work in social epistemology has, however, been done since Thomas Kuhn depicted scientific revolutions as involving social changes in science. Work on the subject since 1980 has been inspired by the ‘strong programme’ in the sociology of science, by feminist epistemology and by the naturalistic epistemology of W.V. Quine. These influences have inspired epistemologists to rethink the role of social relations – especially testimony – in knowledge. The subject that has emerged may be divided into three branches: the place of social factors in the knowledge possessed by individuals; the organization of individuals’ cognitive labour; and the nature of collective knowledge, including common sense, consensus and common, group, communal and impersonal knowledge.

scholarly journals On the International Roots of Prehistory (2002)

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc-Antoine Kaeser
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Social Factors ◽  
Sociology Of Science ◽  
History Of Ideas ◽  
Careful Examination ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
Historical Case ◽  
The Past ◽  
History Of ◽  
Identity Based

In recent years, considerable attention has been dedicated to the involvement of archaeology (and most notably prehistory) with nationalism. The probable causes of this recent fashion need not concern us here, but the movement itself is certainly welcome, testifying to the reflection of archaeologists on their own practices and those of their predecessors. For historians, this trend is quite welcome in so far as it contributes to a general renaissance of interest in the past of the discipline. However, a more careful examination of this historiography leads us to some caution about its significance. First, the majority of these historical studies adopt an internalist perspective that, combined with their self-declared reflexiveness, confers on them a rather presentist character. The result belongs to some sort of ‘history of ideas’ that has been embellished with a few sociological insights of varying subtlety. In line with the old sociology of science, social factors are only invoked to explain the ‘errors’ of archaeology. Such errors, therefore, always seem to be accounted for by external and, by definition, pernicious influences. As a consequence our discipline always escapes unscathed: its ‘purity’ is not at stake, simply because it is always ‘society’ and ‘politics’ that abuse it. Moreover, most attention is given to the interpretations of the past, not to archaeological research as such. It is not the historical practice of the discipline that is then under consideration, but rather its thematic scope—which is quite a different matter. However, conceptions of identity based on the past are by no means the exclusive preserve of archaeology. No one has been waiting for the birth of our discipline in order to gloat over the ‘heroic deeds of our glorious ancestors’. As a matter of fact, in terms of nationalism, archaeology has entered quite late into the fray, on a terrain that was by then already demarcated. The wealth of historical case studies suggests that from its origins, archaeology, and more specifically prehistoric archaeology, has been strictly dependent on the emergence of national ideologies. The general impression is clear: were it not for the dynamics of modern nationalism, the argument goes, our discipline would never have emerged.

The Character and Function of a Pioneer Elite: Rural California 1848–1880

1981 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 377-389
Author(s):  
R. A. Burchell
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cultural Control ◽  
American People ◽  
Westward Expansion ◽  
Founding Fathers ◽  
The Status ◽  
History Of ◽  
And Function

The history of the United States has been described again and again as the history of change, motion and instability. From Tocqueville to Turner, from Bancroft to Billington, from Berthoff to Thernstrom, the accent has been laid on the dynamic — whether it be democratisation, westward expansion, immigration, internal migration or “Americanisation.” It would appear almost incontrovertible that by 1900 the American people were unsettled, in search of order, pressured by the “M Factor,” responding unhappily to industrialism. Yet a number of questions may be asked: where, leaving aside the American Civil War as a very special case, is the evidence of large-scale dissatisfaction with and rebellion against the status quo; where is the evidence that, as the nation expanded west and its institutions extended over ever wider territories, they weakened and fell into disrepute; why did the United States succeed in reaching the Pacific in one piece rather than as several republics, as some of the Founding Fathers feared? One answer might be that the American people formed a consensus after all, but that is not the argument here. It is not necessary to involve the whole American people in an explanation of continuities, for the purpose here is to show how conservative, stabilising cultural control was in one case successfully provided by the few and not the many.

Acclamations in the Later Roman Empire: New Evidence from Aphrodisias

1984 ◽  
Vol 74 ◽  
pp. 181-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte Roueché
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Sixth Century ◽  
The West ◽  
Roman Society ◽  
The Status ◽  
History Of ◽  
And Function ◽  
New Evidence ◽  
Late Roman

This article has been engendered by yet another important discovery made during the current excavations at Aphrodisias in Caria, of a unique series of acclamatory texts in honour of a local benefactor, Albinus. The texts were inscribed, probably in the first half of the sixth century, on the twenty columns of the west portico of the Agora, nineteen of which survive. They provide relatively little information either about Albinus or about the history of Aphrodisias; but they are of outstanding interest as the fullest series of inscribed acclamations which has yet been identified anywhere. The purpose of this article is to consider the status and function of acclamations in late Roman society, and their relationship to earlier practice, in order to assess the full significance of the texts presented here.

scholarly journals The Gap in the Law and the Border-Breaching Function of the Exception

Konturen ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tracy McNulty
Keyword(s):  
Political Theology ◽  
Jewish Law ◽  
Logical Function ◽  
Logical Problem ◽  
Borderline Cases ◽  
Topological Interpretation ◽  
The Status ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Law ◽  
And Function

This paper evaluates the status and function of the border in the two polemics that bookend the long history of political theology: Paul’s polemic against the Jewish law, and Carl Schmitt’s critique of constitutional liberalism. Paul and Schmitt both challenge spatial notions of law that establish a boundary between an “inside” and an “outside” by topologizing “inside” and “outside” as continuous: through the “fulfillment of the law” in Paul, and through the strategy of sovereign exception in Schmitt. Schmitt even describes sovereignty as a “border concept,” a Grenzbegriff: a concept that pertains to borderline cases, but perhaps at the same time a concept of the border, one that proposes a particular interpretation of the border and its logical function. The essay argues that Schmitt’s contribution to the logical problem of law as border is to claim that the border need not be written, and that the sovereign exception is not of the order of a writing, but a “miracle” that is by nature unwritten and unwritable. The Hebraic tradition of law that is the object of Paul’s polemic offers another way of considering the border, as the function of the written law. It conceives of law not as a normative representation of an existing situation, but as the delimination of a space or gap that may not be transgressed. While the fulfillment of the law and the sovereign exception bypass the limit implied in the law, offering a topological interpretation of the border as what integrates “inside” and “outside” into a new whole, the Hebraic law aligns the border with the logical function of negation. The essay approaches these different accounts of the border by way of Lacan’s distinction between the imaginary and symbolic dimensions of law. The imaginary is the “incarnated” dimension of law, while the symbolic corresponds to the function of speech as a barrier or limit, and involves a spacing and negation, the introduction of a gap or emptiness that precludes anything like a “whole.”

scholarly journals Military Forces in Judaea 6–130 ce: The status quaestionis and Relevance for New Testament Studies

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher B. Zeichmann
Keyword(s):  
Social History ◽  
New Testament ◽  
Biblical Studies ◽  
Roman Army ◽  
New Testament Studies ◽  
The Status ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
History Of ◽  
And Function ◽  
The Military

The study of the military in the Roman provinces of Judaea is not the most accessible topic. Though the data upon which scholars rely is familiar (e.g., epigraphs, papyri, ancient historians), its study requires significant methodological deviations from biblical studies. This article summarizes key points relevant for scholars of both Jewish antiquity and early Christianity. First, it provides a summary of recent developments in the social history of the Roman army in the Near East, attending especially to the question of the role and function of soldiers in that region. Second, this article provides a brief social history for all military units in Judaea before it was renamed Syria Palaestina in 130 ce (four legions, 14 infantry cohortes, and five cavalry alae), based on the latest discoveries. Finally, the article concludes with a section discussing two issues specific to New Testament studies: the presence of an Italian cohort in Judaea (Acts 10) and the issue of the Augustan cohort in Judaea and Batanaea (Acts 27).

Psychosocial Background History of Pregnant Women with Opioid Use Disorder: A Prospective Cohort Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (09) ◽  
pp. 924-928
Author(s):  
Craig V. Towers ◽  
Emily Katz ◽  
Emily Liske ◽  
Mark Hennessy ◽  
Lynlee Wolfe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cohort Study ◽  
Prenatal Care ◽  
Pregnant Women ◽  
Social Factors ◽  
Social Factor ◽  
Opioid Use Disorder ◽  
Office Visits ◽  
Opioid Use ◽  
History Of ◽  
Background History

Objective This study aimed to evaluate the psychosocial background history and confounding social factors in pregnant women with opioid use disorder (OUD). Study Design We performed a prospective observational cohort study of pregnant women from a dedicated obstetrical OUD clinic. Data collection came from extensive interview sessions regarding psychosocial background events and other social factors that might impact prenatal care. Results From February 1, 2017, through September 30, 2018, 411 pregnant women were evaluated and 294 (72%, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 67–76%) reported abuse of which 217 (53%, 95% CI: 48–58%) involved sexual abuse (prior to the age of 13 years in 54% of cases) and 209 (51%, 95% CI: 46–56%) involved cases of other physical abuse. Only 10% reported habitual opioid use for managing chronic pain. Only 9% had a valid driver's license with access to a car making transportation to office visits difficult. Conclusion A history of abuse (mainly sexual and/or physical) appears to be the main precipitating event leading to OUD in our pregnant population. Transportation was the primary social factor limiting access to prenatal care. For primary prevention to be successful in our region, early identification of young women who have experienced abuse needs to occur followed by psychotherapy health care intervention before opioid drugs are used.

The status of Gideon Mantell's “first” Iguanodon tooth in the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

1997 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 397-421 ◽  
Author(s):  
JOHN C. YALDWYN ◽  
GARRY J. TEE ◽  
ALAN P. MASON
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Charles Lyell ◽  
The Status ◽  
History Of ◽  
Gideon Mantell

A worn Iguanodon tooth from Cuckfield, Sussex, illustrated by Mantell in 1827, 1839, 1848 and 1851, was labelled by Mantell as the first tooth sent to Baron Cuvier in 1823 and acknowledged as such by Sir Charles Lyell. The labelled tooth was taken to New Zealand by Gideon's son Walter in 1859. It was deposited in a forerunner of the Museum of New Zealand, Wellington in 1865 and is still in the Museum, mounted on a card bearing annotations by both Gideon Mantell and Lyell. The history of the Gideon and Walter Mantell collection in the Museum of New Zealand is outlined, and the Iguanodon tooth and its labels are described and illustrated. This is the very tooth which Baron Cuvier first identified as a rhinoceros incisor on the evening of 28 June 1823.

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