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'Stop Talking about Science!': A Resopnse to Labinger.

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Bibliographic Details
Title: 'Stop Talking about Science!': A Resopnse to Labinger.
Authors: Stockdale, Alan1 stockdale@binah.cc.brandeis.edu
Source: Social Studies of Science (Sage Publications, Ltd.). May95, Vol. 25 Issue 2, p337-341. 5p.
Subject Terms: *Cultural studies, Science & society, Philosophy of science, Social scientists, Debate
People: Labinger, Jay
Abstract: In the article, the author comments on the article "Science As Culture: A View From the Petri Dish," by Jay A. Labinger, published in this issue of the journal "Social Studies of Science." Labinger has posed some interesting questions regarding the relation of what he terms social and cultural studies of science (SCS) to science. In general the author is in agreement with his aims, although he is not convinced that there is as much compartmentalization as he assumes, or that there is not already significant dialogue between some scientists and SCSers. The relation of SCS to science is frequently conceptualized as the meeting of two monolithic entities. The binary framing lends itself to an extremely impoverished and polarized debate. Labinger frames the problem in a similar fashion, hut more as a provocation towards expanding productive interaction. Much of the critical power of SCSs lies in the detailed investigation of examples of scientific work. As a consequence, there is a rather abstract and stagnant debate about whether scientific knowledge is a social, a natural or a literary construction.
Database: Education Research Complete
Description
Abstract:In the article, the author comments on the article "Science As Culture: A View From the Petri Dish," by Jay A. Labinger, published in this issue of the journal "Social Studies of Science." Labinger has posed some interesting questions regarding the relation of what he terms social and cultural studies of science (SCS) to science. In general the author is in agreement with his aims, although he is not convinced that there is as much compartmentalization as he assumes, or that there is not already significant dialogue between some scientists and SCSers. The relation of SCS to science is frequently conceptualized as the meeting of two monolithic entities. The binary framing lends itself to an extremely impoverished and polarized debate. Labinger frames the problem in a similar fashion, hut more as a provocation towards expanding productive interaction. Much of the critical power of SCSs lies in the detailed investigation of examples of scientific work. As a consequence, there is a rather abstract and stagnant debate about whether scientific knowledge is a social, a natural or a literary construction.
ISSN:03063127
DOI:10.1177/030631295025002013