· 2013
Social Constructivism and the Philosophy of Science
- 537citations
- 2013year
Short summary
Philosopher André Kukla argues that current objections to social constructivism in science are inconclusive, but he also develops novel objections distinguishing social causes of belief from the claim that all facts are constructed.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Social constructivism suggests science invents world properties, not discovers them.
- Existing philosophical objections to constructivism are deemed inconclusive.
- New objections distinguish social causes of scientific beliefs from the construction of facts.
- The paper analyzes various constructivist arguments and their limitations.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Social constructionists maintain that we invent the properties of the world rather than discover them. Is reality constructed by our own activity? Do we collectively invent the world rather than discover it?André Kukla presents a comprehensive discussion of the philosophical issues that arise out of this debate, analysing the various strengths and weaknesses of a range of constructivist arguments and arguing that current philosophical objections to constructivism are inconclusive. However, Kukla offers and develops new objections to constructivism, distinguishing between the social causes of scientific beliefs and the view that all ascertainable facts are constructed.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source., 2013 · DOI ↗
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Field: History and Philosophy of Science
History and Philosophy of ScienceArts and Humanities