ABSTRACT
Originally published in 1986. This work remains of compelling interest to those concerned with the natural sciences and their social problems. It puts forward original and unorthodox ideas about the philosophy of and sociology of science, starting from the conviction that modern societies face deep problems arising from unresolved dilemmas about the meaning, content and technical applications of the theories of nature they employ. The book draws on insights developed within a variety of traditions to explore these problems, especially the work of Edmund Husserl and modern critical theory.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part I|100 pages
The sociology of science: Issues and hypotheses, orientations and disorientations
chapter 1|28 pages
Antecedents: Science and society; objectivism; some philosophical issues
chapter 3|44 pages
The philosophy of science and social theory: The contemporary debates
part II|70 pages
Husserl: Insights and dilemmas
part III|59 pages
Objectivist science and capitalism: The possibility of non-objectivist science
chapter 6|34 pages
Objectivity and capitalism: The theory of fetishism
chapter 7|23 pages
Relativity theory and philosophy
part IV|62 pages
The diversity within modern science
chapter 8|23 pages
Phenomenology and structuralism
chapter 9|37 pages
Quantum mechanics and philosophy
part V|75 pages
Introduction to the sociology of objectivity
chapter 10|40 pages
Introduction to the theory of object domains
chapter 11|33 pages
The sociology of objectivity
part VI|10 pages
Conclusions