Determinants and Controls of Scientific Development

This book constitutes the outcome of an international conference held at the Otto-Mobes-Volkswirtschaftsschule, Graz-Stifting( Austria), from June 16 to 22, 1974. The conference was initiated by a project group working on determinants and controls of social science development at the In­ stitute for Advanced Studies and Scientific Research in Vienna and or­ ganized by the editors of this volume. It was held under the auspices of the Austrian Ministry of Science and Research. The main topics of the conference were those at the forefront of the 'state of argumentation' (to borrow from one of our contributors) in philosophy and sociology of science ever since the controversy between Thomas S. Kuhn and Sir Karl R. Popper has sharpened our awareness for the methodological and substantial presuppositions involved with questions of growth and development in science. Let us give two examples of those topics. The borderline between sociology of science and philo­ sophy of science has become more and more unclear; while the work of at least some philosophers of science comes to have an empirical flavour, sociologists of science are increasingly apt to include logical and methodo­ logical components of the research process as their objects of examina­ tion. Papers included in this volume testify to both tendencies.

Contenu

Section A / After the Kuhnian Revolution: New Trends in Metascience.- Prescriptive Theory and the Social Sciences.- Components of Scientific Activities, Their Characteristics and Institutionalisation in Specialties and Research Areas: A Framework for the Comparative Analysis of Scientific Developments.- On the Possibility of Objectivity and Moral Determinants in Scientific Change.- The Moral Limits of Scientific Research: An Evolutionary Approach.- Preserving Science: Virtuosity as Virtue.- Section B / Cognition and Communication in Science Development.- A Sociological Theory of Scientific Revolution.- The Social Function of Cognitive Structures: A Concept of the Scientific Community Within a Theory of Action.- The Nature of Scientific Consensus and the Case of the Social Sciences.- Images of the World and Societal Icons.- Section C / Societal Components in Scientific Development.- Measurable Aspects of the Concept of Scientific Career.- Scientists from Rich and Poor Countries.- The Autonomy of Science in Totalitarian Societies: The Case of Nazi Germany.- Philanthropic Foundations and the Production of Knowledge - A Case Study.- Comment on David E. Morrison's Paper on Philanthropic Foundations and the Production of Knowledge - A Case Study.- The Social Determinants of Reproduction Science and Technology.- Social Technologists and Social Emancipists: Factors in the Development of Sociology.- Index of Names.- Index of Subjects.