Feminist Research On Scientific Objectivity

As a core in philosophy of science, the issue of objectivity in science is always under debate. The traditional epistemology is based on the separation of the fact and the value that is the presupposition of the objection, and the logic empiricism is the representative theory in it. Criticized by the historism in philosophy of science, the issue of objectivity pays more attention on the role of the knower, especially their social-political factors, so there comes to be feminism in 70s last century which develops "the epistemology of feminism" that focuses on the experience of women in activities of science. It deals with the issue of objection from the special ways of women's mind and doubt the tradition of the western science, namely science is neutral, value-free and objective. Feminism uses the concept "gender" to see the masculine in science, and they find out that not only the tradition but also the myth the science is naturally patriarchy so that let women out from the history of science. All that feminism want is to criticize the science and try to reconstruct the issue of objectivity. Only through this work, more different ideas will be included and then a good science can be obtained. Though we should admit that the theory of feminism is complicated and their debate on issue of objectivity is sometimes confused with relativism, obviously we can see the figure of the issue of objectivity and the tension between traditional theory of philosophy of science and the postmodernism, what is the point of this research.