The New Interpretation Of Scientific Knowledge Legitimation

The dissertation contains the introduction, one special topic and the conclusion.The introduction explains the selection of the topic, motif, outline and significance of writing in details, simply introduces main contents of the special topic and clarifies the main conceptions and opinions in this dissertation. The purpose of this dissertation is to answer Kuhn's query about the legitimation of scientific knowledge, and points out western philosophers and sociologists attach great attention to the second of their two answers, namely the resolution to legitimation of scientific knowledge and discusses it in the following parts.The first part analyses the reason why Kuhn queries the legitimation of scientific knowledge and indicates that scientific philosophy begins to go on a new road due to Kuhn's work. The paper makes an analysis of the key conception "Paradigm Incommensurable", it leads to the problem of the legitimization of scientific knowledge, that is if science doesn't have the method to give birth to truths and ensuring approaching and entering truths, what can assure the legitimation of scientific knowledge proposition and the special authority scientific knowledge proposition possesses. This paper tries to answer these questions. At first, the paper enumerates different answers to the legitimation, thus expounds three resolutions of well recognized in the western academic circle.The second part makes an analysis and explanation of the conception of the guiding theory of and key questions aroused by the interest-oriented, truth-oriented and politics-oriented social epistemology. First of all, from the perspective of scientific sociology, the paper discusses interest-oriented social epistemology put forward by strong program and points out that social factors can explain social science as well as natural science, namely, the socialization of epistemology which goes beyond the limit imposed by Mannheim on sociology of knowledge. Furthermore, this part demonstratesthe explanation capacity of interest and purpose inner and outer science through the analysis of several cases. At the end, after analyzing the property of interest-oriented social epistemology, it indicates that the epistemology of this kind is a descriptive one which is not suitable for solving the problem with legitimation .Secondly, the paper expounds the truth-oriented social epistemology and makes a contrast between the minimal social epistemology and the maximal epistemology both of which are advocated by Kitcher and Fuller, emphasizing Goldman 's social epistemology. In addition, it also analyses the effectiveness of the truth-orientated social epistemology in solving the problem with legitimation, noting that this epistemology only highlights the research on legitimation. As a consequence, the truth-oriented social epistemology is not considered as a successful theory.Finally, the dissertation makes a discussion about the politics-oriented social epistemology. First, it compares Fuller' s research with Rouse' s research, it points out that Fuller avoids the dilemma of the legitimation for his political norms. The passage lists two political norms assumed by Fuller, making it clear that these two norms function on different research phases with respective objective and that Fuller should make an explanation of the norms and the analysis of knowledge policy because his research is normative. At last, it gives readers Fuller' s thoughts and suggestions on the scientific government and reasons why he oppose the explanation with "the invisible hand" .The last part of the dissertation summarizes that the purpose of this dissertation is to expound three kinds of social epistemology which are well recognized in the West through the analysis of their properties, contents and differentiations with the legitimation of knowledge as the basis for research. At the end of the dissertation, the paper points out social epistemology has been acknowledged by westen scholars and western academic circle ,though the scholars have different researching methods .