| With the development of modern science,scientism has been out of the dominant position,from empiricism to positivism,to Mahism,pragmatism,and finally turning to linguistics.Natural sciences have been studying in philosophy of science based on rationalism,and advanced by experience,facts and experiments step by step.But after 40 or 50s last century,with the development of natural science,the problem also gradually appear,show the contradictory of scientific culture and humanistic culture,environment,ecology,ethics,and a series of problems occurred frequently.Therefore,the logical positivism position slowly began to decline,the scientific attitude has undergone various differences,which appeared in Popper's critical rationalism,and in 60s at the beginning of the history,representative of Kuhn.Kuhn's "paradigm" and "incommensurability" thought contains many elements of relativism,produce a great influence on the later philosophy of science,and to promote the science studies to social development.Until the middle of 30s,the sociology of scientific knowledge,represented by David Brewer,Barry Barnes,and the Edinburgh School,emerged in England.This school,based on Dilkem's sociology of religion and Karl Mannheim's sociology of knowledge,further advanced the research direction of Merton School.It also absorbs the thoughts of Wittgenstein's later language philosophy and inherits and develops Kuhn's historicism.The Edinburgh School raises the meta-theoretical question of knowledge(including scientific knowledge)very acutely,that is,how is human knowledge actually formed?In the process of knowledge formation,how do social factors play a role?All these questions are directed at the scientific knowledge itself,and its main purpose is to give a sociological explanation of the scientific knowledge.In the process of argumentation,the Edinburgh School firmly opposes the traditional scientific rationalism and objectivism.Instead,it advocates a relativism and social constructivism,in which all knowledge,including natural knowledge,is reduced to relative,with no certainty or objectivity.As a result,the Edinburgh School put forward many theories of significance,such as Brewer's "strong programme",Barnes's "finite theory" and so on.These theories are all supported by relativistic epistemology and empiricism ontology.The four principles of "strong programme"put forward specific requirements for the future research of sociology of scientific knowledge,and "finite theory" is the "strong programme" further argumentation,is its expansion and deepening.Since the Edinburgh School;s theory was put forward,it has been criticized by various academic circles,such as scientists,traditional scientific philosophers and scientific sociologists.They all objected to one or more of them,or even to the whole school of thought,and the more famous ones were Larry Laudan,Martin Hollis,Stephen Cole and so on.With the further development of the theory,not only the outside world,but also the internal members of the sociology of scientific knowledge have different opinions.For example,Bruno Latour formed the Paris School to oppose the Edinburgh School,and the Edinburgh School itself was reflecting on criticism from all walks of life,not only responding positively to unwarranted defamation,but also gradually correcting it.Improve its extreme relativism theory.The rise,development and decline of the Edinburgh School have a profound historical background and research significance.Its emergence conforms to the development of science and is a typical case of the integration of scientism and humanism.It is the inevitable outcome of the socialization of philosophy of science.Through the analysis of the ideas of Edinburgh School,we can not only understand the Edinburgh School,but also understand the thought of "strong programme","finite theory",and the sociology of scientific knowledge.It also helps us to better understand the relationship between science and society and the essential meaning of scientific knowledge. |
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