Interweaving categories: Styles, paradigms, and models

Abstract: Analytical categories of scientific cultures have typically been used both exclusively and universally. For instance, when styles of scientific research are employed in attempts to understand and narrate science, styles alone are usually employed. This article is a thought experiment in in...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Studies in History & Philosophy of Science Part A Vol. 43; no. 4; pp. 628 - 640
Autor principal: Winther, Rasmus Grønfeldt
Formato: Case Study
Publicado: Elsevier B.V. Dec2012
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:Abstract: Analytical categories of scientific cultures have typically been used both exclusively and universally. For instance, when styles of scientific research are employed in attempts to understand and narrate science, styles alone are usually employed. This article is a thought experiment in interweaving categories. What would happen if rather than employ a single category, we instead investigated several categories simultaneously? What would we learn about the practices and theories, the agents and materials, and the political-technological impact of science if we analyzed and applied styles (à la Hacking and Crombie), paradigms (à la Kuhn), and models (à la van Fraassen and Cartwright) simultaneously? I address these questions in general and for a specific case study: a brief history of systematics.