MA Seminar - Feminist Science Studies: Objectivity, Truth, and Knowledge, Winter term 2022/23 (Syllabus) (original) (raw)

Subjects , Power , and Knowledge : Description and Prescription in Feminist Philosophies of Science

2015

Feminists, faced with traditions in philosophy and in science that are deeply hostile to women, have had practically to invent new and more appropriate ways of knowing the world. These new ways have been less invention out of whole cloth than the revival or reevaluation of alternative or suppressed traditions. They range from the celebration of insight into nature through identification with it to specific strategies of survey research in the social sciences. Natural scientists and laypersons anxious to see the sciences change have celebrated Barbara McClintock’s loving identification with various aspects of the plants she studied, whether whole organism or its chromosomal structure revealed under the microscope. Social scientists from Dorothy Smith to Karen Sacks have stressed designing research for rather than merely about women, a goal that requires attending to the specificities of women’s lives and consulting research subjects themselves about the process of gathering informati...

Feminist Epistemology and Philosophy of Science

Feminist Epistemology and Philosophy of Science, 2011

There are many people who have helped in this project. Right from the volume's inception, series editor Libby Potter was a constant source of insightful advice and moral support. Ingrid van Laarhoven at Springer was always ready to answer yet another question as soon as it was asked. A large number of anonymous reviewers were also indispensible in making this volume what it is. The introduction benefitted immensely from Phyllis Rooney's careful reading. Undergraduate research assistant Stephanie Joyce assisted with formatting and compiling at crucial moments. I especially would like to thank Lorraine Code, Carla Fehr, Phyllis Rooney, and Ilya Storm for their friendship, encouragement and help with this project. vii Contents Introduction: Feminist Epistemology and Philosophy of Science in the Twenty-First Century.

FEMINISM AND SCIENCE : What remains left?

In this paper, I will focus on the question “What kind of relation exists between feminism and science, how this relation evolves through different paradigms (namely modernism, feminism and postmodernism), and what remains left from these feminist science discussions in the twenty-first century?” In order to answer these questions, I divided my paper into three sections. In the first section, I will discuss science in modernism in order to understand from where feminist thought arises as an opposition to positivism and as a continuum of Marxist theory. In the second section, I will analyze feminist perspectives on science by applying to Sandra Harding’s categorization of feminist empiricism, feminist standpoint theory and feminist postmodernism. In the last section, I will focus on general critiques towards these feminist perspectives, and what remains left as a result of these critiques.

On the Very Idea of a Feminist Epistemology for Science*

Metascience, 2006

that they have worked under the spell of the epistemologically mistaken view, 'representationalism'. According to this mistaken view, sensory 'data' are completely unconceptualised; the human mind must filter this unconceptualised 'stuff' through concepts before the stuff can be understood as anything, as red or smooth or as an object such as a cup or a ball. Minds have no direct access to the world except through these conceptualised data or 'representations'.

Feminist Philosophy of Science: Values and Objectivity

Philosophy Compass, 2013

Feminist philosophy of science appears to present problems for the ideal of value‐free science. These difficulties also challenge a traditional understanding of the objectivity of science. However, feminist philosophers of science have good reasons for desiring to retain some concept of objectivity. The present essay considers several recent and influential feminist approaches to the role of social and political values in science, with particular focus on feminist empiricism and feminist standpoint theory. The similarities and difference, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches are explored. The essay concludes with suggestions for future research in the area of feminist epistemology and philosophy of science.

Mapping the Maze of Feminist Philosophy of Science

Metascience, 2008

Given the volume and variety of work available within feminist philosophy of science, the field can easily appear a maze to new readers. This book strives to clarify the major themes and arguments that make up this maze, and succeeds by adopting a strategy of focused explanation of selected theories and arguments of leading feminist philosophers of science. I take the main audience of this book to be students of undergraduate philosophy of science courses, and perhaps philosophers of science unfamiliar with feminist philosophy of science. Feminist philosophers unfamiliar with the core issues of philosophy of science will also find the work useful. This book is different from most texts available on feminism and science in that it limits itself specifically to issues of philosophy of science, leaving out feminist work in science studies more broadly defined. Feminist critiques of particular cases of scientific research make their appearances to be sure, but only insofar as these cases and critiques serve to illuminate particular issues and positions within philosophy of science, such as how to understand the role of contextual values and background assumptions in scientific theorising, what makes particular cases of science objective or not, and whether standards of good scientific inquiry are relative to particular communities. This framework is precisely what makes the book a good choice as a text in an undergraduate philosophy of science course; used in conjunction with Ôstandard' work in philosophy of science, it serves to introduce students to the particular problems and solutions feminist philosophers of science have put forward to understand how science works and what makes it successful,