Perception, knowledge and freedom in the age of extremes: on the historical epistemology of Ludwik Fleck and Michael Polanyi [Book Review]
Studies in East European Thought 64 (1-2):107-120 (2012)
Abstract |
This paper deals with Ludwik Fleck’s theory of thought styles and Michael Polanyi’s theory of tacit knowledge. Though both concepts have been very influential for science studies in general, and both have been subject to numerous interpretations, their accounts have, somewhat surprisingly, hardly been comparatively analyzed. Both Fleck and Polanyi relied on the physiology and psychology of the senses in order to show that scientific knowledge follows less the path of logical principles than the path of accepting or rejecting specific conventions, where these may be psychologically or sociologically grounded. It is my aim to show that similarities and differences between Fleck and Polanyi are to be seen in the specific historical and political context in which they worked. Both authors, I shall argue, emphasized the relevance of perception in close connection to their respective understanding of science, freedom, and democracy
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Keywords | Ludwik Fleck Michael Polanyi Perception Gestalt psychology Democracy |
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ISBN(s) | |
DOI | 10.1007/s11212-012-9162-6 |
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References found in this work BETA
Personal Knowledge: Towards a Post-Critical Philosophy.Michael Polanyi - 1958 - University of Chicago Press.
Changing Order: Replication and Induction in Scientific Practice.Harry Collins - 1985 - Chicago, IL, USA: University of Chicago Press.
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Citations of this work BETA
Ludwik Flecks Gestaltbegriff und sein Blick auf die Gestaltpsychologie seiner Zeit.Claus Zittel - 2014 - NTM Zeitschrift für Geschichte der Wissenschaften, Technik und Medizin 22 (1-2):9-29.
The Republic Vs. The Collective: Two Histories of Collaboration and Competition in Modern ScienceDie Republik Gegen Das Kollektiv: Zwei Geschichten von Kollaboration Und Konkurrenz in der Modernen Wissenschaft.Mary Jo Nye - 2016 - NTM Zeitschrift für Geschichte der Wissenschaften, Technik und Medizin 24 (2):169-194.
Ways and Dynamics of Reception of Ludwik Fleck’s Work in the Social Sciences.Dimitri Ginev - 2015 - Social Science Information 54 (2):192-210.
Scientific Images as Circulating Ideas: An Application of Ludwik Fleck’s Theory of Thought Styles.Nicola Mößner - 2016 - Journal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 47 (2):307-329.
„Gedankenwanderung“: Ludwik Flecks Morphologie des Wissens.Michael Neumann - 2014 - NTM Zeitschrift für Geschichte der Wissenschaften, Technik und Medizin 22 (1-2):49-68.
View all 6 citations / Add more citations
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