Knowledge in Context

Timetable

Module aim (aims)

1 drawing attention to the phenomenon of science in the proces of the emergence of scientific knowledge from other types of human knowledge in social framework and its further transformation in history
2 presentation of the most important paradigmes of European science (Aristotle, Galileo-Newton, Comte and positivism, Popper and post-positivism) are presented in context of history of science, i.e. the question of the unity of science in its development (emphasis on the context of justification)
3 presenting multidimensional conditions for the development and transformation of particular scientific disciplines, taking into account the socio-cultural-institutional context (the context of discovery and the perspective of the STS).
4 drawing attention to the diversity of knowledge and its social recognition (institutions, education process, research), the proposed autonomy of the Academia and its social responsibility towards society, the problem of financing science (state, private-state partnership, foundations), access to the results and fruits of scientific research (universalism vs. commercialization), side effects related to scientific and technological progress (risk society and environmental threats).
5 discussing different development phases of science (characterized by different/individual disciplines and general tendencies in science) in the history of e.g. ancient and medieval science (in search of essence), modern scientific revolution (mathematical natural science) and its consequences, the formation of modern science of the 19th century (industrial revolution) and its modification in the scientific and technical revolution of the 20th century (different phases of industrial society, post- industrial, knowledge and information-based society), we focus on possible development and paths- dependencies of science and technology in the 21st century.
6 discussion of the problem of universal character of scientific rationality in the context of other types of human knowledge (indigenous, local, religious and philosophical); the demarcation of science and non-science (pseudo-science, proto-science). The importance of scientific institutions, social and economic mechanisms, scientific culture and state scientific policy (entrepreneurial state) for innovation in science and technology.

Pre-requisites in terms of knowledge, skills and social competences (where relevant)

Syllabus

1. Scientific methods in the historical process and in the social context
2. Development of specific scientific fields and their transition from the stage of proto-discipline to maturity – scientific specialisation.
3. Rationality of science - universalism vs. relativism.
4. Criteria differentiating science from other forms of human knowledge.
5. Problem of innovativeness in the context of scientific institutions, funding of science and scientific policies.

Reading list

Obligatory

1. Znaniecki F., The Social Role of the Man of Knowledge, Transaction Books, New Brunshwick 1986.
2. The Cambridge History of Science, Vol. 1-8, Cambridge University Press, 2002-2020.
3. Writing the History of the Humanities: Questions, Themes, and Approaches, ed. P. Herman, Bloomsbury Academic, 2023.

Optional

1. Bernal J. D., Science in History, vol. 1-4, Penguin Books, 1965.
2. Science and Ideology. A comparative history, ed. M. Walker, Routledge, 2003.
3. The Historiography Of Contemporary Science, Technology and Medicine. Writing Recent Science, ed. R E. Doel, T. Soderqvist, Routledge, 2006.
4. Godin B., Innovation Contested, The Idea of Innovation over the Centuries, Taylor & Francis, 2015