As a controversial notion, realism has always been a major concern of philosophers of science and experts in the field of sociology of scientific knowledge. The main aim of this article is to review and study the two different approaches of Bhaskar’s concept of critical realism and Latour's realism. ...
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As a controversial notion, realism has always been a major concern of philosophers of science and experts in the field of sociology of scientific knowledge. The main aim of this article is to review and study the two different approaches of Bhaskar’s concept of critical realism and Latour's realism. Bhaskar argues that there is more ‘what is there’ than ’what is known’; there is more power to the use than application of power. Appealing Constructivism, Latour, in the opposite side, emphasizes making scientific facts thorough the process of scientific activity. In this paper, Latour and Bhaskar's main claims are illustrated in details, and also through a comparative study of their ideas, congruent and different aspects of their thoughts will be described.
This paper is allocated to analyze the key concepts of Pierre Bourdieu’s sociology of science and Actor- Network Theory. Through considering the concepts of field, capital, and symbolic capital, Bourdieu regards the circumstances of science production. He draw this strategy from his first argument ...
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This paper is allocated to analyze the key concepts of Pierre Bourdieu’s sociology of science and Actor- Network Theory. Through considering the concepts of field, capital, and symbolic capital, Bourdieu regards the circumstances of science production. He draw this strategy from his first argument on the competition between science supporters and claimants over capital. Through criticizing Actor- Network theory, which nullifies the distinctions between human and non human actors, he portrays a comprehensive picture of the new sociology of science’s irregularities. However, the actor-network theory accuses the Bourdieu ideas to have classical sociology of science’s defects. In this paper through a comparative examination of the two approaches’ theoretical dimensions from various aspects, we will specify their basic and conceptual distinctions.