Suchergebnisse

Há um conjunto de valores, comumente denominados cognitivos, epistêmicos ou científi cos, que com frequência são considerados informativos do bom juízo científi co, quando a evidência se esgota. Contrastando esses valores com um conjunto alternativo, delineado no trabalho de cientistas, historiadoras e fi lósofas feministas, é possível mostrar como a dependência desses valores chamados científi cos tem consequências sociais problemáticas. O artigo examina a valencia social diferencial dos dois conjuntos de valores, argumenta que nenhum dos dois deve ser considerado como dando as condições de produ- ção da verdade e propõe que ambos pertencem a um coleção (provavelmente maior) de heurísticas cuja conveniência depende das características da investigação particular na qual são empregadas

This essay surveys twenty-five years of feminist epistemology in the pages of Hypatia. Feminist contributions have addressed the affective dimensions of knowledge; the natures of justification, rationality, and the cognitive agent; and the nature of truth. They reflect thinking from both analytic and continental philosophical traditions and offer a rich tapestry of ideas from which to continue challenging tradition and forging analytical tools for the problems ahead.

Conventional wisdom has it that the sciences, properly pursued, constitute a pure, value-free method of obtaining knowledge about the natural world. In light of the social and normative dimensions of many scientific debates, Helen Longino finds that general accounts of scientific methodology cannot support this common belief. Focusing on the notion of evidence, the author argues that a methodology powerful enough to account for theories of any scope and depth is incapable of ruling out the influence of social and cultural values in the very structuring of knowledge. The objectivity of scientific inquiry can nevertheless be maintained, she proposes, by understanding scientific inquiry as a social rather than an individual process. Seeking to open a dialogue between methodologists and social critics of the sciences, Longino develops this concept of "contextual empiricism" in an analysis of research programs that have drawn criticism from feminists. Examining theories of human evolution and of prenatal hormonal determination of "gender-role" behavior, of sex differences in cognition, and of sexual orientation, the author shows how assumptions laden with social values affect the description, presentation, and interpretation of data. In particular, Longino argues that research on the hormonal basis of "sex-differentiated behavior" involves assumptions not only about gender relations but also about human action and agency. She concludes with a discussion of the relation between science, values, and ideology, based on the work of Habermas, Foucault, Keller, and Haraway