Séance Séminaire

Séminaire Histoire et Philosophie des Sciences

« Is scientific knowledge objective? »

Many people understand sciences (and in particular physics) as extraordinary as the knowledge produced is said to be objective. This understanding result at least in part from three principal reasons: Scientific experimentation is considered to be a straightforward manner of knowledge production, social aspects in the discourse on scientific knowledge are neglected, and the historical development of the sciences and the scientific knowledge is ignored. Such an understanding appears to be questionable at closer examination. A discussion of the objective notion of scientific knowledge is particularly important from my understanding: the status of this knowledge is relevant not only with respect to scientific discussions, but in particular regarding political and social discussions about sciences and their application. In my presentation, I am going to discuss knowledge production in physics in general and with respect to scientific experimentation in particular. This discussion will be made from a historical perspective. In doing so, I will refer on the one hand to experiences made in analyzing experiments with the replication method. On the other hand, I will refer in particular to Ludwik Fleck’s epistemological conception of ‘style of thought’ and ‘thought collective’. This conception appears to be a fairly adequate description of scientific knowledge systems and their generation. However, it also forms an approach by which social factors enter the discussion. Consequently, the understanding of scientific knowledge is transformed from being objective to being intersubjective.