LEADER 03612nam 22006494a 450 001 9910823452403321 005 20200520144314.0 010 $a1-282-42648-6 010 $a9786612426483 010 $a0-226-29214-2 024 7 $a10.7208/9780226292144 035 $a(CKB)2550000000000048 035 $a(EBL)471866 035 $a(OCoLC)527702823 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000342679 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)11258825 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000342679 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10287937 035 $a(PQKB)10752309 035 $a(StDuBDS)EDZ0000122511 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC471866 035 $a(DE-B1597)523913 035 $a(OCoLC)824156034 035 $a(DE-B1597)9780226292144 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL471866 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10349989 035 $a(CaONFJC)MIL242648 035 $a(EXLCZ)992550000000000048 100 $a20060124d2006 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aur|n|---||||| 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 10$aScientific perspectivism /$fRonald N. Giere 205 $a1st ed. 210 $aChicago $cUniversity of Chicago Press$d2006 215 $a1 online resource (170 p.) 300 $aDescription based upon print version of record. 311 $a0-226-29213-4 311 $a0-226-29212-6 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. [137]-146) and index. 327 $tFrontmatter -- $tCONTENTS -- $tList of Illustrations -- $tAcknowledgments -- $t1. SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE -- $t2. COLOR VISION -- $t3. SCIENTIFIC OBSERVING -- $t4. SCIENTIFIC THEORIZING -- $t5. PERSPECTIVAL KNOWLEDGE AND DISTRIBUTED COGNITION -- $tNotes -- $tReferences -- $tIndex 330 $aMany people assume that the claims of scientists are objective truths. But historians, sociologists, and philosophers of science have long argued that scientific claims reflect the particular historical, cultural, and social context in which those claims were made. The nature of scientific knowledge is not absolute because it is influenced by the practice and perspective of human agents. Scientific Perspectivism argues that the acts of observing and theorizing are both perspectival, and this nature makes scientific knowledge contingent, as Thomas Kuhn theorized forty years ago. Using the example of color vision in humans to illustrate how his theory of "perspectivism" works, Ronald N. Giere argues that colors do not actually exist in objects; rather, color is the result of an interaction between aspects of the world and the human visual system. Giere extends this argument into a general interpretation of human perception and, more controversially, to scientific observation, conjecturing that the output of scientific instruments is perspectival. Furthermore, complex scientific principles-such as Maxwell's equations describing the behavior of both the electric and magnetic fields-make no claims about the world, but models based on those principles can be used to make claims about specific aspects of the world. Offering a solution to the most contentious debate in the philosophy of science over the past thirty years, Scientific Perspectivism will be of interest to anyone involved in the study of science. 606 $aScience$xPhilosophy 606 $aScience$xHistory 615 0$aScience$xPhilosophy. 615 0$aScience$xHistory. 676 $a501 700 $aGiere$b Ronald N$044453 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910823452403321 996 $aScientific perspectivism$94093811 997 $aUNINA