Value-Free Science?: Purity and Power in Modern Knowledge

by Robert N. Proctor

Overview

Why have scientists shied away from politics, or defended their work as value free? How has the ideal of neutrality come to dominate the world of science? These are some of the central questions that Robert Proctor addresses in his study of the politics of modern science.

Value-Free Science? emphasizes the importance of understanding the political origins and impact of scientific ideas. Proctor lucidly demonstrates how value-neutrality is a reaction to larger political developments, including the use of science by government and industry, the specialization of professional disciplines, and the efforts to stifle intellectual freedoms or to politicize the world of the academy.

The first part of the book traces the origins of value-neutrality prior to the eighteenth century. Plato and Aristotle saw contemplative thought as superior to practical action, and this separation of theory and practice is still invoked today in defense of "neutral science." In the seventeenth century the Baconian search for useful knowledge allowed a new and closer tie between theory and practice, but it also isolated moral knowledge from natural philosophy. Another version of neutrality was introduced by the mechanical conception of the universe, in which the idea of a benevolent, human-centered cosmos was replaced with a "devalorized" view of nature.

The central part of the book explores the exclusion of politics and morals with the emergence of the social sciences. Proctor highlights the case of Germany, where the ideal of value-neutrality was first articulated in modern form by social scientists seeking to attack or defend Marxism, feminism, and other social movements. He traces the rise and fall of positivist ethical and economic theory, showing that arguments for value-free science often mask concrete political maneuvers. Finally, he reviews critiques of science that have been voiced in recent debates over critical issues in agricultural science, military research, health and medicine, and biological determinism.

This provocative book will interest anyone seeking ways to reconcile the ideals of scientific freedom and social responsibility.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780674931701
Publisher:	Harvard University Press
Publication date:	10/01/1991
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	344
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Robert N. Proctor is Professor of History and, by courtesy, of Medicine, at Stanford University.

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction. The Dilemma of Science Policy

Part One. "Pure Science" and the Baconian Critique

1. The Cosmos as Construct

2. Baconian Caveats, Royalist Compromise

3. The Devalorization of Being

4. Secondary Qualities and Subjective Value

Part Two. The Politics of Neutrality in German Social Theory

5. The German University and the Research Ideal

6. Empirical Science and Specialized Expertise

7. The Werturteilsstreit, or Controversy Over Values

8. The Social Context of German Social Science

9. Neutral Marxism

10. Max Weber and Wertfreie Wissenschaft

Part Three. The Legacy of Neutrality: Positivism and Its Critics

11. Catholicism Without Christianity

12. Logical Positivism

13. Positive Economics

14. Emotivist Ethics

15. Social Theory of Science

16. Realism Versus Moralism

17. Critiques of Science

Conclusion. Neutrality as Myth, Mask, Shield, and Sword

Notes

Bibliography Index

Editorial Reviews

Proctor (history, Penn. State U.) demonstrates how value-neutrality is maneuvers. arguments for value-free science often mask concrete political a reaction to larger political developments, including the use of science by government and industry, the specialization of professional disciplines, and the efforts to stifle intellectual freedoms or to politicize the world of the academy. The first part of the book traces the origins of value-neutrality prior to the 18th century, the second (and central) part explores the exclusion of politics and morals with the emergence of the social sciences, and the third part traces the rise and fall of positivist ethical and economic theory, showing that Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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