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David Bloor (1942- Present)

  • The Strong Program

    The Strong Program
    This program was a part of the new sociology of science that had a main idea of the symmetry principle. As said by Godfrey, "Applied to science, the symmetry principle tells us that scientific beliefs are products of the same general kinds of forces as other kinds of belief" (Godfrey). This program also identified how some scientific theories are relative to people's cultures. Just because a theory is created and accepted in one place, does not mean it will be accepted in another.
  • Knowledge and Social Imagery

    Knowledge and Social Imagery
    In this book, Bloor talks about the sociology of knowledge, and how it affects science. He also presents the strong program in this book. He gets a lot of criticism for this book, so much that he released a second portion answering many of the skeptics' questions. As said by Bloor, "All knowledge, whether it be in the empirical sciences or even in mathematics,
    should be treated, through and through, as material for investigation"(Blanco and Bloor).
  • Wittgenstein: A Social Theory of Knowledge

    Wittgenstein: A Social Theory of Knowledge
    Bloor's intention in this book is to give a sociological and naturalistic reading of the later philosophy of Wittgenstein (Schiller). Bloor examines controversies in the fields of mathematics, logic, and experiences of understanding.
  • Scientific Knowledge A Sociological Analysis

    Scientific Knowledge A Sociological Analysis
    In this book, David paired up with other scientists to dissect how science is actually done. A common misconception of science is that it is all done by just one person that is by themselves. As said by Barry, "Using case studies from cognitive science, physics, and biology to illustrate their descriptions and applications of the social study of science, they show how this approach provides a crucial perspective on how science is actually done"(Barnes).