Bourdieu’s reflections on science
April 27, 2021 09:45 Source: "Chinese Social Sciences Journal" Issue 2155, April 27, 2021 Author: Yu Yonglin

French thinker Pierre Bourdieu chose "Science" as the theme of his final year lecture at the Collège de France,Just like Husserl whom he admired。Husserl’s last important writings focused on the “crisis of science”,Think that the crisis of science is manifested as,Science loses its meaning to life,The scientific nature of science,That is, the tasks you set yourself and the entire way you develop the methodology to achieve them,It becomes impossible。Bourdieu believes that,Today’s scientific world faces the threat of regression,Science in the face of economy、Political and religious forces,Autonomy greatly weakened。If science cannot get rid of the dual temptations of economic interests and media,Science will be attacked by both external criticism and internal slander。

Bourdieu is not like Louis Pierre Althusser,Point the criticism at science itself。In Althusser’s view,Science and technology become more developed、The more comprehensive it is,The means and methods for individuals to break this state of slavery are even more unimaginable,The more deeply people are enslaved and dominated by it”。Bourdieu disassembled the "scientific community" in Kuhn's sense,Strip off its sacred cloak,Use his conceptual system - field、Habit、Capital and others come to analyze science and the scientific world。Bourdieu from the History of Science、Epistemology、Four different perspectives of the philosophy of science and sociology of science,Analysis of natural sciences。

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The laboratory passes various substances、An artificial space established by social means that seems to be isolated from the Bet365 app download world,It is a place of manufacturing,Even a place where phenomena are created。It is the phenomena created by relying on these,Researchers create theories,Test the theory。The laboratory is a microcosm of the scientific world,Itself located in a space composed of a series of laboratories included in this discipline,its importance depends on its position in the space。

Experiment is a collective project,By the person doing the experiment、Created by those who accept the results of an experiment and those who want to prove or disprove it by "replicating" the experiment。Experimental data itself is not enough to prove whether a certain experiment can lead to or overturn a certain theory,Settlement of scientific disputes,It is often resolved through consultations between relevant core researchers。Whether an experiment is acceptable,It mainly depends on the credibility of the experimenter's ability and the power and significance of the experimental results。

 (2) Epistemology: Scientific Facts

Scientific facts are established in the form of written propositions、Communication、Evaluation,As Husserl said,Science as achieved results,Exists in the form of proposition。All scientific propositions of an era are essentially related in meaning,Every scientific proposition is an end,A thing that has been obtained,But every proposition is also the material for every scientist to be qualified for future work。

Scientific facts are obtained from dialectical interactions between subjects,Not only made by scientists and proposers,Also made by the recipient。Scientific facts are determined by two aspects: on the one hand,Determined by the position of a certain laboratory or researcher in the field; on the other hand,Determined by various perceptual abilities related to the recipient's status,Generally speaking,The lower the recipient’s status,The greater the Bet365 app download role of coercion and authority。

  (3) Philosophy of science: scientific community

The scientific community is a concept proposed by Kuhn,Refers to a closed community composed of scientists。Scholars engaged in cutting-edge science,The research is determined by a certain "paradigm" or "punishment model"。A paradigm is equivalent to a language or culture,It is a recognized achievement,is the starting point,It is the direction of the future,Also a research plan for adoption。The "punishment model" creates all the possibilities that each paradigm can realize according to its own logic,In the end, only a few eternal and unsolvable mysteries remain。A creative scholar must first be a traditionalist,Should be someone who knows the tradition well,Rather than those who completely deny history or know nothing about history。

Bourdieu believes,The "communitarian perspective" ignores that the scientific world is a competitive world with legal monopoly of scientific resources。Scientific researchers are never "alone",They are collective subjects。The concept of scientific field proposed by Bourdieu,It is a question about the tendency of “sage-like” science in the scientific community。The so-called saint-like tendency,It is to portray the scientific community as a selfless collaborative group working together for the same goal。This idealized view,Depicting scientific practice as a product of consciously following ideal norms。

 (4) Sociology of science: field, habitus, admission fee

Bourdieu replaced Kuhn’s “scientific community” with the concept of “scientific field”。On the one hand,The scientific field is a field of various forces,Called social physics by Bourdieu,Relevant actors、There is a structure formed by an objective relationship between researchers and laboratories。On the other hand,The scientific field Bet365 app download is a field full of struggle,Different actors confront each other,Thus maintaining or changing the current power relationship。Just as Husserl said,The world of science,The world of scientists,Merely a purposive realm composed of scientific truth,Existence with scientific truth。But,Scientists themselves are people in the world of life—people among other people。The subject of the struggle in the scientific field is undoubtedly the individual,That is, a single researcher,Of course,It may also be a subject or a laboratory。

Habit,Generative ability as a skill,It is a "skill",That is, the practical awareness of dealing with some problems,And appropriate ways to deal with those problems。Researchers are workers created in the scientific field,Their cognitive structure corresponds to its position in the field,And constantly adjust themselves according to the requirements of the field。

The “admission fee” to the scientific field first refers to the research ability to engage in scientific work。For example,Starting from the middle of the 18th century,Mathematization trend in physics,Make mastery of mathematics the “admission fee” to physics。At the same time,The “admission fee” to the science field also refers to some kind of fantasy、Some kind of desire、Some kind of scientific vitality,Especially the unconditional obedience to instructions without any utilitarian heart。

The science field has its own reward system,Guide those who are prone to results onto the path of productivity,The more well-known a researcher is, the more likely he is to produce results,And the better it can maintain this momentum in the long term。The scientific field gives credibility to those who already have credibility,The most prestigious enjoy the most symbolic benefits ostensibly distributed equally among the signatories。

Bourdieu regards science bet365 Play online games and scientific fields as an analysis object of sociology。He claims that he has no intention of getting involved in the entire social science field,Especially without the desire to become an authority in this field。However,Due to its extensive involvement in the field of social sciences and its multi-faceted academic influence,He is undoubtedly involved in the entire field of social science。

In Bourdieu’s view,On the one hand,Social science faces the danger of relativization。Social science should become a science like natural science,There is a special difficulty,Relativism and skepticism must be overcome。We must eliminate the things that relativize the objectification methods constituted by social science,Because of certain unconscious determinants in social science,Already fixed in the minds of scholars,Or it may be fixed in the social environment that forms the mindset of scholars。On the other hand,Social science is clearly governed by heteronomy。From social life、From the perspective of social order and symbolic order,The social sciences cannot be given the same autonomy requirements as the natural sciences。Due to its particularly strong external pressure,Social science cannot be left to determine its own role,Cannot be left to its own devices。

Bourdieu believes,Social science must combine the perspective of observers with the practical perspective of actors,Integrated into a self-sufficient, self-validating perspective,Thus constructing a truth worthy of science。The so-called "reflective" work,The purpose is to objectively recognize the subject in its cognitive activities,Innate given unconsciously、Unconscious things。This unconscious thing is expressed in the habitus of the subject。On the one hand,Habits are innate,Organize and sort out the perception and judgment of all experiences,Bet365 app download Provide principles for the generation of practice。On the other hand,Habits are acquired,Because it stems from early socialization experiences,Created by the initial professional education。

Bourdieu believes,Science is a construct that allows certain discoveries to be made,It is a boundless building、A palace of collective buildings for collective use。However,The scientific field is like any other field,is a containing power、Concentration of capital、Social space for monopoly etc.,The scientific structure is full of competition and struggle。In his opinion,The crisis of science today lies in the struggle in the scientific field。This will hinder the progress of science itself,It will damage the reputation of science itself。The struggle in the scientific field has two characteristics。One,Closedness,That is, the competitiveness among peers。This makes researchers in addition to their peers who understand them best but are also most critical of them,It will be difficult to find other recipients。Part 2,Judgment of the Real World。Researchers prepare research plans、Discover the truth about the world of science、Listen to peer review,Tacitly accept the judgment of the "real world" in the center of their confrontation,Adopt something close to what phenomenologists call a “natural attitude”。

Bourdieu emphasizes,We must transcend the opposition between outsiders’ naive conception of the “scientific community” as a realm of happy rationality and insiders’ vulgar conception of interactions among researchers as reduced to calculated power relations。The former regards the scientific world as the kingdom of ends in Kant’s sense,The latter regards scientific life as a "war" between some people against others。

Bourdieu believes,We need science,Including natural sciences and social Bet365 app download sciences,Conduct historical and sociological analysis,It is necessary for scientific workers to better understand the guiding role of social operating mechanisms in scientific practice,Thus making oneself not only the master and owner of "nature",But also to be the master and owner of the social world from which natural knowledge arises。

 (This article is a phased result of the Zhejiang Provincial Social Science Planning Project “Research on Bourdieu’s Ideology” (20NDJC167YB)

(Author’s unit: School of Marxism, Zhejiang Shuren University)

Editor: Zhang Jing
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