Knowledge and Power (The Politics of Scientific Knowledge)

Author: Liu Li
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-12-01
Features: This book is revised based on the author's master's thesis and doctoral dissertation. Nine years ago, when the author completed the doctoral dissertation defense, a kind teacher encouraged the author to continue pursuing this topic, which eventually developed into a doctoral dissertation and even a monograph. This book is grounded in the philosophy of science, incorporating new achievements in contemporary science political studies, aiming to explore various ways in which knowledge, truth, and power operate in modern scientific practices, revealing the intrinsic relationship between knowledge and power, and reflecting the new trends in the development of contemporary Western philosophy. This book argues that to appropriately understand human knowledge, it is not enough to pursue the logical relationships between various components of knowledge; one must also understand the power relations and modes of operation within science and knowledge. Any attempt or perspective that overlooks the practical, localized power functions within scientific knowledge is incomplete. Because the political of science will guide us to reconsider our history and culture in new ways. Grounded in the philosophy of science, this book reviews the discussions on the proposition of knowledge and power from Bacon, Foucault, to the contemporary American philosopher Latour, exploring the various ways in which knowledge, truth, and power operate in modern scientific practices, revealing the intrinsic relationship between knowledge and power, and reflecting the new trends in the development of contemporary Western philosophy.