Reflections on the Disciplinary Gulf between the Natural and Social Sciences

Abstract

The general purpose of this essay is to explore key features of the disciplinary gulf between the natural and social sciences, and, in particular, differences in fundamental assumptions concerning the nature and purpose of knowledge. The essay contrasts the claims of the natural sciences to objectivity and universality with those of the social sciences, especially the qualitative social sciences, to the historical and cultural contingency of knowledge. It examines the ways in which the use of two 'key words' - 'expertise' and 'responsibility'--serves to maintain the disciplinary gulf by reinforcing assumptions concerning the neutrality and technical nature of scientific knowledge and how those concepts marginalize social and ethical dimensions to create a politically influential hierarchy of knowledge claims.

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