Ziman-1968-Science-is-Public-Knowledge

J.M Ziman (1968). Science is Public Knowledge: An Essay concerning the social dimension of science. Cambridge

defining-science-is-harder-than-you-would-think

In this book, Ziman gives his view on how the logico-inductive metaphysics of science is inadequate when we look at the way science actually behaves. You don’t need the definition of science or the philosophy of science to practically do it.

logico-inductive metaphysics of science = “Science arrives at Truth by logical inferences from empirical observations.” This is the standard definition favored by philosophers of science¹

According to Ziman, the definition of science could be said crudely to be: public knowledge. In other words, the scientific enterprise is corporate and scientific research is a social activity.

Footnotes

1. Ziman, 1968, p. 4 ↩