Knowledge and Social Imagery (Routledge direct editions) [Paperback]

David Bloor (Author)

Book Description

Series: Routledge direct editions | Publication Date: September 16, 1976

The first edition of this book profoundly challenged and divided students of philosophy, sociology, and the history of science when it was published in 1976. In this second edition, Bloor responds in a substantial new Afterword to the heated debates engendered by his book.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

David Bloor, one of the founders of the "strong programme" at the University of Edinburgh Science Studies Unit, is the author of Wittgenstein and Social Science.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: Routledge & Kegan Paul Books (September 16, 1976)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0710083777
• ISBN-13: 978-0710083777
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,325,512 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yet, The Book Has Become A Classic In Modern Science Studies, January 31, 2008

By 

Aung Htun (811 Lavina St. Fort Wayne IN 46802-4030) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Knowledge and Social Imagery (Paperback)

"Bloor's book came out as a broadside that announced a new approach to the history and philosophy science, an approach that became known as the 'strong programme'.... Now, any book published in history and philosophy of science must take Bloor and the strong programme into account."
--- Robert J. Richard, University of Chicago

"David Bloor's Knowledge and Social Imagery is, paradoxically, one of the most influential and the mose shamefully neglected book in the science studies/sociology of scientific knowledge fields. Everyone in these and related areas refers to the 'strong programme' in the sociology of knowledge; few represent the program's central contentions accurately; and it's likely that fewer still have actually read the book in which that program was first articulated.
YET, THE BOOK HAS BECOME A CLASSIC IN MODERN SCIENCE STUDIES --- indeed, perhaps the first classic text."
--- Steven Shapin, University of California, San Diego
[from the back cover of the book]

"The second edition of 'Knowledge and Social Imagery' has two parts:
the text of the first edition plus a new and substantial Afterword in which reply to critics.
I have resisted the temptation to alter the original presentation of the case for the sociology of knowledge, though I have taken the opportunity to correct minor mistakes such as spelling errors.
I have also made a few stylistic alterations where the language of the book has become dated.
Otherwise the first part is unchanged.
As for the second part:
attacks by critics have not convinced me of the need to give ground on any matter of substance.
Indeed, their failure to make inroads has reinforced my belief in the value of a naturalistic understanding of knowledge in which sociology plays a central role.
I hope that the arguments I offer in the Afterword show this to be a reasoned and justified response.
Because of the volume of the criticism........"
[from the book of the preface to the Second Edition (1991) by David Bloor, Science Studies Unit, Edinburgh]