Postmodern Science

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Postmodern Science


Postmodern science challenges the modern ideal of the neutral scientist who applies formal rules of deduction to develop theories that objectively explain empirical data. Alongside feminist (and other) critiques of metanarratives, it emphasizes the local contextual factors (i.e., language, culture, gender) that shape the theory-formation and practices of scientists. Modern (and especially positivist) science was characterized by a strong distinction between the objective (hard) sciences and the subjective (soft) sciences. Insofar as postmodern science blurs these boundaries and recognizes the overlap between explanation and understanding in divergent forms of human rationality, it helps to foster the dialogue between science and religion.


See also Postmodernism


Bibliography

toulmin, stephen. the return to cosmology: postmodern science and the theology of nature. berkeley: university of california press, 1982.

f. leron shults

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