Science?

[Kerim Friedman]

I think it is important, given the current turn of this discussion, to extend my earlier remark that "no system of knowledge is closed" and point out what I think this means. I believe that systems of knowledge are always open in two directions:

(A) They must make reference to other systems of knowledge (models, academic disciplines, etc.) that exist side by side. [This is the point I made earlier.]

And (B) they must make reference to ideas, beliefs, and yes - values, that are either to the practice of the discipline as a whole or those of the larger society of scientists, members of a nation, humans, etc. that exist in a hierarchical relationship to the knowledge practitioner.

In this sense I agree with Khun that science is a set of behaviors that are considered acceptable by a "community" of knowledge producers - but it is important to note that : (1) there are multiple, overlapping communities that can be in conflict with each other at any given time, and (2) the norms of the community may not necessarily themselves be without internal contradictions.

The reason I didn't want to discuss whether "linguistics" is a "science" is that I find too many people have a false conception of science that makes such discussions dogmatic and unproductive. No science meets most people's ideal conception of what science *should* be. But if we realize that science is an institution, like any other, and that it is specifically an institution devoted to the production of a certain kind of knowledge about the world, then we have a start. We can begin to openly discuss the values, beliefs, and practices that underlie such knowledge production, and not use it as a shield to protect us from such a discussion. I find both extreme positions (the denial of linguistics as a science, and the complete acceptance of it as such) to be moves to give legitimacy to a specific set of academic endeavors and not adding to our understanding of what such endeavors might involve.

Just now I used the phrase "a certain kind of knowledge" - I think this is important. For the most part, science has been engaged in what can be called "instrumental knowledge" which gives people power over the world. This has been true whether it is atomic energy or Taylor's methods of getting factory workers to be more efficient. (This is why those scientists get paid so much!) I think the major difference between the so called hard and soft sciences is the degree to which their work is demonstrably "instrumental". But I think what most people mean when they debate whether something like linguistic is a science is not so much the ability of the discipline to produce instrumental knowledge, but the extent to which it is possible to engage in the positive production of knowledge in the first place, given the existence of power relations, values, people, etc. within the discipline (if only we could get rid of all that!). This gets us into a discussion of the ongoing debate be!
tween those like Foucault who see the age of positive knowledge production as having come to an end, and those like Habermas who have argued that the project of modernity is not over and that there is still room for knowledge production. It is a debate between those who wish to continue building models (Habermas) and those who feel that all that is left to do is engage in critique (Foucault). I personally think there is room (and necessity) for both endeavors.

kerim

>Karl Reisman wrote:
>
>>...science cannot provide the authority for your or my view of language varieties. That involves a moral view of the world. Racists will not accept the value of African American varieties no matter
>>how much "science" is invoked.
>
>I agree, of course they won't. All I'm saying is that the science of linguistics takes away one set of possible rationalizations for their beliefs.

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P. KERIM FRIEDMAN
			Anthropology, Temple University
			<mailto:kerim.friedman at oxus.net>
			<http://kerim.oxus.net>
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