Description

This book explores Pierre Bourdieu s philosophy and sociology of science, which, though central to his thought, have been largely neglected in critical examinations of his work. Addressing the resultant confusion that surrounds Bourdieu s sociologized philosophy of science, it expounds his epistemology and sociology of science, situating it within the context of Anglo-American post positivist philosophy of science and shedding light on the critique of relativist sociology of science that emerges from his field theory. From a detailed critique of Bourdieu s reflexive sociology and his attempt to enhance the uneasy epistemic status of the social sciences, the author draws on the thought of Jèurgen Habermas to suggest critical ethnography as a way of goingbeyond Bourdieu s critical theory. As such, Bourdieu s Philosophy and Sociology of Science will appeal to sociologists, philosophers and scholars across the social sciences with interests in the work of Bourdieu and the sociology and philosophy of science–