论夏平的彻底历史主义及其对科学革命观的解构

A Study on Shapin's Thorough Historicism and His Deconstruction of Views on Scientific Revolution

夏平对科学史采取了彻底的历史主义态度,主张将科学视为处于历史情境中的社会活动,将科学思想史还原为社会史。在这种方法论视角下,他的《科学革命》一书认为并没有科学革命的本质,对科学革命可以有不同的语言叙事。这种彻底的历史主义态度,使得他把握了科学发展无限可能性及科学知识生产受制于社会情境的一面,但也使他陷入了相对主义的泥潭,遮蔽了科学的理性典范地位。

Steven Shapin adopted a thorough historicist approach to investigating the history of science. He claimed that science should be seen as activities in particular historical situations, and history of scientific thought should be restored to social history of science. In this viewpoint, he wrote a book, The Scientific Revolution, asserting that there was no essence of Scientific Revolution and it could be interpreted differently in different contexts. Such a thorough historicism helped him know that there is no end for scientific development and the growing of scientific knowledge is subject to the social situation; however, it also led him into the limitation of relativism without seeing the rational aspect of science.