Helen Longino
that scientific progress is dependent upon a plurality of perspectives; that when inquiry is open to many disparate points of view, it’s more open to critical analysis and thus more objective.
Longino will elaborate on her theory on March 19 when she will deliver the annual Thomas Hall Lecture in the History of Science. Her talk, “Interdependence,” will be held at 4 PM in McDonnell Hall Room 162.
Throughout America’s turbulent social movements of the 1960s and 70s Longino helped lead the charge in advancing women’s studies programs. Equally important has been her pioneering advocacy and critical contributions for increasing the quality and quantity of female intellectual discourse in the male-dominated discipline of philosophy.
Longino, who holds the Clarence Irving. Lewis Professor of Philosophy at Stanford University, has enjoyed a long and distinguished career focusing on the philosophy of science, social epistemology, and philosophical feminism. Philosophically, she favors a strong form of social epistemology called critical contextual empiricism, a theory borne out in her book, “Science as Social Knowledge.” Her other publications include “The Fate of Knowledge” and “Studying Human Behavior: How Scientists Investigate Aggression and Sexuality.”
For an interesting article related to this topic, visit PNAS.