Gross, Fridolin (Author)
Kranke, Nina (Author)
Meunier, Robert (Author)
We present two case studies from contemporary biology in which we observe conflicts between established and emerging approaches. The first case study discusses the relation between molecular biology and systems biology regarding the explanation of cellular processes, while the second deals with phylogenetic systematics and the challenge posed by recent network approaches to established ideas of evolutionary processes. We show that the emergence of new fields is in both cases driven by the development of high-throughput data generation technologies and the transfer of modeling techniques from other fields. New and emerging views are characterized by different philosophies of nature, i.e. by different ontological and methodological assumptions and epistemic values and virtues. This results in a kind of conflict we call “epistemic competition” that manifests in two ways: On the one hand, opponents engage in mutual critique and defense of their fundamental assumptions. On the other hand, they compete for the acceptance and integration of the knowledge they provide by a broader scientific community. Despite an initial rhetoric of replacement, the views as well as the respective audiences come to be seen as more clearly distinct during the course of the debate. Hence, we observe—contrary to many other accounts of scientific change—that conflict results in the formation of new niches of research, leading to co-existence and perceived complementarity of approaches. Our model thus contributes to the understanding of the pluralization of the scientific landscape.
...More
Article
Anu Masso;
Maris Männiste;
Andra Siibak;
(2020)
‘End of Theory’ in the Era of Big Data: Methodological Practices and Challenges in Social Media Studies
(/isis/citation/CBB632756299/)
Book
Michel Morange;
(2020)
The Black Box of Biology: A History of the Molecular Revolution
(/isis/citation/CBB035364586/)
Article
Jessica Pykett;
Mark Paterson;
(2022)
Stressing the ‘body electric’: History and psychology of the techno-ecologies of work stress
(/isis/citation/CBB933468112/)
Article
Cornelius Borck;
(2022)
Tactile Vision, Epistemic Things and Data Visualization
(/isis/citation/CBB349465898/)
Book
Federico Boem;
(2023)
Pensare per mappe. Ontologie per una pratica scientifica
(/isis/citation/CBB601271154/)
Article
O'Malley, Maureen A.;
Soyer, Orkun S.;
(2012)
The Roles of Integration in Molecular Systems Biology
(/isis/citation/CBB001221587/)
Thesis
Valerie Racine;
(2016)
Beyond Reductionism and Emergence: A Study of the Epistemic Practices in Gene Expression Research
(/isis/citation/CBB978842577/)
Article
Calvert, Jane;
(2012)
Systems Biology, Synthetic Biology and Data-Driven Research: A Commentary on Krohs, Callebaut, and O'Malley and Soyer
(/isis/citation/CBB001221589/)
Article
Elliott, Kevin C.;
(2012)
Epistemic and Methodological Iteration in Scientific Research
(/isis/citation/CBB001221695/)
Essay Review
Huggett, Nick;
Smith, George E;
Miller, David Marshall;
Harper, William;
(2013)
On Newton's Method
(/isis/citation/CBB001500196/)
Book
Sara Green;
(2016)
Philosophy of Systems Biology: Perspectives from Scientists and Philosophers
(/isis/citation/CBB545077792/)
Book
Sabina Leonelli;
(2016)
Data-Centric Biology: A Philosophical Study
(/isis/citation/CBB591798110/)
Article
Michael Fry;
(2020)
Ontologically Simple Theories Do Not Indicate the True Nature of Complex Biological Systems: Three Test Cases
(/isis/citation/CBB515852529/)
Article
María Elissa Torres Carrasco;
(2022)
Neoconservative camouflage: The datafication of abortion debates in Ecuador
(/isis/citation/CBB507888120/)
Book
Germaine Halegoua;
(2020)
Smart Cities
(/isis/citation/CBB219487083/)
Book
Silvia Casini;
(2021)
Giving Bodies Back to Data: Image Makers, Bricolage, and Reinvention in Magnetic Resonance Technology
(/isis/citation/CBB935991554/)
Article
Włodzimierz Gogołek;
(2017)
Refining Big Data
(/isis/citation/CBB158654943/)
Article
Ivan Flis;
(2018)
Digital Humanities as the Historian’s Trojan Horse: Response to Commentary in the Special Section on Digital History
(/isis/citation/CBB638759086/)
Article
James Justus;
Samantha Wakil;
(2021)
The algorithmic turn in conservation biology: Characterizing progress in ethically-driven sciences
(/isis/citation/CBB088304027/)
Article
Jo Guldi;
(2022)
The Climate Emergency Demands a New Kind of History: Pragmatic Approaches from Science and Technology Studies, Text Mining, and Affiliated Disciplines
(/isis/citation/CBB144261765/)
Be the first to comment!