Three Genres of Sociology of Knowledge and Their Marxist Origins

In the present paper I sketch three genres of sociology of knowledge and trace their roots to Marx and Marxist literature while reconstructing two causal and one hermeneutic strand in this context. While so doing the main focus is set on György Lukács and György Márkus and their interpretation of Marx’s contribution to sociologically minded theories of knowledge. As a conclusion I point out that Marx-inspired sociologies of knowledge are more sensitive to the relation of larger-scale social and historical processes than to the actual practices of knowledge production, and that recent developments in science studies tend to integrate larger- and smaller-scale sociological sensitivities

Hume-értelmezések = Hume Interpretations

A kutatási tervvel összhangban eredményeink három területre összpontosultak. 1) Amellett érveltünk, hogy Hume ismeretelmélete és metafizikája termékenyen értelmezhető a) tudománytörténeti kontextusban és b) tudásszociológiai szempontból a romantika kontextusában. 2) Amellett érveltünk, hogy különbség van Hume-nak az _Értekezésben_ és a morálfilozófiai _Tanulmányban_ kifejtett koncepciója között, legfontosabb talán, hogy a mesterséges erények kategóriáját illetően Hume későbbi álláspontja jobban megfelel eredeti célkitűzéseinek. 3) Feltérképeztük a tudásszociológiai értelmezések módszertanának regionális forrásvidékét, és rekonstruáltuk egy világnézet-alapú tudásszociológia körvonalait. | In accordance with the project proposal, our research has yielded results in three fields. 1) We have argued that Hume's epistemology and metaphysics can be fruitfully interpreted in the context of a) the history of science, and b) romanticism as understood in the sociology of knowledge. 2) We have argued that there is a distinction to be drawn between Hume's _Treatise_ and moral _Enquiry_, and with respect to the category of artificial virtues Hume's latter position suits better his initial intentions. 3) We have explored the regional origins of sociological interpretations in intellectual history, and reconstructed the frameworks of a sociology of knowledge centered on the concept of Weltanschauung

Before the Two Cultures: Merging the Canon of the History of Philosophy and History of Science

This article argues that early modern philosophy should be seen as an integrated enterprise of moral and natural philosophy. Consequently, early modern moral and natural philosophy should be taught as intellectual enterprises that developed hand in hand. Further, the article argues that the unity of these two fields can be best introduced through methodological ideas. It illustrates these theses through a case study on Scottish Newtonianism, starting with visions concerning the unity of philosophy and then turning to a discussion of how methodological ideas figure in those visions. Finally, the article argues that methodological considerations can serve as good starting points to introduce and discuss central topics and canonical figures of the early modern period

CAUSAL EXPLANATION IN THE SPECIAL SCIENCES: TWO MODELS

This paper argues against the assimilation of two models of causation and causal explanation within the physicalist camp. One of them is Jaegwon Kim´s model of supervenient causation; the other is Frank Jackson´s and Philip Pettit´s model of programme explanation. Assimilating moves have been made on both sides. This paper aims to show that these moves are flawed because differences between the models can easily be shown once the supervenience theses laying behind them are reconstructed. This initial difference is shown to entail several further discrepancies. At the end of this paper, we try to make sense of `causal relevance,´ on which the idea of a programme explanation rests, in order to prevent further attempts to assimilate the two models