Clashes of Knowledge: Orthodoxies and Heterodoxies in Science and Religion

ISBN-13: 9789048173921 / Angielski / Miękka / 2010 / 230 str.

Peter Meusburger; Michael Welker; Edgar Wunder

Opis

"Clashes of Knowledge" is the first volume in a book series called "Knowledge and Space" dealing with spatial disparities of knowledge and the impact of the spatial context on the production and application of knowledge. The contributions in this book explore the conflicts between various types of knowledge, especially between orthodox and heterodox knowledge systems, which range from religious fundamentalism to heresies within the scientific community itself. Does the traditional distinction between "belief" and "knowledge" still make sense? How is the difference between knowledge and belief understood in different cultural contexts? How have the religious-based knowledge systems been displaced in their hegemonic role by "scientific" knowledge? In which ways do the agents of hegemonic, orthodox knowledge interact with the representatives of deviating, heterodox knowledge? These and many other questions are addressed by scholars of geography, history of science, philosophy, psychology, religious studies, sociology, theology, etc. A number of articles describe how scientists attempt to systematically exclude implausible knowledge claims from their disciplines and how the boundaries of science are subject to historical change and to spatial and cultural contexts. Knowledge systems can also clash at the level of the individual. Why do people often ignore information that contradicts their personal "knowledge"? Under what conditions are people prepared to give up firm beliefs and integrate new information that contradicts their prior knowledge? This book thus addresses many fields in the academy but also learned individuals who are interested in the often puzzling spatial and cultural disparities of knowledge and clashes of knowledge.

Spis treści

Contents,- Introduction to the book series „Knowledge and Space':Peter Meusburger,-: Introduction to this volume Clashes of Knowledge inside, outside, and at the Threshold of Science: Edgar Wunder,- Chapter 1: Forms of Knowledge: Problems, Projects, Perspectives: Günter Abel,- Chapter 2: The Nexus of Knowledge and Space: Peter Meusburger,- Chapter 3: Cultural boundaries: Settled and unsettled: Thomas F. Gieryn,- Chapter 4: Actor’s and Analysts’ Categories in the Social Analysis of Science: Harry Collins,- Chapter 5: Science and the Limits of Knowledge: Mikael Stenmark,- Chapter 6: Science and Religion in Popular Publishing: Aileen Fyfe,- Chapter 7: Reason, Faith, and Gnosis: Potentials and Problematics of a Typological Construct: Wouter J. Hanegraaff,- Chapter 8: The Demarcation Problem of Knowledge and Faith. Questions and Answers from Theology: Michael Welker ,- Chapter 9: Types of Sacred Space and European Responses to New Religious Movements: Eileen Barker,- Chapter 10: When Faiths Collide: The Case of Fundamentalism: Roger W. Stump,- Chapter 11: The Theory of Cognitive Dissonance: State of the Science and Directions for Future Research: Peter Fischer, Dieter Frey, Claudia Peus and Andreas Kastenmüller,- Chapter 12: Turning Persuasion from Art into a Science: Robert B. Cialdini,- Abstracts of the contribution,- Addresses of the contributors,- On the Klaus Tschira Foundation

O autorze

Dr. theol. Dr. phil. Dr. h. c. Michael Welker, Jg. 1947, ist Professor für Systematische Theologie und lehrt seit 1991 an der Universität Heidelberg. Er ist Geschäftsführender Direktor des dortigen Forschungszentrums Internationale und Interdisziplinäre Theologie (FIIT) und Mitglied der Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften.

Blurb

"Clashes of Knowledge" is the first volume of a series called "Knowledge and Space" dealing with spatial disparities of knowledge and the impact of the spatial context on the production and application of knowledge. The contributions in this book explore the conflicts between various types of knowledge, especially between orthodox and heterodox knowledge systems, which range from religious fundamentalism to heresies within the scientific community itself. Does the traditional distinction between "belief" and "knowledge" still make sense? How is the difference between knowledge and belief understood in different cultural contexts? How have the religious-based knowledge systems been displaced in their hegemonic role by "scientific" knowledge? In which ways do the agents of hegemonic, orthodox knowledge interact with the representatives of deviating, heterodox knowledge? These and many other questions are addressed by scholars of geography, history of science, philosophy, psychology, religious studies, sociology, theology, etc. A number of articles describe how scientists attempt to systematically exclude implausible knowledge claims from their disciplines and how the boundaries of science are subject to historical change and to spatial and cultural contexts.

Knowledge systems can also clash at the level of the individual. Why do people often ignore information that contradicts their personal "knowledge"? Under what conditions are people prepared to give up firm beliefs and integrate new information that contradicts their prior knowledge? This book thus addresses many fields in the academy but also learned individuals who are interested in the often puzzling spatial and cultural disparities of knowledge and clashes of knowledge.