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SUMMARY:Cooperative division of cognitive labour: the social epistemology 
 of photosynthesis research - Kärin Nickelsen (LMU Munich)
DTSTART:20191121T153000Z
DTEND:20191121T170000Z
UID:TALK129850@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Agnes Bolinska
DESCRIPTION:Historians and philosophers of science have long recognised th
 at the generation of scientific knowledge is a social endeavour\, and that
  traditional epistemologies\, which focus on individual scientists\, are u
 nable to capture its dynamics. Historians have provided rich accounts of r
 esearch groups and institutions\, although more recently\, epistemological
  questions have received less attention. Philosophers of science\, on the 
 other hand\, have developed formalised models that are difficult to match 
 with actual historical episodes. In this paper\, I argue that an integrate
 d HPS perspective helps to better understand the social epistemologies of 
 scientific collectives.\n\nI flesh out this claim by presenting episodes f
 rom the history of photosynthesis research in the late 19th to mid-20th ce
 ntury. In this period\, photosynthesis became a subject of great interest 
 for researchers from many different disciplines\, while the underlying mec
 hanism remained obscure. I claim that\, although the researchers were to s
 ome extent competing\, their mostly cooperative interactions resulted in a
  division of cognitive labour that was never formally agreed\, but in effe
 ct ensured the persistence of a plurality of complementary approaches. By 
 this means\, individual scientists improved their own chances of success\,
  while also taking part in the success of others.
LOCATION:Seminar Room 2\, Department of History and Philosophy of Science
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