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SUMMARY:Where does a claim for the necessity of historical knowledge lead 
 in the human sciences? - Roger Smith (Lancaster University / Durham Univer
 sity)
DTSTART:20081113T163000Z
DTEND:20081113T180000Z
UID:TALK14112@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Lauren Kassell
DESCRIPTION:This paper will take up some of the arguments of _Being Human:
  Historical Knowledge and the Creation of Human Nature_ (Manchester Univer
 sity Press\, 2007). I wish to argue that historical knowledge in any scien
 ce with 'the human' as its subject is necessary – not simply interesting
 \, useful or decorative. There are two principal themes\; for both there i
 s a large literature\, but perhaps historians of science have not apprecia
 ted their implications. First\, human self-knowledge is 'reflexive'\, that
  is\, changing knowledge changes the manner in which we are human\, and th
 is implies that the subject matter of the human sciences has an inescapabl
 y historical nature. Second\, there are different kinds of knowledge for d
 ifferent purposes\, and for certain purposes historical knowledge is neces
 sary\, and (say) biological knowledge cannot be substituted for it. Develo
 ping these themes\, I conclude that 'the history of the human sciences' is
  an irreducible dimension of science. Whether the arguments I make also ap
 ply to the history of the natural sciences is a somewhat separate\, and co
 mplex\, question\, but it is one which greatly affects how we write about 
 the natural science approach to 'the human'.\n\nSuggested reading:\nRoger 
 Smith\, _Being Human: Historical Knowledge and the Creation of Human Natur
 e_ (Manchester University Press\, 2007)\, esp. ch. 2 and pp. 114-21. For a
 n elaboration of the latter set of pages\, which is particularly relevant 
 to an HPS audience\, see 'Does Reflexivity Separate the Human Sciences fro
 m the Natural Sciences?'\, in special issue on reflexivity\, ed. Roger Smi
 th\, _History of the Human Sciences\,_ 18(4) (2005): 1-25.
LOCATION:Seminar Room 2\, History and Philosophy of Science\, Department o
 f
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