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Questions of Evidence, Legitimacy, and the (Dis)Unity of Science

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Alison Wylie
Alison Wylie*
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, Washington University, Campus Box 1073, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO 63130
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Abstract

The recent Science Wars have brought into sharp focus, in a public forum, contentious questions about the authority of science and what counts as properly scientific practice that have long structured archaeological debate. As in the larger debate, localized disputes in archaeology often presuppose a conception of science as a unified enterprise defined by common goals, standards, and research programs; specific forms of inquiry are advocated (or condemned) by claiming affiliation with science so conceived. This pattern of argument obscures much that is most creative in archaeological practice. Archaeologists routinely exploit both integrating and fragmenting relations among the sciences, especially in establishing evidential claims. I will argue that the credibility of these claims is a function, not of scientific status acquired by corporate affiliation, but of the substantive trade in tools and techniques, empirical insights, models, and theories that is made possible by local interactions between archaeology and a wide range of other disciplines. There is much more to be gained by developing a rich critical understanding of the interfield relations that make this trade possible than by appealing to generic ideals of science.

Resumen

Resumen

Las recientes Guerras Científicas han enfatizado, en unforo público, dudas sobre la autoridad de la ciencia y práctica cientifica que por mucho tiempo han estructurado el debate arqueológico. Asi como en el debate general, disputas particulares en la arqueología frequentemente presuponen un concepto de la ciencia como una empresa unificada, definida por fines, estándares, y programas de investigación comunes; se defienden (o condenan) específicas formas de investigatión de acuerdo a su afiliación con la ciencia así definida. Este patrón de argumento oscurece la creatividad en la práctica arqueológica. Los arqueólogos rutinariamente explotan tanto la integración como la fragmentatión de las relaciones entre las ciencias, especialmente cuando deben establecer evidencias. Yo arguyo que la credibilidad de la evidencia no es una función del estatus cientifico adquirido por afiliación, sino de aquél obtenido por el intercambio substantivo de técnicas y herramientas, descubrimientos empíricos, modelos, y teorías, el cual es posible debido a que existen interacciones locales entre la arqueología y varias otras disciplinas. Mucho más se podria ganar si, en lugar de apelar a ideales genéricos de la ciencia, se desarrollara un entendimiento crítico de las relaciones entre campos cientificOs que hacen posible este intercambio.

Type
Articles
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 65 , Issue 2 , April 2000 , pp. 227 - 237
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 2000

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