Metaphors and the dynamics of knowledge / Sabine Maasen and Peter Weingart.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Maasen, Sabine, 1960-

Contributor:

Weingart, Peter.

Series:

Routledge studies in social and political thought ; 26.

Routledge studies in social and political thought ; 26

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Semantics (Philosophy).

Metaphor.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (197 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Routledge, 2000.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This book opens up a new route to the study of knowledge dynamics and the sociology of knowledge. The focus is on the role of metaphors as powerful catalysts, and the book dissects their role in the construction of theories of knowledge. It is of vital interest to social and cognitive scientists alike.

Contents:

Metaphors and the Dynamics of Knowledge; Copyright; Contents; List of figures and tables; Acknowledgements; Foreword; Metaphors and the dynamics of knowledge: preliminary thoughts; 1 Analysing knowledge dynamics, in general, and the role of metaphors, in particular; Observing the dynamics of 'ideas' in society; Changing the observatory: a systems-theoretical and discourse-analytical approach; 2 Metaphors as targets and tools in the analysis of knowledge dynamics; Troubling terms; Metaphor analysis from 'above', from 'below', and from 'in between'; Metaphor analyses of knowledge dynamics

3 'Struggle for existence': selection, retention and extinction of a metaphor Vignette; Functions and dysfunctions of metaphors in science; Kampf urns Dasein - popularization and contexts of usage; change of context: Weismann and the Krupp competition; The metadiscourse on 'struggle for existence'; 4 Of paradigms, shifts, and changes - the Kuhnian metaphor; Vignette; Thomas Kuhn's Structure - 'The right text at the right time'; The 'Kuhnianization' of the social sciences; Paving the way for postmodernism - the Kuhnian metaphor at work; Kuhn, bartenders, theologians, and ice-cream parlours

5 The order of meaning: the career of chaos as a metaphor Vignette; Introduction; The career of chaos as a metaphor; Chaos in contemporary social science discourses; Metaphor transfer - discursive order out of/within chaos?; 6 Metaphors and the dynamics of knowledge; Struggle, Kuhn, and chaos: changing metaphors denoting change; Struggle, Kuhn, and chaos: how metaphors create something new; Dynamics of knowledge: from memes to metaphors; Notes; References; Author index; Subject index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [161]-176) and indexes.

ISBN:

1-134-62030-6

1-134-62031-4

1-280-20248-3

0-203-45998-9

0-203-25466-X

9780203459980

OCLC:

52111231