David Bloor (; born 1942) is a British sociologist. He is a professor in, and a former director of, the Science Studies Unit at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1 ...

. He is a key figure in the Edinburgh school and played a major role in the development of the field of

science and technology studies Science and technology studies (STS) is an interdisciplinary field that examines the creation, development, and consequences of science and technology in their historical, cultural, and social contexts. History Like most interdisciplinary fie ...

. He is best known for advocating the strong programme in the

sociology of scientific knowledge The sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK) is the study of science as a social activity, especially dealing with "the social conditions and effects of science, and with the social structures and processes of scientific activity." The sociolog ...

, most notably in his book ''Knowledge and Social Imagery''.

Biography

He was born in

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby g ...

. He started his academic career in philosophy and

psychology Psychology is the science, scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immens ...

. In 1972 he was awarded a PhD by the University of Edinburgh for his thesis "Speech and the regulation of behaviour." In the 1970s he and Barry Barnes were the major figures of the strong programme, which put forward queries against ''philosophical a priorism'' in the understanding of scientific knowledge. This is an approach, popular in the philosophy of science, that simply precluded inquiries about science by treating successful scientific knowledge as simply true or rational without empirically investigating how such knowledge has come to be accepted as true or rational. Bloor's book ''Knowledge and Social Imagery'' (Routledge, 1976) is one of the key texts of the strong programme. Bloor wrote extensively on the Kuhn/ Popper debate, and is a representative figure of the

. In the 1980s when French scholars like

Bruno Latour Bruno Latour (; 22 June 1947 – 9 October 2022) was a French philosopher, anthropologist and sociologist.Wheeler, Will. ''Bruno Latour: Documenting Human and Nonhuman Associations'' Critical Theory for Library and Information Science. Libraries ...

developed the actor-network theory (partially based on the strong programme), David Bloor strongly disagreed with the ANT camp when they argued that human and non-humans should be treated in an equivalent manner, going so far as to write an article entitled "Anti-Latour". He was awarded the

John Desmond Bernal Prize The John Desmond Bernal Prize is an award given annually by the Society for Social Studies of Science The Society for Social Studies of Science (4S) is a non-profit scholarly association devoted to the social studies of science and technology ...

by the

Society for Social Studies of Science The Society for Social Studies of Science (4S) is a non-profit scholarly association devoted to the social studies of science and technology (STS). It was founded in 1975 and as of 2008 its international membership exceeds 1,200. In 2016, over ...

in 1996 in recognition of his distinguished contribution to the field.

Publications

Books

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Selected articles

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References

External links

* David Bloor'
home page
at the

.
Science Technology and Innovation Studies

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bloor, David Living people British sociologists Sociologists of science Philosophers of science 1942 births Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Academics of the University of Edinburgh People from Derby