Civil War on the Conventionalist Front: Actor-Network Theory Against Strong Programme

Abstract

This article attempts to explain the differences that led to the civil war on the Conventionalist Front. In this context, the main differences between the arguments of Strong Program and Actor-Network theory are mentioned. The Strong Programme, as its name suggests, set off from the argument that scientific pursuit is not a pure practice contrary to what Merton states, and tried

to show how it was influenced by social processes. Therefore, the Strong Programme opposed the positivist, structural- functionalist conception of science developed by Merton and the understanding that science is free from interest. Merton stated

that science can also be subjected to sociological analysis, but claimed that science was not influenced by the social. But the Strong Programme argued that science is influenced by social processes and tries to explain it from historical examples. Bruno Latour, who put forward the Actor-Network theory, entered into an ardent polemic with David Bloor, and criticized the extreme relativist aspect of the Strong Programme and the degree of weight it gave to society in the process of the realization of scientific practice. In addition, he argued that scientific practice is not merely a process within subjects, but objects are as important and effective as subjects. The Strong Programme suggests that pre-experience beliefs are effective in scientific discoveries. However, although the emphasis of the Strong Program on reflexivity is of great importance, how to examine pre-experience beliefs is one of the biggest dilemmas of the Strong Programme. On the other hand, Actor-Network theory broke the sharp distinction between nature and society or inanimate and living. This will help to understand scientific discovery processes more accurately.