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 (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

. 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) or science, technology, and society is an interdisciplinary field that examines the creation, development, and consequences of science and technology in their historical, cultural, and social contexts. Histo ...

. He is best known for advocating the

strong programme The strong programme or strong sociology is a variety of the sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK) particularly associated with David Bloor, S. Barry Barnes, Barry Barnes, Harry Collins, Donald Angus MacKenzie, Donald A. MacKenzie, and John Henr ...

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 sociology ...

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

Biography

He was born in

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

. He started his academic career in philosophy and

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

. 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

, 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

. 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. Librari ...

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 (4S) to scholars judged to have made a distinguished contribution to the interdisciplinary field of Science and Technology Studies (STS).About th ...

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 it has grown considerably over the years. In 2024, over 3,000 people ...

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

Publications

Books

* * * * *

Selected articles

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

References

External links

Science Technology and Innovation Studies

Strong Programme in Sociology of Knowledge and Actor-Network Theory: The Debate within Science Studies (includes questions posed to David Bloor and Bruno Latour, in Appendix)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bloor, David Living people British sociologists Sociologists of science British philosophers of science 1942 births Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Academics of the University of Edinburgh People from Derby