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The Strong Programme
Bloor among others in the Science Studies Unit at the University of Edinburgh discussed ideas to reform Robert Merton's principles of sociology. They created a Strong Programme, which consisted of four tenets that helped study scientific communities similarly to how anthropologists study culture, thus separating the strong from weak approaches. This link conveys what each principle means. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C10Q0mEbhUI -
Knowledge and Social Imagery
Bloor introduces the term "finitism" to the sociology of knowledge. Inspired by John Mill and Duhem. Answering the question if the word fits or not. Bloor explains how meanings of concepts aren't fixed and have a finite amount of examples and science is superficial because they don't contains discussions about the nature of meanings. [Bloor, D. (1976). Knowledge and social imagery. Chicago, IL: Univ. of Chicago Press.] -
Wittgenstein: A Social Theory of Knowledge
Bloor analyzed Wittgenstein's work, mainly with a focus of the difference between naturalistic and sociological thought. This influenced his thoughts on how interests, traditions, and power struggles have a role in the choices made in science. [Bloor, D. (1983). Wittgenstein a social theory of knowledge. New York: Columbia Univ. Press.] -
Scientific Knowledge: A Sociological Analysis
Barry Barnes, John Henry, and Bloor's book goes more in depth of why the Strong Programme works, and it's because it opened a sociological approach to science while pushing out philosophers that try to separate the two. The Stronge Programme helps science not become secluded from other areas of study. It also gives credit to good work before the program was publicized. [Barnes, B., Bloor, D., & Henry, J. (1996). Scientific knowledge: A sociological analysis. London: Athlone.]
