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David Bloor (1942 - present)
David Bloor was born in Derby, United Kingdom in 1942. -
Strong Programme
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 in the philosophy of science that exclude the science analysis by treating successful scientific knowledge as true or rational without performing empirical investigation on how such knowledge has come to be accepted as true or rational. -
Academic Career
Bloor started his academic career in philosophy and psychology. He obtained a PhD by the University of Edinburgh in 1972 for his thesis "Speech and the regulation of behavior." He was very passionate about Kuhn - Popper debates and wrote many books on this topic. -
Knowledge and Social Imagery
In 1976, Bloor published his book “Knowledge and Social Imagery.” This book is a key text in the strong programme and became one of the most influential science studies at the time. -
Anti-Latour
In the 1980s when French scholars like Bruno Latour developed the Actor-Network Theory This theory was partially based on the strong programme. David Bloor strongly disagreed with his approach when it argued that human and non-humans should be treated in an equivalent manner and wrote an article entitled "Anti-Latour." -
John Desmond Bernal Prize
David Bloor was awarded the John Desmond Bernal Prize in 1996 by the Society for Social Studies of Science for his distinguished contribution to the field.
