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Science as Social Knowledge
Longino published her first book, Science as Social Knowledge, in 1990. In this work she outlines her idea of “contextual empiricism” where she argues that data and observations collected by scientists do not directly prove or disprove a hypothesis, rather that the relevance of the data collected is determined by a collective human belief of what said data supports. Longino describes science and the acquisition of knowledge as a social understanding of -
The Fate of Knowledge
Longino’s book The Fate of Knowledge, published in 2002, received the Robert K. Merton Professional Award for best book in it’s field. In this book she attempts to bridge the debate between scientists and sociologists about how knowledge is acquired and accepted. While typically scientists argue that social aspects form bias and sociologists argue that social aspects have a major impact on how science is both presented and received by society. Longino, on the other hand, argues that those same -
Scientific Pluralism
In 2006, Longino was a contributor to the publishing of the book Scientific Pluralism. In this book, the idea of pluralism being used a general philosophical interpretation of science is explored. Pluralism is the concept of various ideas or models being presented that are not always compatible with one another. This book argues that this pluralism should be embraced and change the way that we analyze and accept scientific knowledge as it is presented to us. -
Studying Human Behavior
Longino published her book, Studying Human Behavior: How Scientists Investigate Aggression and Sexuality, in 2013. It would later be awarded a prize for Best Book in Feminist Philosophy. In this book Longino outlines and examines different approaches to the study of aggression and sexuality, arguing that each approach starts from a different point and therefore only provides a partial knowledge on the cause. She urges policy makers to understand these different approaches and examine each before