Blackwell Reference Online

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Finalization in science is a theory concerning the relationship between science and society from a historical and political perspective. It was developed in the 1970s by Gernot Böhme, Wolfgang van den Daele, and Wolfgang Krohn ( Böhme et al. 1972 , 1973, 1976, 1978). Its main thesis is that modern science has internal dynamics that allow it to absorb external goals of research on an increasing scale. The expression “finalization” is meant to denote this tendency (Latin finis ; purpose, goal). This theoretical model is continuous with the paradigmatic view of Thomas Kuhn and with Imre Lakatos's methodology of scientific research programs, but adds additional features concerning the social contexts of science. With respect to many fundamental disciplines of modern science the model assumes a typical three-phase development. The first, or explorative, phase embraces the period prior to the emergence of theories which serve to organize the field. At this point a research program internally determining the relevance and succession of problems is absent. Rather, all kinds of challenging problems can be experimentally analyzed and classified, and serve to induce competing theories. Examples can be found in mechanics previous to Newton; chemistry before the work of Lavoisier, Proust, and Dalton; electrodynamics before Maxwell; evolutionary biology before Darwin; and genetics before the ... log in or subscribe to read full text