| 1. |
- Danneskiold-Samsøe, Jakob
(författare)
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Muses and Patrons : Cultures of Natural Philosophy in Seventeenth Century Scandinavia
- 2004
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This study analyses the development of natural philosophy in Scandinavia in the 16th and 17th century. Rather than dealing with individual natural philosophers and ideas, it evolves around groups of natural philsophers - the Bartholin family and the former assistants of Tycho Brahe in Denmark, the Rudbeck family in Sweden. The study of nature is put into a cultural, religious, social, and political context, and much attention is given to the phenomenon of patronage. General developments in the two countries, particularly political, are drawn upon to explain the different conext, national style, and development of natural philosophy in Denmark and Sweden
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| 2. |
- Flores, Fernando
(författare)
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Från Rudbeck till Mandelbrot : Identifikation, imitation och komparation i nutidsvetenskap
- 2004
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Bok (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- InledningDet är kväll den 15:e januari 2004. Idag var det den andra dagen i Mijailovic-rättegången i Stockholms tingsrätt. Mijailovic försvarar sig, men inte genom att svara på frågor. Han representerar det moderna. Hans psykos, säger han, fick honom att få panik, höra röster och döda en utrikesminister. Om han fått träffa en läkare skulle allt varit annorlunda. Sedan början av 1800-talet har detta sätt resonera varit en vanlig, om inte alltid godtagen försvarslinje och förklaringsmodell, i synnerhet när det gäller allvarliga våldsbrott. Foucault visade i sin bok om Pierre Rivière hur experterna redan i början av 1800-talet kunnat sjanghaja någon som inte alls åberopat vanvett, för att ge ett gott exempel för denna försvarsposition. Parallellt med rättegången, men utanför den, utvecklas en talan som helt och hållet stöder Mijailovics position. Kritiken av den "postmoderna” psykiatrin, som förebrås relativism och socialkonstruktivism är hård och skoningslös. En antibiologisk och antiorganisk psykiatrikritik, säger de moderna, leder till charlatanism, nonchalans och ansvarslöshet. Här blir Mijailovic ett exempel. Den dominerande uppfattning som enligt media "totalt dominerar bland experterna" är emellertid en helt annan. Mijailovic är, säger man, trots hans tidigare bevisade aparta och egenartade beteende, absolut inte vansinnig, och har inte heller varit det. Han är rationell och planerande. Han rår för sina handlingar, tänker ut, förföljer och drar slutsatser. Så kommer det onda, detta förmoderna element par préference, in i diskussionen. Det är i detta förvirrade diskussionsklimat jag möter Fernando Flores' nya bok. Författaren har tidigare demonstrerat sin förmåga att leverera en överraskande meta-antropologi. Vad vi nu möter är en ny antro-historia, ett försök att rita upp ett slags tidskarta över positioner i tänkandets utveckling. Det här sker inte genom ett försök att demonstrera kontinuiteter. Snarare är det brott, överraskningar och återtaganden av utvecklingslinjer som står i centrum. Ibland blir hans bok ett Rekordmagasin där tragiska moderna hjältar som Turing och Foucault figurerar med sina uppfinningar och diskursiva bravader, ibland en filosofilexikon, och ibland en originell och kärleksfull diskussion om vad man kan få ut av någon av de tänkare som Flores älskar, som Wittgenstein eller Merleau-Ponty. Som amatörläsare kan man inte annat än förtjusas och förvirras av Fernando Flores' intensiva attack och hans ständiga perspektivbyten. Sune SunessonLund, januari 2004
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| 3. |
- Flores, Fernando
(författare)
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Mellan åsikt och vittnesbörd : Amerika och Västerlandets arkaiska rötter
- 2004. - 2
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Bok (refereegranskat)abstract
- The question of America’s cultural position in relation to the rest of the world is essential for all research connected to America and to the history of modern Europe. This situation has become obvious over the last years because of our societies’ latest “crisis”, with the consecration of the “post-modern” and “global” view of society, history and culture. The aim of the dissertation is to analyse the relation between an archaic and a modern world view during the fifteen-century. The term “archaic” not viewed as a synonym of “antique”. “Antique” often implies a period of time far from today. I use the term “archaic”, implying a world view, a cosmology, which can be found within any period. Archaic is a way of thinking history; a way of understanding the world and a way of developing identity relations. This interpretation of the relation between the archaic and the modern, lead my argumentation to the conclusion that these different world views must be based on different structures of reason, and that fluctuations between the two structures of reasoning ought to have created a “history of reason”. One of the central conclusions of this thesis is that modernity and archaism develop, disappear and develop again within each act of communication. I also discuss the problem of how the archaic communicates with the modern. How can cultural exchange happen when the cultural conditions are so different? I introduce the idea of cultural influence as a kind of “contagion”. Cultural influence is considered active already at a micro-level via every form of contact. I assume that people can assimilate foreign cultural products even when these products appear in a vague form or unclear presentation. My second assumption is that a culture can assimilate as much as it can give away. I call this assumption the principle of proportional cultural exchange. I found an important starting point in Marcel Mauss’ The Gift and in Lévi-Strauss’ developments of Mauss’ ideas. The work of Lévi-Strauss, includes an illuminating presentation of ideas about delimitation of borders between archaic and modern worldviews. The work of Lévi-Strauss provides an obligatory reference for all studies of the relation between archaic and modern rationality. The one hundred and fifty year old ideas of archaic society of Marx and Engels are then discussed. I especially found the ideas of “communism” and “property” confusing. However, Marx’ study of the “Asiatic production’s system” can yet today illustrate the socio-economical situation of Mexico in the times of the conquest. At the same time, the views of Morgan, Marx and Engels show themselves to be strongly influenced by the traditional mythical ideas about “primitive” societies inherited from Thomas More, Bartolomé de Las Casas, Montaigne, Andreae and Campanella.
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| 4. |
- Tunlid, Anna
(författare)
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Ärftlighetsforskningens gränser : Individer och institutioner i framväxten av svensk genetik
- 2004
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In the first part of the 20th century genetics developed into an important research field. The aim of this study is to follow and analyse the transformation of genetics from its origin within an agricultural context to an academic discipline in Sweden (ca. 1900-1960). Mendelism was introduced as a methodology in plant breeding at the plant breeding station in Svalöf during the first decade of the 20th century by Herman Nilsson-Ehle. He was given a personal professorship in genetics at Lund University in 1917, mainly due to his success in improving some economically important crop varieties. This was the first professorship in genetics in Sweden and for long time the only one. During his time as professor, Nilsson-Ehle continued to perform genetic research with close connections to plant breeding. He also founded a strong research school of plant breeders and geneticists interested in more general biological and evolutionary issues. When he retired in 1938, his successor Arne Müntzing decided to break up the close association between plant breeding and genetics and establish genetics as an independent discipline of Lund University. The institutionalization of Swedish genetics can thus be described as a two stage process. In the first stage genetics developed within an agricultural context infused with strong practical interests. This directed the research toward particular problems of great value for society and increased the possibilities for the geneticists to obtain necessary resources. In the second stage the close connection between genetics and plant breeding had to be reconstructed in order to transform genetics into an autonomous academic discpline. In the analysis the concept of boundary-work as introduced by Thomas F. Gieryn is used. As an emerging discipline, genetics was constantly forced to define its territory and border to defend its scientific authority. This was done in different arenas - in the agricultural environment, in the academic system and in society at large - where different characteristics of genetics was emphasized with the overall aim to increase its legitimacy and obtain financial and institutional resources. The transformation of genetics from a practical to a theoretical science supports the idea of a heterogenous scientific landscape in Sweden during the first half of the 20th century, where research was performed in many different contexts and with widely varying aims.
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