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|SummaryBrief='''Ludwik Fleck''' (1896–1961) was a Polish-Jewish microbiologist, whose writings made an important early contribution to the historical philosophy and sociology of science. |Summary=He was a pioneer in the social epistemology of science,[[CiteRef::Sady (2016)]] and is seen as a significant influence on Thomas Kuhn’s ''Structure of Scientific Revolutions''.[[CiteRef::Babich (2003)]] Fleck developed a descriptive system of scientific communities, called ''thought-collectives'' (''Denkkollektiv'') with incommensurable ''thought-styles'' (''Denkstil''), and focused on the historical development and fallibility of “facts” as a result of faulty social constructions.
Fleck wrote the primary elements of his concept of thought-collectives and thought-styles in German before the Second World War in Lwów, Poland (now Lviv, Ukraine), notably in the 1935 book ''Genesis and Development of a Scientific Fact'', and his 1936 paper ''The Problem of Epistemology''. The invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany and Fleck’s capture in 1941 prevented further development of Fleck’s philosophy until after the war.
|Criticism=Fleck’s primary philosophical work was laid out in the mid-1930s, and while the reception of his papers was on the whole positive,[[CiteRef::Sady (2016)]] the Second World War, and the invasion of Lwów in 1941 and Fleck’s capture by the Germans generally stunted the spread of his work — an English translation would not be available until 1979 with ''Genesis and Development of a Scientific Fact''.
Fleck on the whole is frequently scene seen as a standout, peculiarly-informed precursor to future theories of the sociology of science — including features of incommensurability and historical a priori forms. Thomas Kuhn spoke positively of Fleck, considering him a predecessor and early adopter of many ideas that were present in the ''Structure of Scientific Revolutions''. Only in Kuhn’s preface to ''Structure'' is Fleck’s work mentioned however, as “an essay that anticipated many of [Kuhn’s] own ideas.”[[CiteRef::Kuhn (19621962a)]] Babette E. Babich suggests that Kuhn did not neglect, but rather intentionally avoided referencing Fleck in ''Structure'' proper in light of the Cold War political circumstances surrounding Structure’s publication.[[CiteRef::Babich (2003)]]
Fleck is most appreciated in circles of German philosophers and historians of science, also being seen as an early adopter of historical reconstruction, ala Kuhn, in the epistemology of science. As well, in France, Bruno Latour considers Fleck the founder of the sociology of science.[[CiteRef::Sady (2016)]]
|Related Topics=Scientific Change, Scientific Community, Static vs. Dynamic Methods, Role of Sociocultural Factors in Scientific Change, Role of Sociocultural Factors in Theory Acceptance, Sociocultural Factors,
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