Overcoming the Two Cultures: Science vs. the humanities in the modern world-system

by Richard E Lee Jr, Immanuel Wallerstein

This book tells the story of how the very idea of two cultures-the so-called divorce between science and the humanities-was a creation of the modern world-system. The contributors, working from a common research framework, trace the divorce of "facts" and "values" as part of the transition from feudalism to capitalism. This led to a polarization between universalist "science" and the particularist "humanities" and finally to the creation of the social sciences as an uneasy intermediary in this epistemological debate. The book addresses the contemporary attempts to overcome the division between the two cultures that emerge from science, feminism, race and ethnic studies, cultural studies, and ecology, ending with an analysis of the culture wars and the science wars. Volkan Aytar, Ay,se Betul Celik, Mauro Di Meglio, Mark Frezzo, Ho-fung Hung, Biray Kolloupglu K3/4rl3/4, Agustin Lao- Montes, Eric Mielants, Boris Stremlin, Sunaryo, Norihisa Yamashita, Deniz Yukeseker.

Genres: Sociology, Cultural

256 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2004

Reviews

[Aslihan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I use this book in my Research Methods course as an introductory text to present the students with an understanding of the separation between natural sciences and humanities and social sciences. The book also includes a diverse set of essays regarding the emergency and development of area studies. It’s sort of both philosophy of social sciences and the historical transformation of scientific inquiry.