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STEPHEN P. TURNER, Brains/Practices/Relativism: Social Theory after Cognitive Science. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 2002. Pp. ix + 214. ISBN 0-226-81740-7. L12.00, $19.00 (paperback). DOI: 10.1017/S0007087403365112
Does one need a brain for doing history of science? Probably yes. But does one have to have a proper understanding of the brain's modes of operation in order to do it? Most of this journal's contributors, lacking a proper training in the neurosciences, would probably say no. Stephen Turner, however, intends his new book as a response to what he sees as the 'central challenge for social theory today: ... the lessons and implications of cognitive science, especially connectionism' (p. 1).
Before going into the details of Turner's book, one should consider this opening statement. There certainly are conflicting concepts in the various branches of scientific work, not only between social and brain theory, but also within the neurosciences or the social sciences themselves. Some of these conflicts stimulate research...