Challenging Incommensurability: What We Can Learn from Ludwik Fleck for the Analysis of Configurational Innovation
نویسنده
چکیده
This paper argues that Ludwik Fleck's concepts of thought collectives and proto-ideas are surprisingly topical to tackle some conceptual challenges in analyzing contemporary innovation. The objective of this paper is twofold: First, it strives to establish Ludwik Fleck as an important classic on the map of innovation analysis. A systematic comparison with Thomas Kuhn's work on paradigms, a concept highly influential in various branches of innovation studies, suggests a number of pronounced yet under-researched advantages of a Fleckian perspective in the context of technological change and innovation. Secondly, the paper links these advantages to some recent changes in the organization of innovation. Due to the rising pervasiveness of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), configurational innovation has become commonplace that cuts across the boundaries of established trajectories of knowledge generation. Fleck's graded understanding of the closedness of thought collectives and his weak notion of incommensurability provide powerful metaphors to grasp the peculiarities of configurational innovation.
منابع مشابه
Adopting New International Health Instruments – What Can We Learn From the FCTC?; Comment on “The Legal Strength of International Health Instruments - What It Brings to Global Health Governance?”
This Commentary forms a response to Nikogosian’s and Kickbusch’s forward-looking perspective about the legal strength of international health instruments. Building on their arguments, in this commentary we consider what we can learn from the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) for the adoption of new legal international health instruments.
متن کاملCOVID-19 Pandemic: What Can the West Learn From the East?
Differences in public health approaches to control the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic could largely explain substantial variations in epidemiological indicators (such as incidence and mortality) between the West and the East. COVID-19 revealed vulnerabilities of most western countries’ healthcare systems in their response to the ongoing public health crisi...
متن کاملThe Ideas of Ludwik Fleck and Their Application to the Eukaryotic Cell Cycle, the Restriction Point, and G1-phase Control
The ideas of Ludwik Fleck (1896-1961) analyzing the conservative nature of scientific ideas are discussed and applied to the proposed G1-phase restriction point as a regulatory element of the mammalian cell cycle. Fleck proposed that ideas become fixed and difficult to change because criticisms of current and dominant models are either ignored or turned to support of the current model. The idea...
متن کاملO1: Defining Talent: A Cultural Perspective
What is talent? How can it be identified? Who is responsible for identifying it? Are there universally valued talents, or are they all culturally bound? There are at least three different levels of analysis to explore these questions. On the government level, we must philosophically decide on how our country chooses and expresses its values through what is taught, to whom, and for what periods ...
متن کاملWhat Can We Learn from 21 Years of School Poisonings in New Zealand?
Background: Childhood poisoning is a significant international health concern. Very little is known about trends in exposures within schools and preschools. The objectives of this study were to investigate the data recorded by the New Zealand National Poisons Centre (NPC) on these types of exposures over a 21 year period (1989 to 2009) and to determine trends and propose strategies to reduce th...
متن کامل