MASTER’S
COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION
THE SOCIOLOGY OF KNOWLEDGE
Answer one question from each of the following three groups. You have five hours to complete the
examination. We strongly recommend that
you (A) outline your answers carefully
before beginning; (B) make sure you understand what the question is asking and stick
to the point; and (C) apportion your time so that you complete the answers
to all three questions
Group
A: Classical Theories
1. The idea of the social analysis of beliefs
can easily be traced back to Francis Bacon, 18th-century thinker in
the French Enlightenment — if not the Greek Sophists thinkers. However, the
modern sociology of knowledge is found in historical materialism, ruling ideas,
ideology, consciousness, analysis of the history of the economic theory, as well
as Engels’ references to the history of science. State Marx’s core ideas about knowledge, his
influences on the sociology of knowledge and science, and your critical
evaluation of his perspective.
2. Max Weber and Karl Mannheim (especially in Ideology
and Utopia) took off from retained parts, and modified Marx’s sociology of
ideas. Take one or both of their
perspectives and show where they modified Marx.
In what ways did their theories embody and advance Marx’s analysis (if
this is your position)?
3. The French tradition contributed to the
classical sociology of knowledge. Two
figures here are Alexis de Tocqueville and Emile Durkheim. For the former this part of his work is found
in his contrasting of knowledge and literature in democratic societies. For the latter, his attempt to reconcile
sociologically Kant’s problem of knowledge is found in The Elementary Forms
of Religious Life. Take one of these
theories and state and assess his contribution to the sociology of knowledge.
Group
B: Contemporary Theory
4. Probably the most world famous sociologist of
science and knowledge is the late Robert K. Merton. Pick
one area (or more) of his contributions — to the history and sociology of
science, the sociology of knowledge, mass communication, the professional
ethics of engineers and scientists in bureaucracies, the sociology of
sociology, etc. — and state its main themes and sources and offer criticism of
Merton’s work.
5. C. Wright Mills, specifically in his early
work, gave us several important papers on the sociology of knowledge, e.g., whether
it had epistemological consequences, the notion of the cultural apparatus, and
the social locations of different styles of sociological work, and application
of theories of language George Herbert Mead’s social theory of mind, to vexing
problems in the classical sociology of knowledge (this last is particularly
important). Pick any one or more of
these problem areas stating Mills’ position and how it advanced the
sociological analysis of beliefs.
6. The work that constituted the bridge to a
newer historical sociology of science was Thomas S. Kuhn’s The Structure of
Scientific Revolutions. He argued
against his critics that the only way scientific change could be explained was
sociologically. Explain what Kuhn meant
by this presenting of theory of scientific revolutions. What do you find to be the strengths and
weaknesses of his theory?
Group
C: Current Approaches and Controversies
7. The older sociology of knowledge has given way
to science studies or has incorporated technology in the field of science,
knowledge, and technology. This makes
sense given the prominence of the Human Genome Project, biotechnology, and
pharmaceutical industry promises for cures for global human scourges. Which classical, contemporary, or current
theories best illuminate one of these aspects of medical research?
8. Feminist and “minority” perspectives have
challenged the conventional approaches to knowledge in the social sciences. Take research into putative differences
between men and women in biology, privileged and dispriviledged groups, and
present the criticisms of feminist and minority group perspectives of
established approaches to sociology.
9. Scientific knowledge had become politicized
in the modern world, as Karl Mannheim said it would, especially in the