Science ,Technology and Society

Feminist epistemology and empirical methods

However, the strong resistance to the idea of a separate feminist science comes when feminist science draws positive direction from feminist values. To quote Geertz :

“The worry is .. that the autonomy of science ,its freedom, vigor, authority, and effectiveness will be undermined by the subjection of it to a moral and political program-the social empowerment of women –external to purposes ….[namely ]the knowledge –seeking ones of science ,the no lessimpassioned effort tounderstand the world as it is ,free of wishing , “really is “.”

..........(Geertz:quoted in Lloyd 1996)

The worry is that any scientific practice that bears the label “feminist ‘ will not be value free in ways widely thought to be essential ,at least as aspirations ,to scientific practices.It concerns the very idea of a feminist approach to science'.( Lacey: 2004. .)

The worry reflects the value-free, impartial quest of the gender-neutral scientist. Are the hard sciences biased too so that a better science would use feminist values to explain epistemology and methodology of science? The worry reflects the value-free, impartial quest of the gender-neutral scientist. The feminist critics tends to dismiss this proposal of gender-neutral science and gender biased feminism. This worry itself is shown to be misguided. They rather expose science of its own inherent biases in many guises.