Helen Longino

By Heidi Etherington

  • Birth

    Helen Longino was born on July 13th, 1944.

  • Receives her PhD

    In 1973, Helen Longino received her Phd from Johns Hopkins University, specializing in Philosophy of Science, Social Epistemology, and Feminist Philosophy. Longino focuses her studies is philosophy towards the "relations between scientific inquiry and its social, cultural, and economic contexts". Or in other words, how society influences the way we learn and how we conduct our scientific studies.

  • Science as Social Knowledge

    in 1990, Helen Longino released her book "Science as Social Knowledge". This book discusses the concept of "contextual empiricism", a term created by Longino to describe how science is socially constructed. According to the Princeton Press, Longino explains "how assumptions laden with social values affects the description, presentation, and interpretation of date" in scientific inquiries.

  • The Fate of Knowledge

    In 2001, Helen Longino released "The Fate of Knowledge", a book written to "attempt to unite sociology and philosophy". Longino believes that the interactions that people experience in society actually helps to establish rational knowledge. She states that "it's a common belief that social factors are a source of bias and irrationality" in scientific processes. This work earned her the Robert K Merton Professional Award.