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MASTER LOGIC AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
Feminist epistemology:
standpoint theory
What can feminist standpoint theory say about the
physical sciences?
Nastassja Cipriani
Universidad de Valladolid
July 2020
Supervisor:
Prof. Eulalia Pérez Sedeño
«The initial period is one of filling in gaps —correcting sexist
biases and creating new topics out of women’s experiences.
Over time, however, feminists discovered that […] existing
paradigms systematically ignore or erase the significance of
women’s experiences and the organization of gender. This
discovery […] leads feminists to rethink the basic conceptual
and theoretical frameworks of their respective fields» (Stacey
and Thorne 1985, p. 302).
Abstract
In this work I provide a detailed description of Sandra Harding’s feminist standpoint theory,
which represents one of the three traditional approaches to feminist epistemology. I start by
presenting the two main theses of the theory: the situated knowledge thesis and the thesis of
epistemic privilege. In order to do that I extensively talk about the concept of partial
perspectives and the concept of social location. Then, after the two main theses, I present
Harding’s strong objectivity proposal and, related to it, the interrelation between, on one
hand, the scientific and epistemological norm of objectivity and, on the other hand, the social
and political norm of diversity. In the discussion section I try to introduce some arguments
regarding the importance of considering the concepts presented previously, in the context of
very abstract disciplines such as the physical sciences. To that end, I consider two dimensions
of the problem: firstly, the culture and social organization of science; secondly, the
knowledge-producing practices of science. Both dimensions contribute to the way scientific
knowledge is produced and thus to scientific knowledge itself. It is in this sense that I assert
that the social location of knowers can affect the content of science.
Key words
Social location; production of knowledge; objectivity; physics.
Resumen
En este trabajo se proporciona una descripción detallada de la teoría del punto de vista de
Sandra Harding, la cual representa uno de los tres enfoques tradicionales de la epistemología
feminista. Empezaré introduciendo las perspectivas parciales y el concepto de la “social
location”, que me servirán para presentan las dos tesis principales de la teoría: la tesis del
conocimiento situado y la tesis del privilegio epistémico. Luego presentaré el programa para
una objetividad fuerte de Harding, y la interrelación entre objetividad —norma científica y
epistemológica— y diversidad —norma social y política—. En la discusión se introducirán
argumentos a favor de la importancia de considerar los conceptos presentados anteriormente
dentro del contexto de las disciplinas abstractas como la física. Con ese fin, se considerarán
dos dimensiones del problema: por un lado, la organización cultural y social de la ciencia y,
por otro lado, las prácticas de producción de conocimiento.
Palabras claves
“Social location”; producción de conocimiento; objetividad; física.
Contents
1. Introduction 3
2. The two main theses of feminist standpoint theory 5
2.1. The situated knowledge thesis 5
2.2. The thesis of epistemic privilege 7
3. Objectivity, strong objectivity and diversity 10
3.1. The strong objectivity proposal 10
3.2. Objectivity and diversity 11
4. Discussion: the problem of social location in the physical sciences 13
4.1. The social sciences 13
4.2. The physical sciences and mathematics 14
4.3. The problem has at least two dimensions 15
4.4. Science as an organization 16
4.5. Knowledge-producing practices 17
Language 17
Both social and natural objects are socially constituted 18
Discursive resources 19
4.6. Open questions and the importance of diversity 20
5. Conclusions 23
Bibliography 26
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1. Introduction
Feminist standpoint theory is one of the three traditional approaches to feminist
epistemology —the other two being feminist contextual empiricism and postmodernism—,
and it was firstly introduced in the 1970s and 1980s. Among the most influential thinkers
who developed feminist standpoint theory are Dorothy E. Smith, Nancy Hartsock, Sandra
Harding, Patricia Hill Collins and Alison Wylie. In this essay I will mainly focus on Sandra
Hardings’s work.
In general, epistemology is concerned with describing and explaining how knowledge is
acquired. In particular, epistemology of science is concerned with describing and explaining
how scientific knowledge is acquired (Potter 2006, p. 14). As for feminist standpoint theory,
it is a feminist epistemology of science, but it is also a type of critical theory, that is, a theory
aimed at empowering oppressed groups in order to improve their situation. One of the most
common characteristics of feminist theories is the claim that women have privileged access to
reality. However, even if in some situations this claim cannot be properly justified, a
particular feminist theory may still offer «true representations that are most useful to women
than other true representations» (Anderson 2017).
A first introduction to the important concept of standpoint can be given as follows. In
Harding’s words, «a standpoint arises when people occupying a subordinate social location
analyze the conditions of their lives and engage in political struggle to change them». This is
why Harding’s epistemology of science is firmly rooted in feminism, but also in anti-racism
and post-colonial thought and, historically, it has important roots in Marxist epistemology
(Potter 2006, p. 26). Indeed, one of Marxism’s most powerful resources for feminist
standpoint theories «was the insight that the material conditions of peoples’ lives can actually
shape their understanding of the social and natural world». It is precisely in this sense that
feminist epistemologists argue that knowledge is “socially constructed” (p. 135).
According to Harding, «a feminist standpoint is fundamentally the possession not of an
individual, but rather of a community that has been engaged in deeply critical discussions
aimed at figuring out how to get the knowledge that will be useful to particular groups of
women in their distinctive disadvantaged locations in global gender, race, class, and colonial
relations» (Harding 2015, p. 173). Thus feminist standpoint theory analyzes the relationship
between knowledge and politics, and set it at the center of its account. This means that its
final aim is to provide a causal account, and explanation for, «the effects that different kind of
politics have in the production of knowledge» (Harding 1993, pp. 55–56).
Wylie believes that the question of how power relations influence knowledge is both
empirical and conceptual, and it is about «what systematic limitations are imposed by the
social location of different classes or collectivities of knowers, and what potencial they have
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for developing an understanding of this structured epistemic partiality» (Wylie 2003, p. 31–
32).
Based on this brief introduction, and on the few elements presented so far, I believe that it
is already clear why feminist standpoint theory is considered a political and social
commitment, other than a philosophical position and an epistemology.
In the first part of this work I will review the two main theses of feminist standpoint
theory and present Harding’s strong objectivity proposal. In particular, I will analyze in great
detail the concept of social position. In the second part of this work I will engage in a
discussion about the possibility to apply feminist standpoint theory, and especially the
concept of social location, to the physical sciences. The material I will use comes from the
traditional as well as more contemporary feminist thinkers. Among them: Donna Haraway,
Sandra Harding, Alison Wylie, Kristen Intemann, Elizabeth Potter, Elizabeth Anderson and
Evelyn Fox Keller.
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2. The two main theses of feminist
standpoint theory
Feminist standpoint theory is based on two main theses: the situated knowledge thesis and
the thesis of epistemic privilege (or epistemic advantage). The situated knowledge thesis
asserts that our social location influences the experiences we have in a systematic and
continuous way, and it can shape and limit what we know, in such a way that the knowledge
we arrive at is achieved from a particular standpoint. The epistemic privilege thesis asserts
that some standpoints, such that those of marginalized, discriminated or oppressed groups,
are epistemically privileged.
In order to correctly understand the two main theses of feminist standpoint theory, it is
important to consider the following preliminary remarks. I will expand and explain these
remarks later on in this work, for now, I will just mention them: first of all, the definition of a
standpoint does not presuppose an essentialist definition of the social categories by which a
standpoint is characterized; secondly, standpoint theory does not assert that the standpoint of
marginalized, discriminated or oppressed groups are automatically epistemically privileged;
finally, standpoint theory is not merely claiming that people who have different experiences
will know about different things.
1
In the following sections, I will present the situated knowledge thesis and the thesis of
epistemic privilege in more detail, and I will try to underline the points that permit to
understand what these theses imply within the context of scientific inquiry.
2.1. The situated knowledge thesis
The first scholar to develop the concept of situated knowledges was Donna Haraway in
1988. After Haraway’s contribution, the concept of situated knowledges became one of the
most important elements of feminist epistemology.
To explain her proposal Haraway employs the metaphor of vision: in order to achieve
objectivity and, at the same time, taking into account the multidimensionality of the
subjectivity, it is important to choose a particular point of view when starting to see.
Haraway’s concept of vision is not passive, rather, it is active and forces the knowing subject
to critically position herself or himself with respect to the phenomena to investigate.
Concerning the traditional concept of objectivity, which asks the knower to create a necessary
distance between the subject and the object, Haraway explains: «The eyes have been used to
Thorough discussions about these questions can be found, for example, in Kukla (2006), Rolin (2006) and
1
Intemann (2010).
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signify a perverse capacity […] to distance the knowing subject from everybody and
everything in the interest of unfettered power». On the contrary, Haraway believes that what
really guarantees objectivity is not the construction of the subject-object distance, but the
power of parcial perspectives (Haraway 1988).
Partial perspectives are both limited and localized, and they represent the first step for
understanding that knowledge itself is situated. According to Haraway, when we start to see
—and knowing— we must ask ourself the following questions: How can we see? Where can
we see from? What is limiting our vision? What do we see for? Who gets to have more than
one point of view? Who gets blinded? Who interprets what we see? From these questions it
follows that the positioning process implies responsibility and therefore it is not an innocent
practice: «Vision is always a question of the power to see —and perhaps of the violence
implicit in our visualizing practices. With whose blood were my eyes crafted? […] Struggles
over what will count as rational accounts of the world are struggles over how to
see» (Haraway 1988).
Currently, the situated knowledge thesis can be articulated as follows. It asserts, firstly,
that knowing subjects are situated in specific locations —historically, geographically,
culturally, socially, etc.— and that they have distinctive relationships with the world around
them and with respect to other knowing subjects. Secondly, it asserts that the knowledge they
produce depends on their locations as well as on their specific relationships with the world
and with other knowing subjects (Anderson 2017).
Within the context of feminist epistemology, authors are interested, in particular, in
socially situated knowledges. Individuals produce knowledge from their specific social
locations, which means that social locations affect what they can know and how they can
come to know. An individual’s social location is determined by her or his social identity —
gender, class, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, national origin, and other socio-political
categories— and by her or his social roles and relations —occupation, political preferences,
etc.— (Anderson 2017). Therefore according to the situated knowledge thesis, the social
location of the knower influences what she or he can experience, and it shapes and limits
what she or he can know.
Knowledge, here, is considered to be embodied rather than abstract and universal. This
means that different persons —different bodies— are subject to different environments and
conditions, thus their experiences, as well as their evidence and beliefs, will be different. As
said, the social location of the knower is determined by the intersection of several social
dimensions, such as gender, race and class. Hence, because the knower is socially located, the
knowledge produced by the knower will be socially located as well, that is, it will be a
situated knowledge. The fact that the social location of the knower shapes what she or he can
know, also means that the ways how social location shapes experience might not be
homogeneous within people belonging to a certain social group. Nevertheless, belonging to a
particular group within a specific historical, social and political context, is indeed relevant to
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the kinds of experiences one has because of how the context affects material circumstances
(Intemann 2010, pp. 785–786).
In Wylie’s words, social structures and institutions, as well as roles and relations that are
systematically structured, can be «robust enough to shape what epistemic agents can
know» (Wylie 2003, p. 29) This is so because social locations are systematically defined by
social structures and relations, especially relations of production and reproduction. These
structures are hierarchical, constitute a system of power relations, thus creating the material
conditions of people’s lives and structuring people’s social interactions with one another.
Consequently, «the experiences and understandings of those in different social locations can
differ»: they can differ in the content of their knowledge, but also —and more importantly
from an epistemological point of view— «in what they take knowledge itself to be» (Potter
2006, p. 156; citing Wylie 2003, pp. 29–31).
At this point it is important to remark that feminist standpoint theory is not about merely
socially located perspectives: a standpoint is not just the perspective one acquires in virtue of
the experiences she or he had, rather, a standpoint must be achieved through critical thinking
and reflection on the relationship between power structures, social locations and production
of knowledge. Therefore a standpoint is not simply a socially located perspective —as the
notion of situated knowledge might imply— but is defined by the collective awareness of
how power structures shape and limit the production of knowledge. Standpoints do not
automatically arise from occupying a specific social location; they «are achieved only when
there is sufficient scrutiny and critical awareness of how power structures shape or limit
knowledge in a particular context»; they do not presuppose a universally shared perspective
among all members of a certain group; and, more importantly, are accomplished by
communities, not individuals (Intemann 2010, pp. 785–786).
Therefore feminist standpoint theory is undoubtedly concerned with the epistemic effects
of social location, but, in addition, it is also concerned with «the effects and the emancipatory
potential of standpoints that are struggled for, achieved, by epistemic agents who are
critically aware of the conditions under which knowledge is produced and authorized» (Wylie
2003, p. 31). And it is the existence of a differential distribution of power that makes situated
knowledges and difference in interests closely related (Crasnow 2013, p. 417).
2.2. The thesis of epistemic privilege
The thesis of epistemic privilege (or epistemic advantage) asserts that some standpoints —
such as those of disadvantaged, marginalized, discriminated or oppressed groups— are
epistemically privileged. Classically, this implies three kinds of epistemic privilege. Namely,
through the standpoint of the disadvantaged, marginalized, discriminated or oppressed
groups, standpoint theories claim: i) to show the fundamental regularities of power structures
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in society; ii) to represent existing social inequalities as contingent rather than natural and
necessary (they appear natural and necessary to privileged and dominant groups); and iii) to
offer a representation of the world in relation to universal human interests rather than to
particular classes or groups (Anderson 2017).
According to Intemann, the thesis of epistemic privilege has to be understood as the claim
that epistemic communities that include members of marginalized, discriminated or
oppressed groups will have epistemic advantages, or more rigorous critical reflection, than
communities that do not. Intemann also underlines the fact that this may be the case at least
in some contexts. In scientific inquiry, members of oppressed groups may help in reaching a
more rigorous critical consciousness because «their experiences will often be precisely those
that are most needed in identifying problematic background assumptions and revealing
limitations with research questions, models, or methodologies» (Intemann 2010, p. 787).
2
Wylie believes that people belonging to marginalized and oppressed groups «must
understand the assumptions that constitute the worldviews of dominant groups in order to
successfully navigate the world»; moreover, the fact that their experiences often conflict with
dominant views may lead them to create alternative views about how the world works. So the
thesis of epistemic privilege is about «how reliable particular kinds of knowledge are likely
to be, given the social conditions of their production», and the understanding of the
limitations of particular views —the dominant ones— considering that they are partial and
therefore the knowledge they produce «will fail to maximize salient epistemic
virtues» (Wylie 2003, 34–35).
However, it is important to remark that the fact that an epistemic community includes a
member of a marginalized group does not automatically imply epistemic advantages, because
in order to achieve a standpoint —thus epistemic privilege— a rigorous critical thinking and
reflection is required. This leads to another central point of feminist standpoint theory, that I
anticipated before: the epistemic privilege is not reached by the individual, rather, by the
epistemic community as a whole (Intemann 2010, p. 789).
In fact, in order to gain access to the standpoint of an oppressed group, it is neither
necessary nor sufficient to be a member of that group. It is not sufficient because members
have to become aware of their group identity and achieve a shared understanding of the
power relations that cause the oppression; it is not necessary because the values and interests
of the oppressed group are publicly accessible, so that anyone can theorize phenomena in
relation to the values and interests of the group. On the other hand, the standpoint must be
achieved through the self-knowledge of autonomous agents who actively participate in the
consciousness raising process, and the epistemic privilege thus shifts to the group, that comes
Notice that when considering background assumptions, Intemann has already combined some aspect of
2
contextual empiricism with standpoint theory. Indeed, nowadays the two approaches tend to converge (see
Intemann 2010).
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to define itself as a collective political agent. In this sense, one would say, for example, that a
privileged standpoint is not that of women, but of feminists (Anderson 2017).
With respect to the social situatedness of dominant groups, Harding argues that they fail to
critically and systematically interrogate their privileged social situation, and also the effects
of such privileges on their beliefs. This is why they find themselves in a scientifically and
epistemologically disadvantaged social situation for generating knowledge (Harding 1993, p.
54).!
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3. Objectivity, strong objectivity and
diversity
Feminist standpoint theory asserts that knowledge is always produced from a particular
standpoint, and that certain standpoints are epistemically privileged. Therefore it challenges
the traditional notion of scientific objectivity, based on neutrality and value-free science.
Actually, feminist standpoint theory, as well as other approaches to feminist epistemology,
rejects the view of science and objectivity as value-free.
An enormous amount of literature has been produced to criticize the traditional notion of
scientific objectivity. Here I will present Harding’s proposal for a “strong objectivity”, an
account of objectivity that does not require science to be value-free.
3.1. The strong objectivity proposal
The central point of Harding’s strong objectivity is the claim that to reach more objective
accounts in natural as well as social sciences, «researchers should start research from
“outside” the dominant conceptual frameworks» of a given field of study (Harding 2015, p.
30). Here, a dominant conceptual framework is one that serves the values and interests of the
most powerful, dominant groups.
Starting research from “outside” the dominant conceptual frameworks and from “outside”
a discipline does not mean trying to reach the so-called “view from nowhere” —that is in fact
not possible to reach—, rather, it means finding or creating a little but significant distance
from prevailing values and interests: this will allow researchers to detect dominant
assumptions and to enable a critical perspective capable of illuminating issues in new ways
(Harding 2015, pp. 34–35).
The strong objectivity proposal develops starting from how knowledge is produced in the
real world and how science is actually practiced today, not from an abstract ideal of what
would make perfect science. First of all, today in the real world public institutions and private
corporations can shape the ways scientific knowledge is produced: the design and
management of everyday knowledge production in science depends on the financial support
of these corporations; in other words, the articulation of research projects as well as their
purpose may often be shaped by the values and interests of those who fund them. Secondly,
scientific communities today are extremely homogeneous: they are mainly made of people
belonging to the same social group, therefore they share precise and distinctive set of social
values and interests, and then «train them into research practices that further advance such
distinctive values and interests» (Harding 2015, pp. 30–33).
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Moreover, according to Harding the procedure that scientists follow of repeating research
processes, observations and experiments is useful to identify assumptions, values and
interests that differ between specific individuals or between research groups. However, if
social values and interests, or assumptions, are shared by the entire scientific community in a
given field, then these background assumptions, values and interests cannot be detected. This
is why «the perspectives that tend to prevail in research are those of already advantaged
groups», in particular, those groups that can access funding. Therefore «it is their economic,
political, and cultural assumptions, intended or not, that tend to shape results of
research» (Harding 2015, p. 34).
The following step in the strong objectivity program is to look at how a critical distance
can actually be achieved, and how this process can maximize the objectivity of research. An
important way in order to do that is to create sufficient diversity in scientific communities.
3.2. Objectivity and diversity
Wylie asserts that «far from compromising epistemic integrity, certain kinds of diversity
(cultural, racial, gender) may significantly enrich scientific inquiry» (Wylie 2003, p. 26). On
the other hand, Intemann explains that different theories give different accounts about the
kind of diversity that is needed for promoting and achieving objectivity: in fact, while in
feminist contextual empiricism it is the diversity of values and interests that is epistemically
beneficial, in feminist standpoint theory it is the diversity of social position what really
counts.
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Contextual empiricists believe that individuals with different values and interests will
«provide a system of checks and balances so as to ensure that the idiosyncratic values or
interests of scientists do not inappropriately influence scientific reasoning». In contrast,
defenders of feminist standpoint theory believe that knowledge is embodied, in other words,
that social positions have the capability to «track power relations in ways that are
epistemically significant». That is why members of oppressed groups will be able to «provide
access to evidence that has implications for the plausibility of background assumptions,
models, and methods. In particular, their experiences as ‘‘insider-outsiders’’ put them in a
particularly strong position to reveal evidence that has been historically excluded from
scientific communities» (Intemann 2010, pp. 790–791).
It is important to note, here, that feminist standpoint theory does not merely claim that
research communities should include people from different social groups because people with
different experiences will know different things. Indeed, as I explained earlier, some social
Although the two kinds of diversity may seem alike, they are not equivalent: the diversity of social position
3
may imply diversity of values and interests, but the diversity of values and interests may not necessarily imply
diversity of social position. For example, men and women have different embodied knowledges —their social
locations are different—, however, they may share the same feminist values and interests.
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groups are epistemically privileged: «the standpoint aim is not only to be inclusive of
different experiences, but particularly those that undermine hierarchical power structures and
counteract the negative effects of oppression on knowledge production» (Intemann 2010, p.
791).
Some social groups are systematically excluded from participating in the design and
management of our institutions, for example, they are excluded from scientific inquiry.
According to Harding, in order to maximize objectivity it is fundamental to start research
from the questions that arise in the lives of these excluded social groups. Not only their
questions would be new and valuable, but also the procedures they would use to answer them
will differ from those that occur to people belonging to privileged or dominant social groups
—as they are exactly those that design and manage the institutions—. By doing so it will be
possible to develop what Harding calls another “logic of scientific inquiry” (Harding 2015, p.
38).
Harding’s claim about objectivity and diversity can be summarized as follows. On one
hand we have the norm of diversity, which is a social justice and political norm; on the other
hand we have the norm of objectivity (or of maximizing objectivity), which is an epistemic,
cognitive, scientific and intellectual kind of norm. Harding’s claim is that these two different
kinds of norms —objectivity on one hand, and diversity on the other hand— can provide
mutual support for, and bring resources to, each other (Harding 2015, p. 23, p. 173).
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It follows that «there should not and cannot be only one science around the globe», that is,
societies are so different from one another in terms of politics, economics, history, traditions
and culture, that they will naturally develop distinctive bodies of knowledge. These
distinctive bodies of knowledge will «enable them to flourish in the particular parts of the
natural and social world that they occupy». In particular, each scientific tradition has an effect
on the ontologies and the epistemologies that they will develop. This is the reason why we
should in principle live in a “world of sciences” (Harding 2015, p. 153).!
Notice that, in this sense, the scientific and epistemological goal of maximizing objectivity can be now
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considered also an ethic and political project (Harding 2015, p. 142).
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4. Discussion: the problem of social
location in the physical sciences
The situated knowledge thesis asserts that there is no universal knowledge, that the
knowledge produced depends on the social context in which it is produced and on the social
locations of those who produce it. The thesis of epistemic privilege asserts that some social
groups are epistemically privileged: their marginalization and oppression make them capable
of understanding better the power structures of reality and of producing knowledge that is
less partial and free from the interests and values of the dominant groups.
Some questions may arise when considering the situated knowledge thesis and the thesis
of epistemic privilege: Do these two theses apply to every aspect of reality? Do they apply to
every aspect of knowledge production? And within the context of scientific knowledge
production, further questions may be: Is the social location of knowers important if we
consider extremely abstract disciplines, say, physics and mathematics? Is the epistemic
privilege deriving from the standpoint of oppressed groups relevant if we consider the
knowledge production processes of disciplines like physics and mathematics?
Before trying to answer these questions, it is instructive to see, very briefly, some
consequences that the two theses have for the social sciences.
4.1. The social sciences
Wylie believes that in the world there exist important structures of social differentiation,
and that these make a systematic difference to many aspects of life. For example, the type of
work people choose, the social relations they create, the power they have when they enter and
live in these relations, and the self-understanding about their own situations. Therefore it is
important to ask whether the social location —that is determined by the structures of social
differentiation— has or has not epistemic effects, and, if it has such effects, what they are.
Wylie actually believes that a strategic epistemic privilege does exists when people sharing
the same social location and the same experiences reach a critical and oppositional
consciousness, that is, when they come to identify a distinctive standpoint. From the
scientific inquiry perspective, the epistemic privilege will help them «in grasping the
partiality of a dominant way of thinking, bringing a new angle of vision to bear on old
questions and raising new questions for empirical investigation» (Wylie 2003, p. 38).
One of the structures of social differentiation are the relations of power. According to
Kristina Rolin, relations of power can represent a real and concrete obstacle to the production
of knowledge within the humanities and the social sciences. In fact, this is particularly
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evident if we consider the different roles played by informants and interviewers in social
science inquiry. Moreover, Rolin points out that «it makes sense to say that an object of
inquiry [a person] “resists” being understood» and that «it would be naïve to assume that
relevant evidence lies out there in the social world waiting for a social scientist to come by
and collect it». This is so because, as she explains, evidence can be either suppressed or
distorted by the pervasiveness of power relations (Rolin 2009, pp. 220–224).
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Rolin admits that her analysis of standpoint theory implies that its relevance is limited to
scientific research in the humanities and the social sciences only, insofar as they study power
relations. However, she also adds that recent work in science and technology studies indicates
that power relations are an integral part of the culture and social organization of science, in
life and natural sciences as much as in the humanities and social sciences (Rolin 2009, p.
225). I will come back to this point later.
4.2. The physical sciences and mathematics
As I recalled before, Intemann asserts that the thesis of epistemic privilege has to be
understood as the claim that epistemic communities that include members of oppressed
groups will have epistemic advantages, or more rigorous critical reflection, than communities
that do not. And she insists in saying that this may be the case just in some epistemic
contexts, not all contexts. Thus a natural question to ask at this point is: Why is it so? And
what can we say about the epistemic contexts Intemann excludes?
Intemann explains that it is not very easy to see how marginalized social groups would
have an epistemic privilege in every context, because «there are some areas of knowledge
(for example, theoretical physics) where the experiences one has in virtue of one’s social
position appear to be irrelevant to the content of the theories or evidence at stake» (Intemann
2010, p. 784). In addition, Intemann says that it is possible to yield epistemic advantages only
if the experiences of the knowing subjects are relevant to the content of the research context.
For example, subjects living in sub-Saharan Africa may have epistemic benefits in scientific
research on HIV or climate change, however, they will have none in evaluating background
assumptions in theoretical physics (p. 789).
A similar position is shared by Alessandra Tanesini. According to Tanesini, the
justification offered by Wylie to explain the epistemic privilege of subordinate groups —for
example, the “insider-outsider” argument— is effective, but it does not have universal
application. Namely, while it is probable that individuals belonging to different social groups
Notice that here Rolin considers standpoint theory just as a methodology, whereas to Harding, thanks to the
5
“strong objectivity” project, it simultaneously represents a methodology, an epistemology, a philosophy of
science, and a sociology of knowledge (Harding 2015, p. 31).
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develop different bodies of knowledge, the fact that this phenomenon be found in disciplines
like physics or astronomy is less convincing (Tanesini 2015).
However, Harding herself believes that the feminist standpoint theory approach can and
must be used for the analysis of both social and natural worlds. Although some aspects of the
theory might seem to apply only to the humanities and the social sciences —especially
because the objects of study of the humanities and social sciences are often knowing subjects
—, the most abstract fields too can and must be analyzed, and deeply criticized, through the
lens of standpoint theory. In her arguments Harding even includes mathematics and logics:
these abstract disciplines, she says, «simply “looks at” aspects of the world that are less
distorted by formal description than does anthropology or history», indeed, they are «less
distorted, but not entirely free of distortion» (Harding 1986, p. 52).
4.3. The problem has at least two dimensions
It is indeed difficult to see how the situated knowledge thesis and the thesis of epistemic
privilege might apply to very abstract disciplines such as, for example, the physical sciences.
Nevertheless, it is worth trying to develop some arguments in favor of the claim that these
theses actually do apply to the physical sciences too. In order to do that, it is important to
distinguish the different dimensions that characterize the problem in question. As I see it,
there are at least two dimensions of the problem that must be taken into account.
Within feminist epistemologies, gender is commonly considered a category of analysis to
study the production of knowledge, and the progress and development of the sciences. It is
common belief that it has three ways of manifestation: firstly, the principles and ideas that
researchers follow to produce knowledge; secondly, the structure of science as an
organization; thirdly, how people behave individually and to one another (the sociological
point of view). As Harding puts the point: «gender could be understood as a part of science’s
conceptual schemes, as a way of organizing the social labor of science, or as an aspect of the
individual identity of scientists» (Harding 1986, p. 35).
Gender is only one of the several categories —race/ethnicity, class, sexual orientation,
national origin, age, and so on— that can characterize a given social location, and the
previous observation holds true for any of these categories. Thus it makes sense to formulate
the point not only for gender, or individual categories, but for social locations in general.
In what follows I will not consider the third aspect of the problem —the sociological point
of view— and for the rest of my analysis I will just focus on the first and second aspects.
That is, we have a first dimension of the problem, namely, how the social location of the
knower influences knowledge-producing practices and processes: the choice of metaphysical
assumptions, methods and standards; and the use of “discursive resources” such as models,
narratives and metaphors. Then, we have a second dimension of the problem, related to the
!15
culture and social organization of science. Both dimensions contribute to the way scientific
knowledge is produced and thus to scientific knowledge itself. It is in this sense that I assert
that the social location of knowers can affect the content of science.
I will now analyze these two aspects separately, starting from the cultural and social
organization of science. For the sake of clarity, I must say that in the following sections I will
talk about “social location” and “background assumptions/interests and values/beliefs”
almost indistinctly. A more detailed analysis should consider the similarities and differences
that might characterize these concepts, but for the arguments I am going to present —whose
aim is to provide an initial, and partial, approach to the problem of social location in the
physical sciences— they can be considered interchangeable.
4.4. Science as an organization
Harding asserts that in societies that are stratified and hierarchically structured by social
categories such as gender, class, race/ethnicity and sexuality, «the activities of those at the top
both organize and set limits on what persons who perform such activities can understand
about themselves and the world around them». Moreover, as explained above, according to
the situated knowledge thesis, one’s social location both enables and set limits on what one
can know. Now, there are some social locations, namely, the critically unexamined dominant
ones, that «are more limiting than others in this respect, and what makes these situations
[locations] more limiting is their inability to generate the most critical questions about
received beliefs» (Harding 1993, pp. 54–55).
If we consider the organization of scientific work, the fact that dominant interests and
values set limits on what kind of, and how, knowledge is produced, means that these interests
and values characterize the very foundations of the scientific enterprise, in other words, the
structure of scientific institutions and the way they work. Some examples of scientific
activities and mechanisms that might indeed be affected by those “at the top” are: the peer
review mechanism; funding mechanisms; the negotiations within science communities which
lead to consensus; the presence of prestige hierarchies among sciences and specialties; the
internal politics of each discipline; the recruitment processes; career advancement
mechanisms; the education and training of new scientists.
It is obvious then that the design and management of everyday knowledge production in
science, and the purpose of scientific research, are shaped by dominant interests and values
through all the activities and mechanisms I have just listed.
It is important to note that these observations are true for any scientific discipline,
including the more abstract ones such as physics and mathematics.
!16
4.5. Knowledge-producing practices
In a variety of disciplines it has been showed that unexamined background assumptions
and beliefs affected the scientific theories and the results produced by research. Indeed,
«interests shape the research programs scientists undertake and the questions they ask of
nature. […] In this way, different interests shape the results the knowledge science
produces» (Potter 2006, p. 142). How does this happen in practice?
Background assumptions and beliefs can shape every stage of research practices and
processes. For example: the selection of what counts as interesting or important scientific
problems; the selection of what counts as relevant concepts to use for analysis; the formation
of hypothesis; the design and aim of research; what can count as evidence; the collection,
selection, sorting and interpretation of data; the decisions about when to stop research; the
conclusions drawn; the way results of research are reported (Harding 2015, p. 30; Harding
1993, p. 69).
Examples of well accepted scientific theories based on biased assumptions or values can
be found in the history of life science, biology, sociobiology, endocrinology, medicine,
psychiatry, archaeology, anthropology, primatology, and so on, as well as in the social
sciences. However, to say something about how the partial perspective of the knower —her/
6
his social location— can affect the knowledge-producing practices of science in abstract
disciplines like physics, we need to take a step back and start to reflect on the vary basic
elements and principles that enable scientific inquiry in the first place. For this reason we
need to analyze, first of all, the role played by language in science, and then the use of
discursive resources —narratives, analogies, metaphors— that help scientists formulate their
hypothesis and theories, thus producing scientific knowledge.
Language
Language is the most basic and fundamental element that enables us to describe and
analyze the phenomena we observe in the social and natural worlds. It allows us to name and
identify the physical objects that constitute reality and the abstract concepts that we use to
analyze them. The existence of a common language, and the fact that it is shared by a
scientific community, is therefore essential for the knowing-seeking practices of science.
One may ask: Can language contribute not only to the description of social and natural
phenomena, but also to the way these phenomena are interpreted? According to some
scholars, like Evelyn Fox Keller, it can. On one hand, language makes possible the
communication and the exchange of information among people. On the other hand, it plays
an active role in the production of knowledge, in particular, of scientific knowledge: sharing a
language means knowing how to name things around us, but also, in science, learning how to
For an overview of how sex/gender bias affected scientific theories in some of these disciplines, see García
6
Dauder and Pérez Sedeño (2017).
!17
correctly formulate questions as well as possible answers. In other words, language shapes
and limits what questions can be asked and what answers can be given that will count as
acceptable.
“How science names nature” is one of the central questions of Fox Keller’s work. She
asserts that in order for the phenomena to be interpreted, the use of a common language is
required. However, language itself may actively contribute to such interpretations. Indeed,
most scientific communities wrongly believe that the universe is directly accessible, namely,
that the physical objects of the world and the abstract concepts used to describe them are
determined uniquely and exclusively by observation, experiments and logics. According to
this view, scientists observe nature and explain the regularities they find by means of a
language that is thought to be both objective and neutral. Not so surprisingly, this traditional
and quite naïve conception of language, that strongly characterized the origin and first
development of modern science, proved wrong. During the last decades numerous scholars
showed that the language of science is not objective and neutral. In fact, it is the result of the
complex interaction between theory, practice and ideology (Fox Keller 1996).
Another aspect of the determinant role played by language in the production of scientific
knowledge is the fact that in order to become part of a scientific community —to be accepted
in it—, a researcher must learn the language of that particular community, and use it
correctly. This means knowing the limits that the language imposes, and be familiar with the
scientific tradition it comes from.
The continuous and necessary interaction between the individual scientist and the
scientific community she or he belongs to, and the fact that the individual scientist and her/
his scientific community are both immersed in specific cultural and social structures, are
therefore key to understand: i) why the objects of knowledge are socially constituted, and ii)
how the discursive resources used to describe them presuppose social and cultural
assumptions and values. I now turn to these two questions.
Both social and natural objects are socially constituted
According to Harding, the natural objects named and studied by scientists —rocks, trees,
electrons, planetary orbits, etc.—, are all socially constituted. She explains this point giving
two arguments. Firstly, one can assert that natural objects are social objects, as they have
general cultural meanings for both common people and scientific communities. Secondly,
natural objects are socially constituted because of the specific meanings given by scientists.
In other words, scientific communities understand the objects they study thanks to the
concepts and principles that earlier generations of scientists used to understand them. Indeed,
contemporary scientists observe and understand natural phenomena within specific scientific
traditions: «they could not do science if they did not borrow some past understandings of the
objects and processes they study», and the assumptions about the objects and processes they
!18
study «are always shaped by “conversations” they carry on with scientists of the past». It is in
this sense that Harding asserts that the same kind of social forces that shape agents of
knowledge —knowers— also shape their objects of knowledge (Potter 2006, pp. 137–138;
citing Harding 1993, pp. 64–65).
Discursive resources
“Discursive resources” include, but are not limited to, metaphors, models and narrative
structures. They give scientists the conceptual and theoretical framework within which to
pursue knowledge of nature. They provide analogies between, on one hand, the objects,
phenomena and processes under investigation and, on the other hand, more familiar objects
and processes. Discursive resources are useful because «they can suggest new ways of
looking at phenomena, new ways to extend theories and ways to revise them in the face of
recalcitrant or surprising observations». However, one must take into account that they
include cultural presuppositions: «[t]hey can be drawn from the culture within which a
science is practiced as well as from cultures with which the science interacts, from other
disciplines, etc.» (Potter 2006, p. 143; citing Harding 1998, pp. 68–69 and pp. 99–100).
Metaphors are one of the several discursive discourses employed by scientists. For
example, there are basic metaphors that conceptualize parts of reality, like “the world is a
machine”, and then there are explicit metaphors in the formulation of scientific principles,
like “the struggle for existence” in Darwin’s evolution theory (Pérez Sedeño 2011). As said,
metaphors play a determinant role in scientific reasoning and, in particular, the choice of
some metaphors over others have relevant consequences for the kind of theories produced. It
is important, in this sense, to ask about the criteria how some metaphors are easily accepted
and others are not, because this leads us to focus on the cultural values that presuppose both
the introduction of certain metaphors and the mechanisms underlying their acceptance or
refusal.
7
Within the physical sciences, and relative to the foundational principles of modern science
and the scientific method, Harding writes: «the severe testing of hypothesis through
controlled manipulations of nature, and the necessity of such controlled manipulations if
experiments are to be repeatable, [have been] formulated by the father of scientific method in
clearly sexist metaphors. Both nature and inquiry appear conceptualized in ways modeled on
rape and torture —on men’s most violent and misogynous relationships to women— and this
modeling is advanced as a reason to value science» (Harding 1986, p. 116). Here, Harding
refers to Francis Bacon and the sexist metaphors that characterized his writings. Other
scholars too analyzed this aspect of Bacon’s thought, for example Fox Keller (1996).
For an extensive treatise about the role of metaphors in everyday language, and the way metaphors structure
7
our thought and affect —and are affected by— our perception of reality, see Lakoff and Johnson (1986).
!19
More in general, metaphors and narratives promoting and encouraging control, dominion
and power of humans over nature were characteristic of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century
physics. They were tied to strong mechanistic assumptions about the nature of reality, and
they became guidelines not only for the advancement of natural sciences from then on, but
also for decision making in other fields such as technology, industry and government policies
—at the expense of a more organicistic, holistic and ecological philosophy of the relation
between humans and nature— (Merchant 1980).
The arguments and examples presented so far try to show how cultural assumptions and
ideological frameworks, imbedded in discursive structures like metaphors, can influence the
development of science, and how the production of scientific knowledge can be shaped by
the geographical, historical, social and cultural context in which knowledge is produced, that
is, by the social location of knowers. Emily Martin argues: «Waking up such metaphors, by
becoming aware of when we are projecting cultural imagery onto what we study, will
improve our ability to investigate and understand nature» (Martin 1991, p. 501). And, in
terms of a feminist standpoint theory, it will improve our ability to make representations of
the world that are less partial.
4.6. Open questions and the importance of diversity
In the last sections I have tried to show that the content of science can be shaped by the
social location of knowers. As I explained, this can be deduced from the study of two
different but complementary aspects of the problem: the organization of science, on one
hand, and the knowledge-producing practices of science, on the other hand. In both cases,
social and cultural presuppositions as well as geographical and historical contexts, play a big
role in defining categories, enabling analysis and processes, promoting or evaluating research
projects, and structuring scientific activities in general.
The questions with which I started this discussion were: Is the social location of knowers
important when we consider very abstract fields of study? Is the epistemic privilege deriving
from the standpoint of marginalized or oppressed groups relevant in the knowledge
production processes of abstract disciplines like the physical sciences?
I believe I gave a clear answer to the first question, asserting that the social location of
knowers is indeed important, even when we consider abstract disciplines like physics. Of
course, a more detailed analysis should provide additional examples of how, for instance,
specific principles in nowadays physics are modeled on cultural assumptions and how the
metaphors used reveal the partiality of the dominant view in the field. Therefore some aspects
related to this point are still open and need further investigation.
As for the second question, I did not address it directly. I have not given any explanation
or justification why marginalized and oppressed groups would be able to provide a different,
!20
and less partial, insight on the kind of research conducted in the physical sciences. However,
I would like to present now some elements that show how diversity of social locations can
represent an inestimable resource in scientific research. This will not be an answer to the
question asked, but it will at least represent a starting point for further advancements on this
matter. Moreover, the example I am going to exhibit will reinforce the first argument, namely,
the claim that social positions play an important role in the production of scientific
knowledge, including in physics.
In an interview I conducted in 2018, a woman physicist explained to me that the different
national origins of three researchers in the field of quantum gravity played a determinant role
in the development of a new theory. In the interview she explicitly talked about the
importance of diversity, and in the following extract she gave me an example why it is so:
“I always give the example of the field where I come from, loop quantum gravity,
in which there were three male different scientists, there were three persons
coming from very different backgrounds: so one was an Italian, with a very wide
vision, a bit of historical vision but especially wideness and ability to connect
things; then there was also an Indian, who had a very analytical mind, trained in
the Indian tradition; and then there was a Jewish person, that was the one
making crazy new ideas and so on. So only the combination of the three of them
could lead to a new theory, each single person couldn’t be able to construct such
a thing”.
8
In the extract she explains how the different background of the three researchers made it
possible to produce a new theory. The fact that they had different backgrounds and different
“ways of thinking” depend, in this case, on their different national origins: the first one she
mentions is Italian, the second one is Indian and the third one is Jewish. The central point,
here, is that they belong to different scientific traditions, hence the way they do science is
different. The Italian physicist has wide vision and ability to connect things, the Indian
physicist has a more analytical mind and the Jewish physicist is able to make new “crazy”
ideas. The diversity in terms of scientific education can be considered here as diversity in
terms of culture and social origin, hence social locations.
One might object that the case shows how diversity of research styles —not of social
locations— is important in scientific inquiry. In other words, that the different “ways of
thinking” cannot be related to social and cultural diversity. I disagree. According to me,
research styles —as well as, more in general, cognitive styles— can and must be considered
as part of the situated knowledge of individuals. For example, the fact that it is possible to
9
associate an “analytical style” to the Indian physics tradition shows that this kind of style
Personal interview, 10th December 2018.
8
For cognitive styles and situated knowledge, and for gendered cognitive styles and gendered knowledge, see
9
Anderson (2017) and references therein.
!21
developed in conjunction with specific social and cultural factors belonging to the Indian
context. Therefore I would say that research —and cognitive— styles are indeed related to
the social location of knowers. Nevertheless, I recognize that this thesis needs more adequate
and complete justification.!
!22
5. Conclusions
I started this work by recalling the two main theses of feminist standpoint theory: the
situated knowledge thesis and the thesis of epistemic privilege. The situated knowledge thesis
asserts that the knower is socially situated and therefore the knowledge she or he produces is
socially situated too. Key elements for this thesis are the concept of partial perspectives and
that of social location. The thesis of epistemic privilege, on the other hand, asserts that there
exist some social groups that have epistemic privilege, namely, a privileged access to, and
privileged understanding of, the structures of reality and the mechanisms that undergo the
phenomena we observe in the social as well as natural worlds. According to feminist
standpoint theory the social groups that have epistemic privilege are those that are oppressed,
disadvantaged, marginalized and discriminated against.
It is worth noting here that the central claim given by the thesis of epistemic privilege can
be split in three different arguments. As I have already recalled, the thesis of epistemic
privilege asserts that the standpoint of marginalized and oppressed social groups give a better
understanding of the natural and social worlds. Thus it says that: i) «social relations, human
interactions with nature, and the meanings of both give rise to standpoints on nature»; ii)
there are distinctive oppressed groups’ standpoints on nature —from which follows that
oppressed groups’ standpoints on nature differ from those of dominant and privileged groups
—; iii) oppressed groups’ standpoints serve as resources for the sciences (Potter 2006).
10
After recalling the two main theses of feminist standpoint theory I presented Harding’s
strong objectivity proposal and, related to it, the interrelation between, on one hand, the
scientific and epistemological norm of objectivity and, on the other hand, the social and
political norm of diversity.
First of all, Harding’s strong objectivity proposal shows that feminist standpoint theory not
only represents an epistemology and sociology of knowledge, but also a methodology. The
proposal starts by considering, firstly, how the design and management of everyday
knowledge production is carried out in science and, secondly, the mechanisms that lie behind
decisions about the shape and purpose of scientific research. The strong objectivity program
asserts that scientists must start their research “outside” dominant conceptual frameworks,
namely, they need to create a little but significant distance from prevailing values and
interests. This will allow them to reach a critical perspective and to produce theories that do
not benefit or maintain, but rather challenge, the privileged points of view, enabling new
ways of thinking about the world. In Harding’s words: «Most natural and social scientists
(and philosophers!) are themselves members of these dominant groups, whether by birth or
These arguments have been presented by Potter, but she refers specifically to the standpoint of women. Here,
10
I extend her arguments in order to consider oppressed groups in general. (See Potter 2006, pp. 141—151.)
!23
through upward mobility into scientific and professional/managerial careers. Those who are
paid to teach and conduct research receive a disproportionate share of the benefits of that
very nature and social order that they are trying to explain. Thinking from marginal lives
leads one to question the adequacy of the conceptual frameworks that the natural and social
sciences have designed to explain (for themselves) themselves and the world around
them» (Harding 1993, pp. 62–63).
An important way to create distance from dominant interests and values is by promoting
diversity in research communities. Moreover, diversity is perhaps one of the most powerful
tools in order to achieve strong objectivity —to maximize objectivity—. Diversity of social
positions, especially, can guarantee that dominant frameworks will be criticized and
challenged. A relevant consequence of this approach may be the co-existence of diverse and
multiple standpoints in a given research context. From the strong objectivity proposal
perspective this is not at all a problem: «rather than being an impediment to knowledge —
Harding argues—, multiple and competing standpoints are a resource for feminist
epistemology» (Crasnow 2014, p. 151). Moreover, «multiple and conflicted subjectivities
offer possibilities for progressive transformation that are less available to the unified,
perfectly coherent, and autonomous subjects (should any actually exist) to which we have all
been supposed to aspire» (Harding 2015, p. 164). What is more important, this process based
on the recognition of diversity as a necessary value in science, together with the proposal of
starting research “outside” dominant conceptual frameworks, will finally make possible
«redistributing intellectual control over the agenda and processes of research» (p. 167).
In the discussion section I have tried to introduce some arguments regarding the
importance of considering the concepts presented in the previous sections —the social
location of knowers, the situated knowledge thesis, the thesis of epistemic privilege, the
interrelation between objectivity and diversity— in the context of very abstract disciplines
such as the physical sciences. The arguments I introduced are preliminary, somehow partial,
and not sufficient to fully respond to the two questions I asked: Is the social location of
knowers important if we consider the knowledge production processes of extremely abstract
disciplines? Can we say that the epistemic privilege deriving from the standpoint of
oppressed groups is indeed relevant in fields like physics and mathematics? Although the
arguments I presented to answer these questions are not complete, I believe that they might
represent a first step in order to build a theory of the production of knowledge as social and
situated, in the specific context of physics.
To approach the problem, I firstly started by describing, very briefly, how the two main
theses of feminist standpoint theory can be elaborated and developed within the context of
the social sciences, and what they can serve for in terms of scientific inquiry. Then I
presented the positions of some feminist scholars who believe that the experiences of the
knowers —hence their social locations— are not likely to be relevant if the subject matter
under study is too abstract. In particular, they mention the case of theoretical physics and
!24
astronomy. On the other hand, Harding strongly believes that both social and natural worlds
must be analyzed through the lens of standpoint theory, and that the content of the more
abstract disciplines is, probably, less distorted than the content of the humanities or the social
sciences, but, in any case, that it is not entirely free of distortion.
Then I decided to clarify the different dimensions that, I believe, characterize the problem
of the social location in abstract fields like physics. In this respect, I assert that there are at
least two aspects of the problem that are relevant for the questions we intend to answer. These
two aspects, although complementary, must be treated separately.
The first dimension of the problem concerns the culture and social organization of science.
Financing institutes, peer review mechanisms, recruitment processes: these are just three of
many examples through which one can show how dominant interests and values shape the
purpose of scientific research and the way research is done. The second dimension of the
problem concerns the knowledge-producing practices of science. These include, but are not
limited to, the choice of assumptions and methods, and the use of discursive resources such
as narratives and metaphors. From this point of view, if we are interested in the knowledge-
producing practices of abstract disciplines like physics, we must consider the role played by
language: the construction of models —for the description of natural phenomena— and the
definition of principles and methods —as guide lines for scientific inquiry—, are rooted in
what meanings we assign to natural objects and abstract concepts, that is, they are rooted in
language. After a brief digression on language, I explored the concept of discursive resources,
paying special attention to the role played by metaphors in scientific reasoning and practices.
The arguments presented and concerning knowledge-producing practices —particularly
the role of metaphors— do not want to be exhaustive. To me, they represent the starting point
for a larger project, that would include a more extensive literature review and further original
investigation. There are indeed many aspects that have been left out, and more specific
examples are needed for the context of the physical sciences.
In the last part of the discussion section I exhibited the extract of an interview I conducted
in 2018. The interviewee, who is a woman physicist, explicitly talked about the importance of
diversity in research communities and gave me a concrete example of how diversity of social
locations made it possible to produce a new theory in the field of quantum gravity. I believe
that this significant case reinforces Harding’s claim that difference and displacement is a
source of creativity and power (Harding 2015, p. 163), and that knowers are not
fundamentally autonomous, self-creating and culture-free individuals. After all, researchers
inevitably and necessarily interact and collaborate with networks and communities in the
production of knowledge, whether or not they are aware of it (p. 169). Another interesting
way of putting the point is: sciences and their societies co-produce and co-constitute each
other (p. 140).!
!25
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