A literate essay by Lorraine Daston in Daedalus addresses why many scientists shun the use of the imagination as a research tool. Plumbing the writings of the Enlightenment scholars, Daston points out that, even though the pure scientist believes himself an ascetic, the expressions of a pure scientific study are linguistically similar to that for art: "science for science's sake" and "art for art's sake". As scholars who today recognize that notions such as 'complete objectivity' are figments of our imagination, archaeologists might well find Daston's essay of interest.
Daedalus | Fear & loathing of the imagination in science
Daedalus | Fear & loathing of the imagination in science
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