social science production (was: Dark Sides of 'Solidarity'?)

Frances Bolton (PHI) fbolton at chuma.cas.usf.edu
Fri May 8 16:44:29 PDT 1998


Can you provide the citation for the Caldwell argument/theory?

Thanks, Frances Bolton

On Fri, 8 May 1998, Carrol Cox wrote:


> > My hypothesis (which, alas, may not be empirically falsifiable) is that
> > disciplines closer to the heart of the ruling class tend to produce a
> > higher proportion of ideology than other disciplines do.
>
>
> George Thompson (the British classical scholar and Caldwell / Stalin / Mao
> marxist) made an interesting observation in one of his books, which while
> not quite a theory is worth some thought. He argued that the physical and
> biological sciences were only "allowed" to develop when and if their
> results became crucial to capital. His particular instance was Darwinian
> biology, which (my memory is vague on the exact argument) he said became
> respectable only when capital came to need the practical results of the
> biological sciences, results which were inseparable from Darwinism.
>
> Carrol
>
>
>



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