Research Paper on:
Steven Shapin's A Social History of Truth and The Leviathan and the Air Pump

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
subjective testimony of others. Steven Shapins book, A Social History of Truth confronts this phenomenon and its implications are explored in a collaborative effort in a book titled, The Leviathan  and the Air-Pump. Who is determining what truth is? And how does society come to trust that truth as fact? Shapin argues that during the seventeenth century, especially as pertains  to science, that the social world of the philosopher/scientist heavily influenced what was perceived to be possible or improbable. The social codes of civility, honesty and integrity, he states, still  form the basis upon which knowledge of the natural world is accepted. This is, of course, quite subjective, one should think. Moreover, he states that the creation or determination of  truth is a collaborative effort made between several individuals among whom there is a high degree of consensus and trust. This makes sense in one regard, in that one must  know the probability of a persons claim to be verifiable and testable and to rely in part upon the reputation of the individual making the claim to have made true  claims in the past. What one can derive from this text is that the world is viable and independent of mans observations, will continue upon its path, whatever that may  be. However, accounts of the world are made by observers and are therefore subject to the individuals experiences, personal perspectives and is shaped, colored by social constructs of that person  or persons. This, Shapin concludes, is why truth as it pertains to society and science, is constantly changing. If one begins to question the ability of the scientific community to  distinguish fact from fiction, then the big question that arises is what exactly counts as evidence toward truth or the nature of a phenomenon, and how are facts about this