| In traditional philosophical studies of science,the spatiality of scientific knowledge has not received the attention it deserves.Logical positivism holds a homogeneous spatial view,and the spatial factor is quietly disintegrated in the long narrative of the history of science and is only treated as a background existence.Science is only regarded as an objective and universal enterprise that has nothing to do with the spatial factor and is not affected by the spatial and temporal context in the process of production and dissemination.Under the influence of the homogeneous spatial view,the whole picture of scientific knowledge is obscured.However,with the attention of philosophers of science since the Sociology of Scientific Knowledge(SSK)to scientific spaces such as laboratories,the importance of space has been gradually highlighted,and the suspicion of "placelessness" of scientific knowledge has gradually been taken seriously by academics.This paper argues that spatiality is one of the essential characteristics of scientific knowledge,which permeates the whole process of production and dissemination of scientific knowledge and constantly shapes the world picture of scientific knowledge.Space and scientific knowledge shape each other.On the one hand,space shapes scientific knowledge,and power plays an important role in it.In the laboratory,which is the main birthplace of scientific knowledge,three major elements act on the production of scientific knowledge: scientists operate and interpret experimental phenomena as observers to win the trust of laymen;experimental instruments are human-made tools of scientific observation that act on the standardization process of scientific experiments;and experimental procedures simulate natural objects to change the natural order.Under the theory of embodiment,the body is the original scale for observing things and participates in scientific research generally in the role of a subject,penetrating cognition;as an object,the body is the recorder of scientific experiments,providing bodily evidence;in addition,regulating the body can promote the standardized process of scientific knowledge dissemination.On the other hand,scientific knowledge shapes space.The writing of scientific papers,the negotiation and establishment of scientific theories,and the dissemination confer validity on bodily evidence not only enhance the authority of scientists,but also further expand the influence of the scientific space represented by the laboratory in the scientific enterprise with the establishment process.Space is an ontological concept that permeates the production and dissemination of scientific knowledge all through the process,impacting the roots of objectivity and truthfulness of scientific knowledge,forcing us to re-understand the plurality of scientific rationality from a spatial perspective and draw the boundaries for the validity of scientific theories.The return of space allows us to recognize the imprint of space in the dynamic development of scientific knowledge,and scientific practice gives life to space,which can pull the homogeneous space floating high in the sky back to earth and back to practice,and helps us examine scientific knowledge in concrete practice. |
