Stephen Park Turner
Encyclopedia
Stephen Park Turner was born in Chicago, Illinois. He graduated from the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools in 1968 and then attended the University of Missouri
in Columbia, Missouri
. He received his undergraduate and his two masters degrees (one in philosophy and one in sociology) and his Ph.D. in sociology, with a dissertation on a philosophical topic. He later studied with Richard Rorty
and Edward Shils
. He began his long affiliation with the University of South Florida in 1975. In 1987 Turner was appointed Graduate Research Professor in Sociology; since 1989 he has held the same title, but in Philosophy. He has had visiting appointments at Virginia Tech, the University of Notre Dame, Boston University, Manchester University, and has had fellowships with NEH and the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Studies. He is on the editorial board of some 15 journals, and is the longest serving "Collaborating Editor" of Social Studies of Science.
Political theory: In the area of political theory, Turner has argued that the rise of expert knowledge has altered the conditions of liberal democracy by increasing the importance of a new form of politically relevant inequality: epistemic inequality. But, Turner does not argue that inequality justifies the reliance on experts. Instead, he argues that this is only one solution among many to the problems produced by the fact that knowledge is distributed unequally. Turner uses examples such as the claims in economics and the debate over climate change to show that reliance on experts can go wrong, and that the mechanisms of self-policing attributed to the scientific community are often ineffective. Deciding whether or not to accept the products of experts or expert communities is a political decision. To the extent that such decisions replace democratic deliberation or become the content of democratic deliberation, liberal democracy itself becomes transformed from government by discussion among the equally informed into contestation over expertise itself.
History of Sociology: Turner is also widely recognized for his contributions to the history of sociology, especially in The Impossible Science, which is a unique contemporary overview of the history of American sociology. He is considered one of the leading experts in the methodology of the social sciences, including the notion of causality. In particular, he focuses on the problems in statistical causality and the process of selection. This is connected to Turner's extensive and well-known work on Max Weber's theory of causality, which Turner has shown is derived from law and legal probability, most notably in Max Weber. Lawyer as Social Thinker. He has also stressed Weber's use of empathy (Einfühlung) to solve the generic problem of the under-determination of description. Turner has been a leading figure in showing that Weber continues to have relevance;in methodology, political thinking, and other critical areas. Turner is always thought-provoking and is occasionally controversial, which suggests a certain similarity between Turner and Max Weber.
Turner is also editor or co-editor of an additional 11 books and author of some 60 articles, 44 book chapters, and 36 review essays and published exchanges.
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri System is a state university system providing centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, an extension program, five research and technology parks, and a publishing press. More than 64,000 students are currently enrolled at its four campuses...
in Columbia, Missouri
Columbia, Missouri
Columbia is the fifth-largest city in Missouri, and the largest city in Mid-Missouri. With a population of 108,500 as of the 2010 Census, it is the principal municipality of the Columbia Metropolitan Area, a region of 164,283 residents. The city serves as the county seat of Boone County and as the...
. He received his undergraduate and his two masters degrees (one in philosophy and one in sociology) and his Ph.D. in sociology, with a dissertation on a philosophical topic. He later studied with Richard Rorty
Richard Rorty
Richard McKay Rorty was an American philosopher. He had a long and diverse academic career, including positions as Stuart Professor of Philosophy at Princeton, Kenan Professor of Humanities at the University of Virginia, and Professor of Comparative Literature at Stanford University...
and Edward Shils
Edward Shils
Edward Shils was a Distinguished Service Professor in the Committee on Social Thought and in Sociology at the University of Chicago and reputedly an influential sociologist. He was known for his research on the role of intellectuals and their relations to power and public policy...
. He began his long affiliation with the University of South Florida in 1975. In 1987 Turner was appointed Graduate Research Professor in Sociology; since 1989 he has held the same title, but in Philosophy. He has had visiting appointments at Virginia Tech, the University of Notre Dame, Boston University, Manchester University, and has had fellowships with NEH and the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Studies. He is on the editorial board of some 15 journals, and is the longest serving "Collaborating Editor" of Social Studies of Science.
Scholarly Interests
Practices: Turner has published widely in the overlapping fields of sociology and philosophy. He is probably best known for his writings on the notion of practices. In The Social Theory of Practices as well as in other writings Turner argues against collective concepts like culture: what we call culture (and similar concepts), he argues, needs to be understood in terms of the means of its transmission. There is no collective server by which it is simply downloaded and "shared". What we take as "collective" is really produced through experiences of interaction which are different and produce different results for different individuals but which also produce a rough uniformity through mechanisms of feedback rather than "sharing". He has extended this argument in various places, most recently in relation to the philosophical idea of "normativity" which he argues is an explanation of "facts" which are the product of an unnecessary and mystery-producing redescription motivated by an attempt to take back ground from social science explanation.Political theory: In the area of political theory, Turner has argued that the rise of expert knowledge has altered the conditions of liberal democracy by increasing the importance of a new form of politically relevant inequality: epistemic inequality. But, Turner does not argue that inequality justifies the reliance on experts. Instead, he argues that this is only one solution among many to the problems produced by the fact that knowledge is distributed unequally. Turner uses examples such as the claims in economics and the debate over climate change to show that reliance on experts can go wrong, and that the mechanisms of self-policing attributed to the scientific community are often ineffective. Deciding whether or not to accept the products of experts or expert communities is a political decision. To the extent that such decisions replace democratic deliberation or become the content of democratic deliberation, liberal democracy itself becomes transformed from government by discussion among the equally informed into contestation over expertise itself.
History of Sociology: Turner is also widely recognized for his contributions to the history of sociology, especially in The Impossible Science, which is a unique contemporary overview of the history of American sociology. He is considered one of the leading experts in the methodology of the social sciences, including the notion of causality. In particular, he focuses on the problems in statistical causality and the process of selection. This is connected to Turner's extensive and well-known work on Max Weber's theory of causality, which Turner has shown is derived from law and legal probability, most notably in Max Weber. Lawyer as Social Thinker. He has also stressed Weber's use of empathy (Einfühlung) to solve the generic problem of the under-determination of description. Turner has been a leading figure in showing that Weber continues to have relevance;in methodology, political thinking, and other critical areas. Turner is always thought-provoking and is occasionally controversial, which suggests a certain similarity between Turner and Max Weber.
Turner is also editor or co-editor of an additional 11 books and author of some 60 articles, 44 book chapters, and 36 review essays and published exchanges.