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The Philosophical Works of Ludwik Fleck and Their Potential Meaning for Teaching and Learning Science

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Abstract

This paper discusses essential elements of the philosophical works of Ludwik Fleck (1896–1961) and their potential interpretation for the teaching and learning of science. In the early twentieth century, Fleck made substantial contributions to understanding the sociological character of the nature of science and explaining the embedding of science in society. His works have several parallels to the later and very popular work, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, by Thomas S. Kuhn, although Kuhn only indirectly referred to the influence of Fleck on his own theories. Starting from a short review of the life of Ludwik Fleck, his philosophical work and its connections to Kuhn, this paper elaborates upon and illustrates how his theories can be considered for science education in order to provide learners with a better understanding of the nature of scientific endeavor and the bi-directional science-to-society links.

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Notes

  1. See also DeBoer (1991), Hurd (1998), or Pushkin (1998).

  2. More detailed information can also be found in e.g., Harwood (1993), Nye (1993), Pyenson (2002), and Reingold (1991).

  3. Apart from Bunge (1991), see e.g., Matthews (2000), Slezak (1994a, b). Note that this discussion focuses mainly on constructivism in the philosophy of science and epistemology, and education is only affected when these theories are relevant to education. Constructivist educational theories can be distinguished from these approaches; for a very clear and comprehensive discussion of these differences and the related approaches, see Irzik (2000).

  4. See also Gaudilliere (2004), Heinicke and Heering (2013) and Maienschein (1991).

  5. See also Egloff (2005), Mößner (2011), and Winneke (1993).

  6. Remarkably, both Kuhn’s and Fleck’s description of learning seems not to be in agreement with the current theory of science education that corresponds to a constructivist (in the educational sense) understanding of learning. Yet, it should be understood that both descriptions discuss more the manner in which a professional formation takes place, whereas learning theories are more related to the development of literacy.

  7. See also Erduran et al. (2007), Lederman (1992), and Mamlok-Naaman et al. (2007).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology and Chemistry - Institute for Science Education, University of Bremen, Leobener Str. NW2, 28334, Bremen, Germany

    Marc Stuckey & Ingo Eilks

  2. Institute of mathematic, scientific and technical literacy, Section of physics, its didactics and its history, Europa-Universität Flensburg, Auf dem Campus 1, 24943, Flensburg, Germany

    Peter Heering

  3. Department of Science Teaching, The Weizmann Institute of Science, 76100, Rehovot, Israel

    Rachel Mamlok-Naaman & Avi Hofstein

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  1. Marc Stuckey
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Correspondence to Ingo Eilks.

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Stuckey, M., Heering, P., Mamlok-Naaman, R. et al. The Philosophical Works of Ludwik Fleck and Their Potential Meaning for Teaching and Learning Science. Sci & Educ 24, 281–298 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11191-014-9723-9

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