The Role of Theory

According to common understanding, knowledge emerges when information meets theory. But given AI's new capabilities for machine integration of mass data, do we even need theories anymore? The book is based on a two-day symposium jointly organized by the Robert K. Merton Center for Science Studies and the Gesellschaft für Wissenschaftsforschung Berlin. The symposium focused on three themes: 1) Theorizing and its new media: What kind of theorizing do science podcasts enable? 2) Epistemology and the metaphysics of theory, with some remarks on the philosophy of science, including the role of theory in university teaching; 3) AI and theory, with the final question of theory and the transparency of knowledge organization. The book begins with a reflection by Andrew Abbott on theory in the social sciences.