FEMINIST EPISTEMOLOGY - IMPLICATIONS FOR PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE

This article examines the best contemporary arguments for a feminist e pistemology of scientific knowledge as found in recent works by S. Har ding. I argue that no feminist epistemology of science is worthy of th e name, because such an epistemology fails to escape well-known visiss itudes of epistemic relativism. But feminist epistemology merits atten tion from philosophers of science because it is part of a larger relat ivist turn in the social sciences and humanities that now aims to exte nd its critique to science, and Harding's ''standpoint feminism'' is t he best-developed case. She attempts to make new use of discredited ph ilosophical ideas concerning underdetermination, Planck's Hypothesis, and the role of counterfactuals in historical studies of science.