Why Gender is a Relevant Factor in the Social Epistemology of Scientific Inquiry

In recent years, feminist philosophy of science has been subjected to criticism. Much of the debate has focused on the implications of the underdetermination thesis for accounts of the role of social values in scientific reasoning. My aim here is to offer a different approach. I suggest that feminist philosophers of science contribute to our understanding of science by (1) producing gender sensitive analyses of the social dimensions of scientific inquiry and (2) examining the relevance of these analyses for normative issues in philosophy of science