Abstract

A Plea for Contrapuntal Work of Reflection in a Niche. This essay traces a still highly influential little ‘Sattelzeit’ in the historiography of science and humanities that occurred more than two decades ago. It expounds some of the problems that have been arising from the disciplinary diffusion of scientific‐historical research agendas and the boom of a history of knowledge. It is sceptical of new forms of positivism and argues amongst other things for more critical genealogies of contemporary discursive hegemonies, in‐depth studies of the fluctuating cultural authority of modern science, and a new reflection on the specific traits of a genuinely scientific‐historical imagination.