History is replete with famous intellectual battles. In the natural sciences, these have usually led to decisive victories, with good science ousting bad. There are few Ptolemaic astronomers left, or believers in the phlogiston theory of combustion. In the social sciences, the situation is different. There have been famous battles galore, but no decisive victories. Indeed, it is characteristic of the social sciences that their battles are interminable, temporary defeats being followed by the regrouping of the defeated forces for a renewed assault.
歷史上充斥著著名的學術論戰。在自然科學領域,結果通常是一方取得決定性勝利,優秀的科學取代愚昧的科學。如今,沒有幾個天文學家信奉托勒密的地心說,也不會有人相信燃素說。但在社會科學領域,情況就不同了:著名的論戰比比皆是,但不存在決定性的勝利。實際上,這是社會科學的特徵之一:這一領域的論戰往往曠日持久,暫時失敗的一方會重新集結力量,發起新的攻勢。