This essay is a retrospective reflection on the project "Alternatives in Science" carried out at the Max-Planck Institute in Starnberg for the Study of the Conditions of Human Life in the Modern World. The aim of the project was to examine the determination of alternatives in science through socially determined problem-situations and goal-orientations. The purpose of the present essay is to show in what way the possibility of such alternatives could be thought of within the frame of the epistemology and philosophy of science. Tracing out this possibility constitutes the basis for the main thesis: There exists a social interest not only in the utilization of scientific knowledge but also in its production.