Science, Democracy and Relativism: A presentation Haris Shekeris - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Haris Shekeris

Science, Democracy and Relativism: A presentation

• I. The thesis in 18 (+1) words

Citizens should adopt communitarian epistemology as regards knowledge from the (natural) sciences as this would make societies more democratic

C’est tout?

• Oui, nous pouvons aller boire un café

maintenant 

Presentation Plan

I.Preamble: Motivations and Implicit Methodology II.Elaboration of the argument III.A walk-through of the book IV.Underlying themes and susbsquent thoughts

• I. Preamble: Motivations and

Implicit Methodology

I.Preamble: Motivations

• Cyprus vs Belgium
• Formal and informal education (ie some

personal history)

• Cyprus vs England
• Physics, Philosophy and “Sceptical Crisis”

• I. Preamble:

Implicit Methodology

• Ex post facto reconstruction
• Discipline-hopping, conventional

(disciplinary) wisdom and dilettantism

• Implications for philosophical practice?

• II. Elaboration of the Argument

• II. Elaboration of the argument –

Argument Structure Schema

Identification

• f the

problem Identification

• f the

problem Solu tion Solu tion Defe nce Defe nce Appl icati

• n

Appl icati

• n

• II. Elaboration of the Argument –

Content (1st Step)

Identification of the problem

Science is indispensable for policy-making in modern democratic societies however Who watches the watchmen?

• II. Elaboration of the Argument –

Content (1st step cont’d)

Identification of the problem

Perceptions about science and science education at fault

• II. Elaboration of the Argument –

Content (2nd step )

Proposed Solution

Change Perceptions of Science and Science Education Science as argumentative conversation

• II. Elaboration of the Argument –

Content (2nd step cont’d )

Proposed Solution

Science as argumentative conversation

Knowledge as property of communities Knowledge as a social kind

Communitarian Epistemology

• II. Elaboration of the Argument –

Content (3rd step)

Defence of the proposed solution

Communitarian epistemology accurately describes scientific knowledge production and of decision-making based on scientific knowledge Defence of meaning finitism, a key semantic component of communitarian epistemology

• II. Elaboration of the argument –

Content (4th step)

Application

Sustainability science as an example of “communitarian science”

III.A walk-through of the book

Chapter I: Science and Democracy

• Difficulties of defining “science” – science

popularisers and the consensus among philosophers of science

• Science in the 21st century:

– The role of science in modern settings – Science and the State (trans-scientific questions, ‘excess of objectivity’)

Chapter I (cont’d)

• Three ideals of democracy:
• popular sovereignty
• political equality
• right and duty to participation in open and fair

discussion (Christiano)

• Aggregative Vs deliberative Vs radical Vs

egalitarian models of democracy

• Christiano: equal consideration of interests –

citizens as choosers of aims

Chapter I (concluded)

Science and democracy: the science/policy interface

• Scientists as part of the ruling elite
• Breaking the dyad: virtuous “scientization”
• f politics (Habermas)
• “Honest brokers of policy alternatives”

(Pielke Jr.)

Chapter II: Lay Perceptions of Science and scientists

Science is important in modern democracies (Chapter I) hence it should be public and transparent Is it in fact? If not, how is its aura of authority constructed?

Chapter II

Chapter II cont’d

• EU, US and UK survey data on

understanding and attitudes towards science-scientists

• Three kinds of deficit (Bauer et al.):

knowledge, attitudes and trust

• Unveiling the ‘deficit model’ at work –

however surveys still useful

Chapter II (concluded)

Shaping deficits and elitist conceptions

• f science
• Waxing lyrical about science and scientists
• “Cool” and “sexy” science
• Opaqueness and inaccessibility of scientific

knowledge production

• Denying the possibility for criticism

Chapter III: Science, Education and Citizenship

• Science cafés, citizens’ hearings and

consensus conferences

• John Dewey and radical education
• Bedfellows or clash of Titans?

(irrelevance, indifference, scepticism, powerlessness)

• “Citizen thinking” (Jenkins)

Chapter III (cont’d)

• A solution: argumentation as necessary

motor of both science and citizenship (introducing communitarian epistemology)

• Education without truth: the case of

models – Gilbert and Boulter’s classification

• f

mental, expressed, consensus, scientific, historical and teaching models

Chapter III (concluded)

• The “Chemistry forum” and the “museum
• f chemistry”
• An objection: Intellectual safety and

science education

• Answer: certitudes and science, certitudes

and democratic citizenship

Appendix: Demonstrating and Myth-Making

Chapter IV: Communitarian epistemology and Science

Knowledge as property of communities thesis

• The primary epistemic

subject is the community Commitments and entitlements thesis

• Knowledge and its

cognates (eg “knower”) designate a social status

• As such, the attribution of

this status comes with a nexus of commitments and entitlements

Chapter IV (cont’d) – the community thesis

• Two contrary visions of an individual

gaining knowledge

• The intra-laboratory aspect and the public

forum aspect

• Misgivings of Cartesian-inspired

epistemology, conflation of two projects

• Plural subjects and belief as joint

commitment

Chapter IV (concluded) – knowledge as a social kind thesis

• Scientific controversies: mitosis,

crystallization, consolidation

• Decisions based on science and feedback

loops – pressure on Collin’s account

• Knowledge as commitments and

entitlements: explaining the “distance lends enchantment” phenomenon and more

Chapter V: Meaning Finitism Defended

• Necessity
• f

meaning finitism for communitarian epistemology: knowledge of word meanings

• Meaning finitism theses:

» Open-endedness of future applications » Defeasibility of classifications » Revisability of classifications » (Non-) Independence of use » Entrenchment of different kind terms

• Weak points: mother tongue acquisition, deaf

people communication, the genetic problem

Chapter V (cont’d)

However

• We are meaning finitists in practice about

things such

• a) Halloumi Cheese (cow milk farmers’

interests and tourists tastes)

• b) Mental illness terms (and the DSM)
• c) protein classification (according to

different databases)

Chapter V (concluded)

• Language as means of communication

between similar beings

• Science, protagorean relativism and

democracy (communities all the way down)

• No place for democratic deliberation when

there is an absolute definite answer

Chapter VI: An example of a “communitarian” scientific discipline

• Sustainability science as explicitly

problem- and goal-oriented, as well as value-driven

• Local character of knowledge produced

and importance of community

• Challenges:

» Effective communication » Truth and action (realism, pluralism, relativism) » Elites within projects

• IV. Underlying themes and

subsequent thoughts

(we there yet?) (presque là)

Themes

• Relativism – resistance towards talk of

Universal Truth and Progress

• Historicism – no simulation to reality
• Faith in the masses and anti-elitism (this

may include a soft anti-intellectualism)

• Faith that life is simple, after all (this

includes knowledge of all that’s important for a happy life)

Thoughts

– Does the prevalence of scientism threaten democracy? – Is democracy epistemic? What is the exact relationship between knowledge and democracy? (this is before having read the French tradition) – Interests, experts, policy-makers and standards, knowledge gaps