Management, Policy-Analysis and Entrepreneurship in Health and Life Science
Managing Science and Technology in Society (AM_470586)
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Video lectures Laboratory Life
Difference between types of knowledge → FEX. scientific knowledge (facts) → science
communication in a post-truth society → all constructivists would embrace the post-truth
society → STS’s detailed accounts of the construction of knowledge show that it requires
infrastructure effort, ingenuity and validation structures → people conduct science.
→ if the post-truth era starts by blowing up current knowledge structures, it isn’t very likely to
be democratisation, and most likely leads to authoritarianism.
Convictions: (1) multiple views on what science is, (2) if you communicate in or about science,
your communication will manifest one particular view on what science is, (3) reflection on the
nature of science can help you when thinking about communicating about science, (4) you don’t
have to reinvent the wheel.
The colloquial image of science = science consists of the systematic combinoation of empirical
observation (induction) and logical deduction, which produces reliable knowledge of the world.
→ 3 factors: (1) autonomy (scientists work autonomously and are not steered by external factors),
(2) neutrality (personal views do not impact research choices and data interpretations), (3)
factuality (values and norms do not play a role in scientific theory).
Vienna Circle (1920s): developed the logical positivism = an entire world view and how science
should be used in our society → often called the scientific world view.
- Logical: distinguish what is meaningful from what is meaningless → verification theory
of meaning = only statements of which one can say when they are true or false, are
meaningful (FEX. if it rains, this is true) → unify all sciences, using one logical (artificial,
formal) language.
- Positivism: no place for anything that is nog observable, also causation and mechanisms.
→ weaknesses logical positivism: (a) the truth of universal statements (FEX. laws of physics),
cannot be verified (so they are meaningless). (b) with its focus on verification, LR rests on
induction, but induction cannot be logically justified (FEX. you see only white swans, so all swans
are white, but there is always a possibility there is a black swan). (c) LR assumes we immediately
observe the empirically given, whereas in fact all observation is theory-laden.
Science consists of different ingredients, among which the idea that
scientists systematically collect observations, which is paired with logical
reasoning, induction and deduction.
→ focus on induction from logical positivists is problematic → Karl Popper
emphasised this → theory of falsification.
Science conists both of observation and theory → people view the
relationship between them differently → Popper: scientists are free to
choose or develop their theories (root to theory is open) = context of
discovery → context of justification = what justifies that we conclude a
certain theory is true or not → need to deduce a basic statement → a
potential falsifier = something that if it holds true falsifies the theory
(proves the theory is not true) → either reject the theory or accept it → if
you accept your theory, it does not mean it is true, BUT it means it is not
false → example: based on my observation of swans, I formulate the theory all swans are white ->
potential falsifier = there is a black swan -> if I see a black swan, the theory must be rejected.
→ falsification principle = demonstrate whether a theory is not true (not about verifying
whether a theory is true) → falsifiability: distinguishes scientific from non-scientific statements.
, Popper and logical positivists are both part of the colloquial image of science → science is a
custodian of rationality, because science is a rational and formal activity and all that matters to
its evaluation and understanding takes place in the context of justification.
→ both views: (a) believe in progress = a notion of science steadily moving in the direction of the
ultimate truths about the world. (b) are prescriptive = they state what science should be like.
Popper’s theory of falsification and logical positivism are both normative answers to the question
what is science? → move from normative to descriptive.
→ Robert Merton’s functionalism = science provides certified knowledge, which is the social
function of science in society → field of science is structured in a certain way, structured in
accordance with norms, which are norms of behaviour = communalism (science as a communal
effort), universalism (we treat each other’s works universally, everyone is equal),
disinterestedness (I don’t bring my own interests to the table), organised scepticism (reflect on
methods to justify drawn conclusions -> peer review) (CUDOS) → if you are to contribute to the
scientific project, you must follow these norms.
→ norms used to distinguish science from not science → science is the part of society where
these norms are lived up to → because the norms are lived up to, science can provide society
with certified knowledge.
Criticism: Latour and Woolgar questioned whether science is different from non-science →
Ludwick Fleck wrote a book with radical claims: (a) facts are made, not found. (b) facts are not
timeless, they have a history. (c) facts are stylised signals of resistance, that oppose arbitrary
thinking → truth is not a convention, but:
- In historical perspective, an event in the history of thought.
- In its contemporary context, a stylised thought constraint.
Style theory = directed perception, characterised by common features in the problems of
interest → involves judgment and methods of cognition and technical and literary style →
becoming a disciplinarian, member of a community of practice or thought collective requires
that one learns practices, values and an orientation to the world.
→ so, we learn what to believe, whom to believe and how to decide/judge = enculturation →
therefore, science might not be so different from non-science.
The scientists we have described share the view that there is progression in our knowledge → we
continuously get to know more and more and there are no radical breaks.
Thomas Kuhn argues there are (a) discontinuities in the development of our knowledge, (b) we
constantly get to know different things, and (c) only within different pathways we can
meaningfully speak of growth of knowledge.
→ theory of the structure of scientific revolutions: science develops circular and there are forceful,
radical changes every now and then that replace one system with another → this theory is
published by logical positivists.
- Historical turn: dissolution of the distinction between the context of discovery and the
context of justification → what countries as a justification varies from context to context.
- Paradigm: disciplinary matrix about which there is a consensus among scientists,
comprising theories, models, methods, techniques, skills, beliefs and values → members
of the scientific community share philosophical presuppositions, scientific theories and
methodologies and cultural beliefs, values and ideas → fundamental differences between
paradigms, like believing the world is flat vs believing it is round.
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