Self-referentiality of modern science. Faith in research, distrust in Science

Activity: Academic Talks or Presentations › Conference Presentation

Description

What makes the economic value or price of a product? The quality of the product itself, or what the market says it is worth? How can law understand the legal meaning or validity of norms, rulings, and contracts without relying on existing (i.e., already accepted and published) norms or rulings? All social systems can only operate self-referentially. The same is true for the social system of science: scientists must refer to existing publications and connect to research that has already been conducted, so that science becomes oriented to the self-proclaimed ‘accumulation of scientific knowledge’. By skilfully relating theories to methodologically controlled observations, truth claims can be advanced and consecutively evaluated by academic colleagues through formal peer review. Self-referentiality secures the differentiation of science from other social systems, such as religion. However, this presentation argues that the self-referential nature of science has left to the public only external references for trust in research (trust in expertise). Trust in expertise is divisive: it may morph into faith in research, but it can also feed distrust in scientific epistemology and motivations. The coexistence of faith in research and distrust in science is discussed as intrinsic to modernity.
Period25 Jun 2024
Event titleUON Research Conference 2024
Event typeConference
LocationNorthampton , United KingdomShow on map
Degree of RecognitionNational

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