Toward a Philosophy of Science Policy
Toward a Philosophy of Science Policy
Toward a Philosophy of Science Policy
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<strong>Toward</strong> a <strong>Philosophy</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Science</strong> <strong>Policy</strong>:<br />
Ap proaches and Is sues<br />
Ed ited by<br />
Rob ert Frodeman, Uni ver sity <strong>of</strong> West Texas<br />
Carl Mit cham, Col o rado School <strong>of</strong> Mines
❒ Ed i tor:<br />
Da vid Pellauer<br />
PHI LOS O PHY TO DAY<br />
❒ Ed i to rial As sis tant:<br />
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A quar terly sur vey <strong>of</strong> trends and re search in con tem po rary phi los o phy di rected to the in ter est <strong>of</strong><br />
schol ars and teach ers within the Chris tian tra di tion.<br />
<strong>Philosophy</strong> Today is a publication <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Philosophy</strong> Department <strong>of</strong> DePaul University<br />
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■Ta ble <strong>of</strong> Con tents<br />
New Di men sions in the Phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> Sci ence:<br />
To ward a Phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> Sci ence Pol icy. .................... ....... 3<br />
Rob ert Frodeman and Carl Mitcham<br />
Re search, De vel op ment, and In no va tion in Extremadura:<br />
A Gnu/Linex Case Study ......... ................................ 15<br />
Andoni Alsonso, Luis Cosas, Carlos Cas tro, and Fernando Solís<br />
Sci ence, De moc racy and Stem Cells. ............................. 21<br />
Eric Cohen<br />
The Pol icy Sci ences, Sci ence Pol icy, and the De vel op ment <strong>of</strong><br />
Hu man i ties Pol icy ..................................... ....... 28<br />
Rob ert Frodeman, Adam Briggle, Erik Fisher, and Shep Ryan<br />
Sci ence in a Real-World Con text: Con struct ing Knowledge<br />
Through Re cur sive Learing ..................................... 36<br />
Matthias Gross and Wolfgang Krohn<br />
On the Au ton omy <strong>of</strong> the Sci ences ................. .............. 49<br />
Philip Kitcher<br />
Sci ence and Anti-Ter ror ism: Notes for an In ter dis ci plin ary<br />
As sess ment <strong>of</strong> a New Pol icy Justification for Sci ence<br />
and En gi neer ing Ed u ca tion ..................................... 56<br />
Juan Lucena<br />
Sci ence Pol icy in its So cial Con text ............................... 65<br />
Dan iel Sarewitz, Suillermo Foladori, Noela Inverinzza, and Michele S. Garfinkel<br />
Rel e vant But No Pre scrip tive: Sci ence Pol icy Mod els in the IPCC ....... 78<br />
Alison Shaw and John Rob in son<br />
■ Vol ume 48 Num ber 5/5 SUPPLEMENT 2004<br />
1
Mod els <strong>of</strong> Pan ther Bi ol ogy and Radiobiology:<br />
Phi los o phy as Sci en tific Cit i zen ship. .............................. 84<br />
Kristin Shrader-Frechette<br />
Sci ence Pol icy <strong>of</strong>r In dia: A Memo to The In dian<br />
Coun cil for Sci en tific Re search .................................. 91<br />
Uday T. Turaga and Rama Mohana Turaga<br />
<strong>Toward</strong> a Po lit i cal Phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> Sci ence. .......................... 106<br />
Ambrosio Belasco Gómez<br />
Notes on Con tri bu tors ......................................... 118<br />
2
NEW DI MEN SIONS IN THE PHI LOS O PHY OF SCI ENCE<br />
TOWARD A PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE POLICY<br />
Carl Mit cham and Rob ert Frodeman<br />
The phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence—the at tempt to<br />
un der stand the fun da men tals <strong>of</strong> one <strong>of</strong> the<br />
most sig nif i cant <strong>of</strong> hu man ac tiv i ties—has tra -<br />
di tion ally treated it self as a branch <strong>of</strong> the field<br />
<strong>of</strong> epis te mol ogy. Jus ti fi ca tion for this de lim i -<br />
ta tion has re lied on two dis tinc tions. One is the<br />
dif fer ence be tween the con texts <strong>of</strong> dis cov ery<br />
and <strong>of</strong> jus ti fi ca tion. The pro cess <strong>of</strong> sci en tific<br />
dis cov ery is viewed as a mys te ri ous, non-ra tio -<br />
nal pro cess be long ing to the prov ince <strong>of</strong> psy -<br />
chol ogy. In re sponse, the phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci -<br />
ence lim ited it self to prob ing the log i cal<br />
pro ce dures <strong>of</strong> jus ti fy ing sci en tific claims. Sec -<br />
ond is the dis tinc tion be tween externalist and<br />
internalist fea tures <strong>of</strong> sci ence. The phi los o phy<br />
<strong>of</strong> sci ence sets aside the ex ter nal eco nomic or<br />
po lit i cal fac tors pro mot ing sci en tific work in<br />
or der to fo cus on those pro cesses in ter nal to<br />
sci en tific re search.<br />
In re cent de cades, how ever, these as sump -<br />
tions have faced two chal lenges. One chal -<br />
lenge orig i nated with ar gu ments for the close,<br />
even sym bi otic re la tion ship be tween sci ence<br />
and tech nol ogy, and as a re sponse to the ex ter -<br />
nal so cial prob lems <strong>of</strong> tech nol ogy, from nu -<br />
clear weap ons to bio tech nol ogy. In con se -<br />
quence, the phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> tech nol ogy<br />
de vel oped as a com ple ment to the phi los o phy<br />
<strong>of</strong> sci ence, with a par tic u lar fo cus on eth i calpo<br />
lit i cal crit i cism. A sec ond chal lenge orig i -<br />
nated with his tor i cal and so cio log i cal stud ies<br />
<strong>of</strong> sci ence that re vealed im por tant nonepistemological<br />
fea tures <strong>of</strong> its in ter nal pro -<br />
cesses. Of spe cial im por tance here are the eth i -<br />
cal di men sions <strong>of</strong> sci en tific meth ods, with dis -<br />
cus sions <strong>of</strong> the pro fes sional eth ics <strong>of</strong> sci ence,<br />
and ac counts <strong>of</strong> the ma te rial cul ture <strong>of</strong> sci ence,<br />
where the sci en tific method is placed within<br />
the larger frame work <strong>of</strong> sci en tific tools, pub lic<br />
and pri vate in sti tu tions, and gov ern men tal<br />
fund ing streams.<br />
Bridg ing the ex ter nal so cial im pacts <strong>of</strong> sci -<br />
en tific ac tiv ity and its in ter nal so cial con struc -<br />
tion is the less well known but no less im por -<br />
tant ac tiv ity <strong>of</strong> sci ence pol icy. Sci ence pol i cies<br />
are man i fest both out side sci ence in pub lic ap -<br />
pro pri a tions for the fund ing <strong>of</strong> sci ence and reg -<br />
u la tory leg is la tion, and in side sci ence with ef -<br />
forts to re fine the pro ce dures <strong>of</strong> peer re view or<br />
pro mote the more ef fec tive and eq ui ta ble shar -<br />
ing <strong>of</strong> data and peer re view. Orig i nal rec og ni -<br />
tion and anal y sis <strong>of</strong> these ac tiv i ties be longs to<br />
the so cial sci ence, and to re search un der taken<br />
by that in ter dis ci plin ary field known as sci -<br />
ence, tech nol ogy, and so ci ety stud ies. As guest<br />
ed i tors <strong>of</strong> this spe cial is sue <strong>of</strong> Phi los o phy To -<br />
day, how ever, our goal is to pro mote the emer -<br />
gence—af ter the phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> tech nol ogy<br />
and the pro fes sional eth ics <strong>of</strong> sci ence—<strong>of</strong> a<br />
third com ple ment to tra di tional phi los o phy <strong>of</strong><br />
sci ence that fo cuses on this un der-ap pre ci ated<br />
bridge. Philo soph i cal re flec tion on sci ence<br />
pol icy will ex pand our un der stand ing <strong>of</strong> sci -<br />
ence, ex tend the ac tiv ity <strong>of</strong> phi los o phy, and<br />
strengthen our grasp <strong>of</strong> the con tro ver sies fac -<br />
ing pol icy pro fes sion als.<br />
<strong>Philosophy</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Science</strong> Absent <strong>Policy</strong><br />
To re peat: Com ple ment ing sci ence is an -<br />
other, no less sig nif i cant ac tiv ity, that <strong>of</strong> sci -<br />
ence pol icy—which is it self sim ply one as pect<br />
<strong>of</strong> what has been called the “pol icy ori en ta -<br />
tion” (Lerner and Lasswell, eds., 1951) and the<br />
“pol icy move ment” (Brun ner, 1991) that pro -<br />
motes the de vel op ment <strong>of</strong> sys tem atic, in tel li -<br />
gent, and ef fec tive pub lic de ci sion mak ing. In<br />
a dis tinc tion that goes back at least to Harvey<br />
Brooks (1968)—and which is not pre cisely the<br />
same as that be tween ex ter nal and in ter nal sci -<br />
ence pol icy—sci ence pol icy is com monly di -<br />
vided into “pol icy for sci ence” and “sci ence<br />
for pol icy.” In ei ther case, sci ence pol icy is dis -<br />
tinct from sci ence, in that it at tempts to in ves ti -<br />
gate, for mu late, and im ple ment guide lines for<br />
sci ence-so ci ety re la tion ships, so that so ci ety<br />
pro motes the steady ad vance ment <strong>of</strong> sci ence<br />
(pol icy for sci ence) and sci ence ben e fits pub lic<br />
de ci sion mak ing (sci ence for pol icy). Like sci -<br />
ence it self, sci ence pol icy is thus <strong>of</strong> con sid er -<br />
able so ci etal im por tance. Re mark ably, how -<br />
ever, al though there ex ist ef forts to ad vance<br />
sci ence pol icy work it self and to ex am ine it<br />
from the per spec tives <strong>of</strong> sci ence, tech nol ogy,<br />
and so ci ety stud ies, there is lit tle in the way <strong>of</strong><br />
a re search pro gram in phi los o phy at tempt ing<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY SUPPLEMENT 2004<br />
3
to an a lyze and un der stand sci ence pol icy more<br />
gen er ally, ei ther in its epistemological or its<br />
eth i cal di men sions.<br />
The ab sence <strong>of</strong> any phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence<br />
pol icy in the phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence is eas ily<br />
doc u mented. Con sider, for in stance, two <strong>of</strong> the<br />
most rep re sen ta tive text book read ers: E. D.<br />
Klemke, Rob ert Hollinger, and A. Da vid<br />
Kline, eds., In tro duc tory Read ings in the Phi -<br />
los o phy <strong>of</strong> Sci ence (1988); and Mar tin Curd<br />
and J. A. Cover, eds. Phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> Sci ence:<br />
The Cen tral Is sues (1998). Klemke et al. col -<br />
lects ar ti cles deal ing with the de mar ca tion<br />
prob lem, the cov er ing law model <strong>of</strong> ex pla na -<br />
tion, re la tions be tween the ory and ob ser va -<br />
tion, con fir ma tion and ac cep tance, and two<br />
short sec tions on sci ence and val ues (how sci -<br />
ence rests on dis tinc tive val ues) and sci ence<br />
and cul ture (how sci ence is its own way <strong>of</strong><br />
life). The Curd and Cover book like wise in -<br />
cludes ar ti cles on the re la tion be tween sci ence<br />
and non-sci ence, sci en tific ra tio nal ity, the ory<br />
and ob ser va tion, in duc tion, con fir ma tion, ex -<br />
pla na tion, laws, reductionism, and em pir i -<br />
cism. Nei ther text even so much as men tions<br />
the phe nom e non <strong>of</strong> sci ence pol icy or the role<br />
<strong>of</strong> sci ence in pub lic de ci sion mak ing.<br />
Con sider as well an in flu en tial sys tem atic<br />
text book authored by nine mem bers <strong>of</strong> the De -<br />
part ment <strong>of</strong> the His tory and Phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> Sci -<br />
ence at the Uni ver sity <strong>of</strong> Pitts burgh, a lead ing<br />
phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence pro gram in the United<br />
States: Merrilee H. Salmon et al., In tro duc tion<br />
to the Phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> Sci ence (1992). Part one<br />
iden ti fies four gen eral top ics in the phi los o phy<br />
<strong>of</strong> sci ence: ex pla na tion, con fir ma tion, re al ism,<br />
and sci en tific change. Parts two, three, and<br />
four pro vide brief over views <strong>of</strong> phi los o phies<br />
<strong>of</strong> the phys i cal sci ences, <strong>of</strong> bi ol ogy and med i -<br />
cine, and <strong>of</strong> the be hav ioral and so cial sci ences,<br />
re spec tively. Even in re la tion to med i cine and<br />
the so cial sci ences, both sci ence pol icy and the<br />
pol icy sci ences are con spic u ous by their ab -<br />
sence.<br />
In other ar eas <strong>of</strong> phi los o phy where it might<br />
be ex pected, sci ence pol icy is equally ab sent.<br />
For in stance, there is no ar ti cle on pol icy in<br />
gen eral or sci ence pol icy spe cif i cally in Ruth<br />
Chadwick, ed., En cy clo pe dia <strong>of</strong> Ap plied Eth -<br />
ics (1998) or ei ther <strong>of</strong> the two gen eral en cy clo -<br />
pe dias <strong>of</strong> phi los o phy: Paul Ed wards, ed., En -<br />
cy clo pe dia <strong>of</strong> Phi los o phy (1968) with Don ald<br />
M. Borchert, ed., Sup ple ment (1996); and Ed -<br />
ward Craig, ed., Routledge En cy clo pe dia <strong>of</strong><br />
Phi los o phy (1998). In fact, the term “sci ence<br />
pol icy” is not even in the in dex <strong>of</strong> ei ther <strong>of</strong><br />
these three ma jor phi los o phy ref er ence tools.<br />
Fi nally, con sult ing The Phi los o pher’s In dex<br />
(1940–2004) yields no books or ar ti cles with<br />
“phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence pol icy” in their ti tles,<br />
and only a small num ber <strong>of</strong> hits us ing “sci ence<br />
pol icy” alone. Among im por tant books in this<br />
cat e gory is Kristin Shrader-Frechette’s Sci -<br />
ence Pol icy, Eth ics, and Eco nomic Meth od ol -<br />
ogy (1984), per haps the first philo soph i cal<br />
anal y sis to iden tify and link the eth i cal and<br />
epistemological is sues em bed ded in sci ence<br />
pol icy; and Philip Kitcher’s Sci ence, Truth,<br />
and De moc racy (2001), the first book that<br />
might rea son ably claim “to ward a phi los o phy<br />
<strong>of</strong> sci ence pol icy” as a sub ti tle. Even the jour -<br />
nal Phi los o phy and Pub lic Af fairs (1971–pres -<br />
ent) largely lim its it self to philo soph i cal in ter -<br />
ven tions in or con tri bu tions to par tic u lar<br />
pol icy is sues (such as nu clear de ter rence,<br />
health care, wel fare re form, or crim i nal pun -<br />
ish ment, but sel dom to the use or gov er nance<br />
<strong>of</strong> sci ence), and only rarely (as with Law rence<br />
Tribe, 1972) or in di rectly re flects on pol icy<br />
mak ing as it self a spe cial form <strong>of</strong> hu man ac -<br />
tion. Among the less than twenty pub li ca tions<br />
iden ti fied by a search for “phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> pol -<br />
icy” in gen eral, Sid ney Hook’s Phi los o phy and<br />
Pub lic Pol icy (1980) stands out as rep re sen ta -<br />
tive <strong>of</strong> this is sues-fo cused ap proach.<br />
<strong>Science</strong> <strong>Policy</strong> absent <strong>Philosophy</strong><br />
The other place one might ex pect to find<br />
phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence pol icy is, <strong>of</strong> course, in<br />
sci ence pol icy work. Re mark ably, how ever,<br />
not only is there no sus tained philo soph i cal re -<br />
flec tion in sci ence pol icy, there is even pre -<br />
cious lit tle by way <strong>of</strong> philo soph i cal anal y sis <strong>of</strong><br />
pol icy tout court. Al though pol i cies may be<br />
de scribed as spe cial types <strong>of</strong> ac tion, these<br />
forms <strong>of</strong> be hav ior have not been ac corded any<br />
at ten tion in the phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> ac tion.<br />
Pol i cies are both ac tions and com mit ments<br />
to courses <strong>of</strong> ac tion—de ci sions, not so much<br />
about spe cific acts as <strong>of</strong> types <strong>of</strong> acts, com -<br />
monly <strong>of</strong> a pub lic char ac ter. The study <strong>of</strong> pol -<br />
icy for ma tion and im ple men ta tion as a dis tinct<br />
in tel lec tual tra di tion dates only to the post-<br />
World War II era (Dunn, 1994) and ex cludes.<br />
A lead ing fig ure <strong>of</strong> the early pol icy move ment<br />
was Har old Lasswell, who with his col leagues<br />
fos tered de vel op ment <strong>of</strong> what he termed the<br />
“pol icy sci ences” (Lerner and Lasswell, eds.,<br />
1951). Pol icy work and re search has, how ever,<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
4
since come to en com pass di verse in tel lec tual<br />
tra di tions, from pol icy stud ies (Nagel, 1994)<br />
and pol icy anal y sis (Stokey and Zeckhauser,<br />
1978) to socio-eco nom ics (Halal and Tay lor,<br />
1999) and sci ence, tech nol ogy, and pub lic pol -<br />
icy (Lambright, 1998). Al though Lasswell<br />
him self held out a role for phi los o phy in the<br />
prag ma tist tra di tion (along side po lit i cal sci -<br />
ence, so ci ol ogy, eco nom ics, psy chol ogy, and<br />
more), this has gone largely un re al ized, ex cept<br />
for mod est con tri bu tions made by philo soph i -<br />
cal anal y ses <strong>of</strong> the eth i cal di men sions <strong>of</strong> spe -<br />
cific pol icy is sues such as, e.g., nu clear de ter -<br />
rence, abor tion, and en vi ron ment pol lu tion,<br />
mostly re lated to what has be come known as<br />
ap plied ethics.<br />
A slightly more ex tended as sess ment <strong>of</strong> the<br />
pol icy stud ies tra di tion re in forces per cep tions<br />
<strong>of</strong> the lim ited role played by phi los o phy. In<br />
what re mains a use ful over view <strong>of</strong> the pol icy<br />
stud ies field, Stu art S. Nagel’s ed ited En cy clo -<br />
pe dia <strong>of</strong> Pol icy Stud ies, 2nd rev. and ex panded<br />
ed. (1994) is di vided into two parts: gen eral ap -<br />
proaches to pol icy stud ies (eleven chap ters on<br />
meth ods, prac tices, and na tional com par i sons)<br />
and spe cific pol icy prob lem ar eas (twenty-four<br />
chap ters di vided into dis ci plin ary-based<br />
work). With re gard to dis ci plines that con trib -<br />
ute to the in ter dis ci plin ary field <strong>of</strong> pol icy stud -<br />
ies, the in tro duc tion to the first edi tion (1983)<br />
rec og nizes:<br />
● po lit i cal sci ence (the pri mary con trib u tor, fo -<br />
cus ing on po lit i cal and ad min is tra tive fea si bil -<br />
ity <strong>of</strong> al ter na tive pol i cies for a range <strong>of</strong> pub lic<br />
prob lems);<br />
● eco nom ics (an a lyz ing cost-ben e fit re la tions<br />
<strong>of</strong> dif fer ent pol icy pro pos als);<br />
● psy chol ogy (ex am in ing re ward struc tures to<br />
mo ti vate pol icy im ple ment ers and the in di vid -<br />
ual re sults <strong>of</strong> pol i cies fo cused on per sonal out -<br />
comes);<br />
● so ci ol ogy (clar i fy ing so cial prob lems them -<br />
selves, their class bases and re la tion ships);<br />
● the nat u ral sci ences (pro vid ing data on phys i -<br />
cal and bi o log i cal fac tors, es pe cially re lated to<br />
pol i cies deal ing, for in stance, with en ergy and<br />
health); and<br />
● an thro pol ogy, ge og ra phy, and his tory (broad -<br />
en ing per spec tives across time and place).<br />
The En cy clo pe dia <strong>of</strong> Pol icy Stud ies gives<br />
the first five <strong>of</strong> these dis ci plin ary ap proaches<br />
ex tended at ten tion. But al though Nagel men -<br />
tions phi los o phy as able to make a con tri bu tion<br />
through its “spe cial con cern for the val ues to -<br />
ward which pub lic pol i cies are di rected and the<br />
ul ti mate logic <strong>of</strong> pol icy anal y sis” (xii), and in -<br />
cludes a short chap ter on “Val ues, Eth ics, and<br />
Stan dards in Pol icy Anal y sis,” phi los o phy gets<br />
as short shrift as his tory. The fact that pol icy<br />
stud ies is a post-World War II phe nom e non is<br />
men tioned but not ex am ined; there is no chap -<br />
ter on the his tory <strong>of</strong> pol icy or pol icy stud ies.<br />
Like wise, there is no chap ter on the phi los o phy<br />
<strong>of</strong> pol icy or <strong>of</strong> pol icy stud ies.<br />
More over, al though there are chap ters on<br />
“Tech nol ogy: In no va tion and Con se quences”<br />
(by Fred er ick A. Rossini and Alan L. Por ter),<br />
“U.S. Health Pol icy in De vel op men tal and<br />
Cross-Na tional Per spec tive” (by Da vid<br />
Falcone, Rob ert W. Broyles, and Ste ven R.<br />
Smith), “En ergy Pol icy” (by Rob ert M. Law -<br />
rence), “Bio med i cal Pol icy” (by Rob ert H.<br />
Blank), and “Space Pol icy” (by Rob ert M.<br />
Law rence), there is no chap ter de voted to sci -<br />
ence pol icy per se. These chap ters are all more<br />
de voted to how the sci ences can con trib ute in<br />
spe cific ar eas to pol icy for ma tion. They are<br />
con cerned more with “sci ence for pol icy” than<br />
“pol icy for sci ence.”<br />
While sci ence pol icy more broadly con -<br />
strued has been re sur gent since the 1990s, it re -<br />
mains a subfield <strong>of</strong> the broader pol icy move -<br />
ment. More over and not sur pris ingly, most<br />
ap proaches to the study <strong>of</strong> pol icy con tinue to<br />
re flect the per spec tives and meth od ol o gies <strong>of</strong><br />
the dis ci plines in which they are based. For in -<br />
stance, for the most part po lit i cal sci en tists en -<br />
gage in “pol icy stud ies,” us ing char ac ter is tic<br />
meth ods and per spec tives. Econ o mists and<br />
those trained in eco nom ics ap ply the tools <strong>of</strong><br />
cost-ben e fit meth od ol o gies to “pol icy anal y -<br />
sis.” Jour nal ti tles fol low these con ven tions:<br />
Pol icy Stud ies Jour nal (1972–pres ent) and<br />
Jour nal <strong>of</strong> Pol icy Anal y sis and Man age ment<br />
(1981–pres ent). Pol icy Sci ences (1970–pres -<br />
ent) re mains a flag ship <strong>of</strong> the Lasswellian tra -<br />
di tion. None <strong>of</strong> these jour nals pub lish pri mar -<br />
ily on sci ence pol icy.<br />
Sci ence Pol icy and Its Dis con tents<br />
De spite such ab sences in phi los o phy and in<br />
sci ence pol icy, the need for philo soph i cal as -<br />
sess ment <strong>of</strong> sci ence pol icy has never been<br />
EDITORS' INTRODUCTION<br />
5
more pro nounced — and has been em pha sized<br />
re peat edly over re cent de cades by suc ces sive<br />
ex am i na tions <strong>of</strong> United States sci ence pol icy.<br />
The eco nomic de cline <strong>of</strong> the late 1970s and<br />
1980s, the dis clo sure <strong>of</strong> eth i cal lapses in sci -<br />
ence dur ing the 1980s, the end <strong>of</strong> the Cold War<br />
in the early 1990s, and the bal loon ing fed eral<br />
bud get def i cits <strong>of</strong> the same pe riod com bined to<br />
sim u late re think ing <strong>of</strong> post-World War II gov -<br />
ern men tal pol i cies to ward the fund ing <strong>of</strong> sci -<br />
ence. It is not clear, how ever, that this re as sess -<br />
ment has gone ei ther deep or broad enough.<br />
While sci ence pol icy dis cus sions in creas ingly<br />
draw on skills and knowl edge from the so cial<br />
sci ences, they reg u larly fail to en gage the hu -<br />
man i ties—thus lim it ing the di men sions <strong>of</strong> sci -<br />
ence pol icy reform.<br />
Two para dig matic ex pe ri ences cre ated the<br />
frame work as sump tions <strong>of</strong> post-World War II<br />
sci ence pol icy. One was the cor rupt ing in flu -<br />
ence <strong>of</strong> fas cist and com mu nist gov ern men tal<br />
in ter fer ence with sci ence. Nazi pur suit <strong>of</strong><br />
“Aryan sci ence” and the cri tique <strong>of</strong> rel a tiv ity<br />
the ory as Jew ish dec a dence drove phys i cists<br />
out <strong>of</strong> Ger many in droves. Like wise, the So viet<br />
cri tique <strong>of</strong> “bour geois ge net ics” and the de -<br />
fense <strong>of</strong> the evo lu tion ary in her i tance <strong>of</strong> ac -<br />
quired char ac ter is tics un der mined Rus sian bi -<br />
o log i cal re search and ag ri cul ture for de cades.<br />
The re sponse in the West was what may be<br />
termed the au ton omy the sis: Sci ence must be<br />
kept free from pol i tics and in su lated against all<br />
ef forts at po lit i cal ma nip u la tion.<br />
A sec ond for ma tive ex pe ri ence was the de -<br />
vel op ment by U.S. sci en tists (many <strong>of</strong> them<br />
Ger man émigrés) <strong>of</strong> weap ons such as ra dar<br />
and the atomic bomb that made de ci sive con -<br />
tri bu tions to win ning World War II. Given the<br />
free dom to pur sue their sci ence, sci en tists vol -<br />
un tarily ral lied to the dem o cratic cause. Given<br />
mas sive gov ern men tal fund ing, they did re -<br />
search and de vel op ment that was <strong>of</strong> crit i cal<br />
value to so ci ety. The re sponse was what has<br />
been called the lin ear ity the sis: Fund ing sci en -<br />
tific re search au to mat i cally pro duces so cial<br />
ben e fits. While it is not pos si ble to pre dict ex -<br />
actly how pure re search will ben e fit so ci ety,<br />
such knowl edge al ways re bounds to the good.<br />
On the ba sis <strong>of</strong> these two the ses, there<br />
emerged the ba sic prin ci ple <strong>of</strong> post-World War<br />
II sci ence pol icy: The gov ern ment should pro -<br />
vide no-strings at tached fund ing to sci en tists,<br />
be cause sci en tific re search in vari ably ben e fits<br />
so ci ety by mak ing mea sur able con tri bu tions to<br />
its mil i tary power, health care sys tem, or eco -<br />
nomic com pet i tive ness. There were, <strong>of</strong> course,<br />
ar gu ments around the mar gins re gard ing how<br />
much in de pend ence to give to sci en tists (lim its<br />
had to be placed on clas si fied re search, for ex -<br />
am ple) and what con sti tuted a well-bal anced<br />
so cial in vest ment in math e mat ics, phys ics,<br />
chem is try, and bi ol ogy. But none <strong>of</strong> these dis -<br />
cus sions af fected the ba sic prin ci ple: Give<br />
money to sci en tists, let them make their own<br />
de ci sions about how to spend it, and this will<br />
ul ti mately make so ci ety strong.<br />
The end <strong>of</strong> the Cold War at least tem po rarily<br />
al lowed ques tions to sur face about the need for<br />
the kind <strong>of</strong> mil i tary power sci ence was thought<br />
to pro vide. Does the U.S. re ally need to build<br />
more and better high-tech weap ons sys tems<br />
when there is no op pos ing su per power. Eco -<br />
nomic stag na tion and bud get def i cits fur ther<br />
called into ques tion the ef fec tive ness <strong>of</strong> fed -<br />
eral in vest ments in sci ence. Why was it that<br />
with the larg est num ber <strong>of</strong> No bel Prizes in sci -<br />
ence the U.S. econ omy was in many sec tors<br />
be ing bested by Ja pan, Ger many, and other na -<br />
tions? Par al lel to such po lit i cal and eco nomic<br />
ques tions, the in ves ti ga tive jour nal is tic ex po -<br />
sures <strong>of</strong> eth i cal mis con duct in sci ence to gether<br />
with so cial stud ies <strong>of</strong> the so cial con struc tion in<br />
sci ence chal lenged the idea <strong>of</strong> the non-po lit i -<br />
cal char ac ter <strong>of</strong> sci ence. Nazi and Com mu nist<br />
ef forts to con trol sci ence were ob vi ously crude<br />
fail ures at ex ter nal con trol <strong>of</strong> the in ner work -<br />
ings <strong>of</strong> sci ence. But have there not been other<br />
clear in stances in which po lit i cal agen das<br />
(some times on the part <strong>of</strong> sci en tists them -<br />
selves) suc cess fully in flu enced the di rec tion<br />
<strong>of</strong> sci en tific re search? Fem i nist crit i cisms <strong>of</strong><br />
in vest ments in can cer re search (more for pros -<br />
tate can cer than for breast can cer, de spite the<br />
fact that more peo ple die <strong>of</strong> breast can cer)<br />
clearly pointed up how the in ter ests <strong>of</strong> sci en -<br />
tific re search ers (mostly males) could in flu -<br />
ence the di rec tions <strong>of</strong> sci ence. Taken to gether,<br />
such ques tions con spired to spon sor re peated<br />
dis cus sions in and <strong>of</strong> U.S. sci ence pol icy—dis -<br />
cus sions whose most prom i nent fea ture has<br />
been in creas ing en gage ment with the so cial<br />
sciences.<br />
Ini tially these dis cus sions fo cused on at -<br />
tempts to re-con ceive the end-ben e fit <strong>of</strong> sci en -<br />
tific re search in terms other than mil i tary<br />
power. The most com mon sub sti tutes were en -<br />
vi ron men tal sustainability and hu man health.<br />
For in stance, all three post-Cold War Pres i -<br />
dents—from Bush through Clinton to Bush—<br />
called for more re search on global cli mate<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
6
change and com mit ted them selves to dra mat i -<br />
cally in crease fund ing at the Na tional In sti -<br />
tutes <strong>of</strong> Health. Since 9/11, <strong>of</strong> course, the pri -<br />
mary goal has be come the war on ter ror ism.<br />
More sig nif i cant than such straight for ward<br />
goal sub sti tu tion, how ever, has been a re as -<br />
sess ment <strong>of</strong> both found ing the ses <strong>of</strong> sci ence<br />
pol icy, in re verse or der to their his tor i cal emer -<br />
gence. That is, re as sess ment be gan by ad mit -<br />
ting some weak nesses in the lin ear ity the sis.<br />
Al though nu clear phys ics led to nu clear weap -<br />
ons and elec tric power gen er a tion, this pureto-ap<br />
plied move ment took place only by way<br />
<strong>of</strong> ex ten sive work in nu clear en gi neer ing, and<br />
be cause gov ern ment funders and sci en tist-en -<br />
gi neers as a con tin gency <strong>of</strong> his tory hap pened<br />
to share a war time con sen sus about po ten tial<br />
and use ful end-ben e fits. Af ter the war, the con -<br />
sen sus be came much more qual i fied, and out -<br />
comes cor re spond ingly more prob lem atic.<br />
More over, not all pure re search has an equal<br />
po ten tial for ap pli ca tion. As his tor i cal and so -<br />
cio log i cal anal y ses <strong>of</strong> sci ence have re peat edly<br />
shown, the pure-to-ap plied lin ear ity equa tion<br />
is more a highly qual i fied spe cial case than a<br />
gen eral rule.<br />
This ques tion ing <strong>of</strong> the lin ear ity the sis has<br />
been man i fested in a num ber <strong>of</strong> gov ern ment<br />
at tempts to stim u late or man age the lab o ra -<br />
tory-to-mar ket place re la tion ship—to en force<br />
lin ear ity, as it were. Ex am ples in clude the<br />
Bayh-Dole Act and amend ments (1980 and<br />
1984) <strong>of</strong> the Carter and Rea gan ad min is tra -<br />
tions, which pro moted the li cens ing <strong>of</strong> pat ents<br />
from pub licly funded re search; cre ation <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Na tional Tech nol ogy Trans fer Cen ter (1989)<br />
dur ing the first Bush ad min is tra tion; and the<br />
Gov ern ment Per for mance Re sults Act (1993)<br />
<strong>of</strong> the Clinton ad min is tra tion—the lat ter <strong>of</strong><br />
which asked all fed eral agen cies, in clud ing<br />
those fund ing sci en tific re search, to pro vide<br />
more ex plicit and trans par ent pro ce dures for<br />
eval u at ing their ac tiv i ties. In deed, the de ci sion<br />
<strong>of</strong> the Re pub li can Con gress in 1993 to re duce<br />
fund ing for high-en ergy phys ics re search by<br />
can cel ing con struc tion <strong>of</strong> the super con duct ing<br />
super collider (SSC) plus the sub se quent com -<br />
mit ment to dou ble the bud get <strong>of</strong> the Na tional<br />
In sti tutes <strong>of</strong> Health were other prom i nent ef -<br />
fects <strong>of</strong> lin ear ity ques tion ing. Fi nally as a more<br />
gen eral pol icy mea sure, there was the 1997<br />
Con gres sio nal man date to the Na tional Sci -<br />
ence Foun da tion to al ter its pro posal re view<br />
cri te ria to give equal weight to “in tel lec tual<br />
merit” and “broader im pacts”—thus com ple -<br />
ment ing in ter nal me thod i cal as sess ment with<br />
ex ter nal con sid er ations and mod estly qual i fy -<br />
ing the char ac ter <strong>of</strong> sci en tific autonomy.<br />
Re as sess ment <strong>of</strong> the au ton omy the sis in fact<br />
has taken weak and strong forms. In the weak<br />
ver sion, as Da vid Guston has an a lyzed at<br />
length in his Be tween Pol i tics and Sci ence<br />
(2000), it is now rec og nized that con scious ef -<br />
forts need to be made to de velop ap pro pri ate<br />
mech a nisms to pro mote col lab o ra tion be -<br />
tween sci en tists and some ex ter nal stake -<br />
holders to guide cer tain spe cific ar eas <strong>of</strong> even<br />
the in ter nal work ings <strong>of</strong> sci ence. The sin gle<br />
most ob vi ous case has con cerned ques tions <strong>of</strong><br />
re search mis con duct and in teg rity. In creased<br />
de pend ency on gov ern ment fund ing tempts<br />
sci en tists to cut cor ners in ways they some -<br />
times find dif fi cult to re sist and even more to<br />
po lice. Pol i ti cians have stepped in to de mand,<br />
for in stance, grad u ate ed u ca tion in the re spon -<br />
si ble con duct <strong>of</strong> re search in as so ci a tion with<br />
the re search grants from such agen cies as the<br />
Na tional In sti tutes <strong>of</strong> Health, and to es tab lish<br />
an Of fice <strong>of</strong> Re search In teg rity in the Of fice <strong>of</strong><br />
the Sec re tary <strong>of</strong> Health and Hu man Ser vices to<br />
re spond to al le ga tions <strong>of</strong> re search mis con duct.<br />
In a much stron ger re as sess ment, the socalled<br />
“sci ence wars” at tacked the au ton omy<br />
the sis head. In this maximalist ver sion, the so -<br />
cial stud ies <strong>of</strong> sci ence pro posed that the sociopo<br />
lit i cal con struc tion <strong>of</strong> sci en tific knowl edge<br />
was a re sult not just <strong>of</strong> ex ter nal guid ance but<br />
also <strong>of</strong> the deep est in ter nal work ings <strong>of</strong> the sci -<br />
en tific pro cess. Al though widely re jected in<br />
this maximalist form, the so cial stud ies <strong>of</strong> sci -<br />
ence have none the less ex posed the for merly<br />
ob scured so cial di men sions op er a tive within<br />
the sci en tific com mu nity along side much <strong>of</strong><br />
the sci en tific method.<br />
So cial Sci ence for Sci ence Pol icy<br />
As a re sult <strong>of</strong> a fad ing mem ory about both<br />
the World War II ex pe ri ences with the con tam -<br />
i na tion <strong>of</strong> sci ence by pol i tics and the di rect po -<br />
lit i cal ben e fits to large-scale fund ing for sci -<br />
ence, along with the cor re spond ing chal lenges<br />
to the au ton omy and lin ear ity the ses, the so cial<br />
sci ences have come to play an in creas ingly<br />
sig nif i cant role in sci ence pol icy. In the midtwen<br />
ti eth cen tury, so cial sci en tists sim ply<br />
mea sured in puts to sci ence, and the Or ga ni za -<br />
tion <strong>of</strong> Eco nomic Co op er a tion and De vel op -<br />
ment (OECD) cre ated a sci en tific in di ca tors<br />
in dus try around col lect ing and com par ing na -<br />
EDITORS' INTRODUCTION<br />
7
tional in vest ments in re search. The lin ear ity<br />
the sis dic tated this fo cus on eco nomic met rics,<br />
and im plied that other mea sure ments were<br />
prob a bly a waste <strong>of</strong> time and ef fort.<br />
But once the con tin gency <strong>of</strong> out puts be -<br />
came an is sue, so cial sci en tists be come in -<br />
volved on the other end <strong>of</strong> things as well. One<br />
lead ing ap proach looks at pro jected so cial as<br />
well as sci en tific out comes <strong>of</strong> par tic u lar re -<br />
search in vest ments, and asks whether in fact<br />
such out comes have been achieved or are<br />
likely—or might be achieved by other means.<br />
Con sider, for ex am ple, the war on can cer.<br />
Since Pres i dent Nixon de clared “war on can -<br />
cer” in the early 1970s the U.S. gov ern ment<br />
has spent over $30 bil lion on can cer re search,<br />
and yet can cer sur vival rates have only mar gin -<br />
ally im proved (see Proc tor, 1995). Cer tainly a<br />
strong case can be made that more mod est in -<br />
vest ments in pre ven tion, ed u ca tion, and en vi -<br />
ron men tal clean up would have had a much<br />
more dra matic im pact on can cer. But our col -<br />
lec tive com mit ment to sci en tific fixes over po -<br />
lit i cal or be hav ioral ones has en cour aged sci -<br />
en tists to prom ise more than they have been<br />
able to de liver and cit i zens to be more gull ible<br />
than pru dent. There seems to ex ist what Dan iel<br />
Callahan (2003) calls a “re search im per a tive”<br />
that tends to over ride more bal anced as sess -<br />
ments.<br />
Con sider, too, the case <strong>of</strong> global cli mate<br />
change re search. Since 1989 the U.S. has in -<br />
vested over $20 bil lion in global cli mate<br />
change re search. In al most ev ery case this re -<br />
search has been jus ti fied as lead ing to greater<br />
sci en tific un der stand ing <strong>of</strong> cli mate change dy -<br />
nam ics (es pe cially the anthropogenic di men -<br />
sions <strong>of</strong> such dy nam ics) lead ing to in creased<br />
en vi ron men tal sustainability. De spite this in -<br />
vest ment, the er ror bars sur round ing the range<br />
<strong>of</strong> pre dicted cli mate change by 2100 pro vided<br />
by the In ter gov ern men tal Panel on Cli mate<br />
Change re port (2001) were larger than for<br />
those given a de cade ear lier. Rather than ad ju -<br />
di cat ing the pro cess, sci ence pro vided fod der<br />
for an in creased range <strong>of</strong> in ter pre ta tions <strong>of</strong> the<br />
cli mate data.<br />
Rec og niz ing the gap be tween sci en tific re -<br />
search and so cial util ity, the Na tional Can cer<br />
In sti tute be gan to ask so cial sci ence to play a<br />
larger role in help ing bring re search to the pub -<br />
lic. So cial sci en tists have also be come in -<br />
volved in mon i tor ing sci en tific in teg rity and<br />
pro mot ing trans fer from lab o ra tory to mar ket -<br />
place. Sim i larly, the Na tional Cen ter for At -<br />
mo spheric Re search, the lead ing US in sti tu -<br />
tion for re search into cli mate change, has re -<br />
cently made a ma jor com mit ment to in creas -<br />
ing the prom i nence and fund ing <strong>of</strong> its so cial<br />
sci ence di rec tor ate. But to a large ex tent all<br />
such so cial sci ence work has merely taken the<br />
messy re al ity <strong>of</strong> non-lin ear ity and tried to<br />
make it as lin ear as pos si ble. Eco nom ics is thus<br />
the so cial sci ence that is most com monly<br />
funded; and quan ti ta tive and de scrip tive ac -<br />
counts pre dom i nate over the qual i ta tive and<br />
the nor ma tive.<br />
But a re cent cadre <strong>of</strong> sci en tists and so cial<br />
sci en tists have gone fur ther and put forth what<br />
can eas ily be termed a new sci ence pol icy. The<br />
new sci ence pol icy goes be yond try ing to en -<br />
force lin ear ity or to work around the kinks <strong>of</strong><br />
non-lin ear ity. It looks at the pub licly stated<br />
goals <strong>of</strong> sci ence fund ing, some times set ting<br />
them in more ex pan sive so cial con texts that<br />
raise ques tions <strong>of</strong> eq uity and im pact, and then<br />
con sid ers whether the pro jected end-ben e fit<br />
out comes have been or are likely to be<br />
achieved by means <strong>of</strong> the re search pro gram so<br />
jus ti fied. If not, it pro poses that we give se ri ous<br />
con sid er ation to other means. Sci ence should<br />
not be the only means to pub lic pol icy ends,<br />
nor should the vested in ter ests <strong>of</strong> well es tab -<br />
lished sci en tific pro grams be al lowed to ob -<br />
scure al ter na tive re search pro jects. Sci ence<br />
pol icy should it self be sub ject to (so cial) sci en -<br />
tific ex am i na tion.<br />
Al though this new sci ence pol icy may be a<br />
sub stan tial im prove ment over the old, it nev er -<br />
the less limps in one im por tant re spect: It <strong>of</strong> ten<br />
ac cepts what ever so cial goals may have been<br />
given a rhe tor i cal bless ing by the ex ist ing body<br />
pol i tic. It is con cerned with con nect ing ef fort<br />
more ef fec tively to stated or as sumed end-ben -<br />
e fits; but it does not re con sider the wor thi ness<br />
<strong>of</strong> the end-ben e fits. Yet in any pol i tics wor thy<br />
<strong>of</strong> the name, this must surely be done as well.<br />
Ends must be re flected upon as well as<br />
means—which is where phi los o phy (at least in<br />
its tra di tional sense) co mes in.<br />
The so cial sci ences serve two re lated func -<br />
tions: (a) to as sess whether the spec i fied so cial<br />
aims <strong>of</strong> a sci en tific re search pro ject have been<br />
achieved, and (b) to help a sci en tific re search<br />
pro ject achieve these spec i fied so cial aims.<br />
There has also been some dis cus sion that the<br />
so cial sci ences can help for mu late proper aims<br />
for sci ence—per haps by pro vid ing ef fec tive<br />
mech a nisms by which the pub lic will con trib -<br />
ute to or par tic i pate in the for mu la tion <strong>of</strong> the<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
8
so cial aims <strong>of</strong> sci en tific re search. Yet short <strong>of</strong><br />
merely in stru men tal meth ods that equal<br />
broader quan ti ta tive par tic i pa tion, the so cial<br />
sci ences sensu stricto can do lit tle in this area.<br />
Theoretical Dimensions in the<br />
<strong>Philosophy</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Science</strong> <strong>Policy</strong><br />
The most me thod i cal ap proach to pol icy re -<br />
search is what Lasswell calls the pol icy sci -<br />
ences. In the course <strong>of</strong> his long, in ter dis ci plin -<br />
ary ca reer, Lasswell sought to ad vance a<br />
method for the sys tem atic anal y sis <strong>of</strong> any pol -<br />
icy prob lem (see Lerner and Lasswell, eds.,<br />
1951, and Lasswell, 1971). Lasswell’s method<br />
cen ters around five in tel lec tual tasks: clar i fi ca -<br />
tion <strong>of</strong> goals, de scrip tions <strong>of</strong> trends, anal y sis <strong>of</strong><br />
con di tions, pro jec tion <strong>of</strong> fu ture de vel op ments,<br />
and in ven tion, eval u a tion, and se lec tion <strong>of</strong> al -<br />
ter na tives. These tasks are nec es sary to ad -<br />
dress in tel li gently any num ber <strong>of</strong> pol icy is -<br />
sues, whether pub lic or pri vate, from those<br />
as so ci ated with tax a tion or war fare to prob -<br />
lems <strong>of</strong> man u fac tur ing and mar ket ing.<br />
But the spe cial need for pol icy sci ence is<br />
per haps best seen in re la tion to sci ence it self<br />
broadly con strued (that is, in re la tion to sci -<br />
ence and tech nol ogy taken to gether as in ter -<br />
act ing as pects <strong>of</strong> what is <strong>of</strong> ten called<br />
technoscience). As Lasswell ar gued in an en -<br />
try on the pol icy sci ences in The In ter na tional<br />
En cy clo pe dia <strong>of</strong> the So cial Sci ences (1968),<br />
sci ence is pre sent ing so ci ety with a suite <strong>of</strong> op -<br />
por tu ni ties:<br />
Weap ons <strong>of</strong> a novel kind lie close at hand, in -<br />
clud ing bombs that par a lyze tem po rarily with -<br />
out in flict ing per ma nent dam age. Teach ing and<br />
re search are al ready in ac tive re con struc tion as<br />
a re sult <strong>of</strong> new in stru ments <strong>of</strong> stor age, re trieval,<br />
and in struc tion. Com pe tent bi ol o gists fore see<br />
that the ge netic in her i tance <strong>of</strong> man can be de lib -<br />
er ately mod i fied. We are told that death it self<br />
may be abol ished by the sub sti tu tion <strong>of</strong> mol e -<br />
cules as they wear out. En gi neers ex pect to de -<br />
vise ma chines that sim u late or im prove on ex -<br />
ist ing forms <strong>of</strong> life, in clud ing man. (Lasswell,<br />
1968, 189)<br />
Given such op por tu ni ties, the most de -<br />
mand ing ques tions are not sim ply sci en tific<br />
but philo soph i cal and pol icy-ori ented: Which<br />
<strong>of</strong> these var i ous forms <strong>of</strong> sci ence should be<br />
pro moted or funded? By what mech a nisms?<br />
What should so ci ety do with the prod ucts?<br />
Should there be any so ci etal reg u la tion? If so,<br />
to what ends, and how?<br />
Surely the dis cov ery <strong>of</strong> the dis tinc tive aims<br />
and ap pro pri ate strat e gies for sci ence pol icy<br />
mak ers, im ple ment ers, and re search ers must<br />
in clude a sig nif i cant mea sure <strong>of</strong> phi los o phy,<br />
crit i cally re flect ing on the clar i fi ca tion <strong>of</strong><br />
goals, de scrip tions <strong>of</strong> trends, anal y sis <strong>of</strong> con -<br />
di tions, pro jec tion <strong>of</strong> fu ture de vel op ments,<br />
and in ven tion, eval u a tion, and se lec tion <strong>of</strong> al -<br />
ter na tives—and whether these are the nec es -<br />
sary and suf fi cient in tel lec tual tasks in the sci -<br />
ence pol icy pro cess.<br />
But what, more pre cisely, might a phi los o -<br />
phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence pol icy look like? There are two<br />
ways to re spond to this ques tion. One would<br />
try to en vi sion the phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence pol -<br />
icy as phi los o phy, the other would sketch a<br />
view <strong>of</strong> the phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence pol icy as<br />
pol icy re search.<br />
In what sense is phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence pol -<br />
icy gen u ine phi los o phy? Phi los o phy may be<br />
sub di vided along two ma jor axes. The first<br />
axis is de fined by the fun da men tal ques tions<br />
that con sti tute philo soph i cal re flec tion, <strong>of</strong><br />
which it is com mon to dis tin guish five: (1)<br />
logic, with which rhet o ric and meth od ol ogy<br />
may also be as so ci ated (What con sti tutes a<br />
valid ar gu ment or sound in fer ence?); (2) eth ics<br />
(What is right and wrong in hu man ac tion?<br />
What is the na ture <strong>of</strong> the good?); (3) po lit i cal<br />
phi los o phy (What is jus tice and in jus tice?); (4)<br />
epis te mol ogy (What is knowl edge?); and (5)<br />
meta phys ics and on tol ogy (What is real? How<br />
are the dif fer ent as pects <strong>of</strong> re al ity prop erly dis -<br />
tin guished and re lated?)<br />
A sec ond axis is con sti tuted by the par tic u -<br />
lar fields or topoi where such fun da men tal<br />
ques tions are de ployed. This axis yields an in -<br />
def i nite se ries <strong>of</strong> regionalizations such as the<br />
phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence, <strong>of</strong> art, <strong>of</strong> re li gion, <strong>of</strong><br />
law, <strong>of</strong> lan guage, etc. In each <strong>of</strong> these “phi los o -<br />
phies <strong>of</strong> X” the fun da men tal ques tions are reasked<br />
and regionalized, <strong>of</strong> ten with dif fer en tial<br />
and dis tinc tive em pha ses. For in stance, in the<br />
phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> art ques tions are raised con cern -<br />
ing the logic <strong>of</strong> aes thetic ex pres sion, the eth ics<br />
<strong>of</strong> ar tis tic cre ativ ity, the jus tice <strong>of</strong> spe cific ar -<br />
tis tic re ward struc ture, the epis te mol ogy <strong>of</strong> ar -<br />
tis tic knowl edge, and the on tol ogy <strong>of</strong> art ob -<br />
jects. How ever, in the phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> lan guage,<br />
epistemological ques tions tend to pre dom i -<br />
nate and eth i cal ques tions play hardly any role.<br />
The phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence, like wise, is char ac -<br />
ter ized by the prom i nence <strong>of</strong> log i cal and<br />
EDITORS' INTRODUCTION<br />
9
epistemological is sues, with only sub sid iary<br />
at ten tion to eth ics, po lit i cal phi los o phy, or<br />
meta phys ics.<br />
With re gard to the phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence<br />
pol icy, it is im por tant to note that if sci ence<br />
pol icy is not as prom i nent a hu man phe nom e -<br />
non as, say, art or lan guage, it in creas ingly ri -<br />
vals sci ence it self as de serv ing philo soph i cal<br />
at ten tion. More over, it is im por tant not to pre -<br />
judge the pa ram e ters <strong>of</strong> this new “phi los o phy<br />
<strong>of</strong> X.” For in stance, granted the lack <strong>of</strong> at ten -<br />
tion in phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence to po lit i cal philo -<br />
soph i cal ques tions, and given that sci ence pol -<br />
icy can be viewed as a kind <strong>of</strong> pol i tics, it is<br />
tempt ing to pres ent this new field as an ap pen -<br />
dix to po lit i cal phi los o phy, fo cused pri mar ily<br />
on ques tions <strong>of</strong> jus tice in and in re la tion to sci -<br />
ence. But, in fact, there are also im por tant<br />
ques tions <strong>of</strong> the logic <strong>of</strong> sci ence pol icy ar gu -<br />
ments, the eth ics <strong>of</strong> sci ence pol icy de ci sion<br />
mak ing, and the char ac ter <strong>of</strong> sci ence pol icy<br />
knowl edge. Fi nally, be cause ev ery sci ence<br />
pol icy makes as sump tions about the sta tus <strong>of</strong><br />
sci ence it self, the phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence pol icy<br />
must con sider not just the epistemological sta -<br />
tus <strong>of</strong> sci en tific knowl edge, but also the on to -<br />
log i cal bound aries <strong>of</strong> sci ence as a hu man ac tiv -<br />
ity and <strong>of</strong> its var i ous in sti tu tions.<br />
As a new re gional ex pres sion <strong>of</strong> phi los o phy,<br />
the phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence pol icy will thus in -<br />
clude a spec trum <strong>of</strong> key con cerns such as:<br />
(a) The logic <strong>of</strong> pol icy meth ods, in clud ing the<br />
proper rhet o ric <strong>of</strong> pol icy rec om men da tions;<br />
(b) The eth ics not just <strong>of</strong> pro fes sional sci en tists<br />
but <strong>of</strong> the re la tions be tween sci en tists and the<br />
pub lic, in clud ing the spe cial eth i cal ob li ga tions<br />
<strong>of</strong> sci en tists who are pub licly funded and pol icy<br />
an a lysts sup ported by pub lic funds;<br />
(c) Jus tice is sues within the sci en tific com mu -<br />
ni ties and be tween the sci ence and so ci ety, in -<br />
clud ing but not lim ited to ques tions about the<br />
ad e quacy <strong>of</strong> con cep tu al iza tions <strong>of</strong> the so cial<br />
con tract for sci ence, the role <strong>of</strong> sci en tific ex per -<br />
tise in a dem o cratic state, and the proper pa ram -<br />
e ters <strong>of</strong> pub lic par tic i pa tion in sci ence;<br />
(d) The epistemological strengths and weak -<br />
nesses <strong>of</strong> mod els and sim u la tions; and<br />
(e) On to log i cal ques tions re lated to sci en tific<br />
in sti tu tions and their man i fold bound ary or ga -<br />
ni za tions.<br />
Prac ti cal Di men sions<br />
But granted that phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence pol -<br />
icy may, with at ten tion and de vel op ment,<br />
make a rea son able claim to be phi los o phy, is it<br />
pos si ble also to ar gue that it can also con trib ute<br />
to pol icy re search? One fa vor able in di ca tor co -<br />
mes from not ing the role <strong>of</strong> prag ma tism within<br />
pol icy re search. In his in flu en tial out line, A<br />
Pre-view <strong>of</strong> Pol icy Sci ences (1971), Lasswell<br />
be gins by ex plic itly al ly ing his work with “the<br />
gen eral ap proach to pub lic pol icy that was rec -<br />
om mended by John Dewey and his col leagues<br />
in the de vel op ment <strong>of</strong> Amer i can prag ma tism”<br />
(xix). To date, how ever, al most no post-Dewey<br />
de vel op ments in prag ma tism—such as those<br />
ad vanced by Wil lard Van Orman Quine, Don -<br />
ald Davidson, Hil ary Putnam, or Rich ard<br />
Rorty (to name only the most lu mi nary)—have<br />
been brought to bear on pol icy sci ence. In deed,<br />
lesser known prag ma tists such as John Stuhr<br />
(1997) and Larry Hickman (2001) have im por -<br />
tant con tri bu tions to make in or der to up date<br />
Lasswell’s an a lytic scheme for a world <strong>of</strong><br />
internet com mu ni ca tions and glob al ized eco -<br />
nom ics.<br />
In a précis <strong>of</strong> the Pre-View a quar ter cen tury<br />
on, Ron ald Brun ner deftly sum ma rizes the<br />
fun da men tal pos tu late <strong>of</strong> pol icy sci ence: “that<br />
peo ple act se lec tively to max i mize pre ferred<br />
out comes ac cord ing to their own per spec tives;<br />
but the acts are less than fully ra tio nal be cause<br />
the rel e vant per spec tives are in com plete, dis -<br />
torted, and un con scious in var i ous re spects<br />
and de grees” (Brun ner, 1996, 623). Phi los o -<br />
phy can as sist peo ple, in clud ing pol icy re -<br />
search ers ded i cated to this task, to un der stand<br />
better what ra tio nal ity con sists <strong>of</strong>, thereby<br />
help ing to de velop a richer and more nuanced<br />
sense <strong>of</strong> ra tio nal ity by re flec tive anal y sis and<br />
crit i cism. This is a time hon ored con tri bu tion<br />
to hu man life from phi los o phy, even in its most<br />
pr<strong>of</strong>essionalized or ac a demic form. But phi -<br />
los o phy can make such a con tri bu tion only by<br />
be com ing en gaged with pol icy and pol icy re -<br />
search, in the pres ent in stance in the form <strong>of</strong><br />
sci ence pol icy.<br />
The case for the abil ity <strong>of</strong> the phi los o phy <strong>of</strong><br />
sci ence pol icy to make a con tri bu tion to sci -<br />
ence pol icy re search—and even to sci ence pol -<br />
icy work it self—is strength ened by fo cus ing<br />
on eth ics. Pol icy re search and pol icy work re -<br />
quire eth i cal guide lines <strong>of</strong> hon esty, in teg rity,<br />
loy alty, and more, all <strong>of</strong> which re quire pro tec -<br />
tion against in com plete ness, dis tor tion, and<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
10
un con scious or in ap pro pri ate ad her ence. Al -<br />
though it is rea son able to main tain, as<br />
Lasswell him self ap pears to do, that nor ma tive<br />
po si tions ul ti mately rest on meta-nor ma tive<br />
un der stand ings <strong>of</strong> re al ity, still there is a sense<br />
in which eth ics may be taken as first phi los o -<br />
phy. Eth ics is not only an anal y sis <strong>of</strong> and re -<br />
flec tion on moral con duct; it also makes a con -<br />
tri bu tion to the prac tice <strong>of</strong> mo ral ity and in deed<br />
is it self a form <strong>of</strong> mo ral ity. In like man ner, the<br />
phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence pol icy should not only<br />
an a lyze and re flect on sci ence pol icy, but in the<br />
pro cess <strong>of</strong> its re flec tion con trib ute to and even<br />
be come it self a kind <strong>of</strong> sci ence pol icy. The phi -<br />
los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence pol icy as pol icy re search<br />
and as pol icy prac tice will step be yond the<br />
bounds <strong>of</strong> in ter est group pol i tics and quan ti ta -<br />
tive cost-ben e fit anal y ses (with out re ject ing<br />
their achieve ments), to broaden and deepen<br />
sci ence pol icy de ci sion mak ing and im ple -<br />
men ta tion.<br />
The up shot <strong>of</strong> the pur suit the phi los o phy <strong>of</strong><br />
sci ence pol icy and its in te gra tion into sci ence<br />
pol icy work will be a wid en ing and deep en ing<br />
<strong>of</strong> both—not just in his tor i cal per spec tive, but<br />
in ways that help us con front the daunt ing<br />
chal lenges we face in liv ing with sci ence. For<br />
in stance, pro fes sional eth i cal ques tions have<br />
im pli ca tions not just for per sonal con duct, but<br />
for the struc tur ing <strong>of</strong> so cial in sti tu tions. The<br />
epistemological prob lems <strong>of</strong> mod el ing need to<br />
be con sid ered in as sess ing sci en tific pre dic -<br />
tions. And the dis tinc tion be tween sci ence for<br />
pol icy and pol icy for sci ence may be less on to -<br />
logi cally sound than is com monly as sumed.<br />
Dis cus sions that move from in ter est group<br />
power and eco nomic ef fi ciency to ques tions <strong>of</strong><br />
truth, good ness, and beauty can make sci ence<br />
pol icy work richer and more ro bust—and thus,<br />
in a deeper than a po lit i cal or eco nomic sense,<br />
more ef fec tive. The phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence pol -<br />
icy holds out the prom ise <strong>of</strong> pro mot ing sci ence<br />
pol i cies that are less in com plete, dis torted, and<br />
un con scious than they might oth er wise be.<br />
The Pres ent Pa pers<br />
The goal <strong>of</strong> the pres ent col lec tion <strong>of</strong> pa pers<br />
is thus to ad vance a more com plete, less dis -<br />
torted, and more con scious re flec tion on sci -<br />
ence pol icy. To this end they in clude a di ver sity<br />
<strong>of</strong> is sues from dif fer ent philo soph i cal and na -<br />
tional per spec tives.<br />
The first pa per, by Andoni Alonso, Carlos<br />
Cas tro, and Fernando Solís, de scribes “Re -<br />
search, De vel op ment, and In no va tion in<br />
Extremadura: A Gnu/Linex Case Study.”<br />
Against a back ground <strong>of</strong> po lit i cal philo soph i -<br />
cal con cerns for the loss <strong>of</strong> com mu nity in a<br />
high-tech, sci en tific so ci ety, the au thors an a -<br />
lyze the im pact <strong>of</strong> a de ci sion by the re gional<br />
gov ern ment in Extremadura, Spain, to sup port<br />
de vel op ment <strong>of</strong> free and open source s<strong>of</strong>t ware<br />
dur ing the early 2000s. Their ar gu ment is that a<br />
technoscientific pol icy may be judged on<br />
grounds other than straight for ward eco nomic<br />
ben e fit. In this case, ben e fits <strong>of</strong> a par tic u lar<br />
pol icy have in cluded com mu ni tarian de vel op -<br />
ment—a point that will also be sug gested as a<br />
new and quite ap pro pri ate sci ence pol icy as -<br />
sess ment cri te rion in Turaga and Turaga’s es -<br />
say.<br />
The sec ond pa per, Eric Co hen’s “Sci ence,<br />
De moc racy, and Stem Cells,” is an other case<br />
study fo cus ing this time on de bates re gard ing<br />
stem cell and em bryo re search. Be tween<br />
Alonso et al. and Co hen the two ma jor<br />
technosciences <strong>of</strong> our time—in for ma tion<br />
technoscience and bi o log i cal technoscience—<br />
are thus given crit i cal case study at ten tion. Fol -<br />
low ing an over view <strong>of</strong> the cur rent stem cell<br />
dis cus sion, Co hen ar gues its im por tance as in -<br />
tro duc ing a level <strong>of</strong> philo soph i cal se ri ous ness<br />
into pub lic life, ref er enc ing es pe cially the ef -<br />
forts <strong>of</strong> Pres i dent George W. Bush’s Coun cil<br />
on Bioethics. Stem cell re search is an oc ca sion<br />
for de bate be tween lib er als and con ser va tives<br />
about the mean ing <strong>of</strong> sci ence and the na ture <strong>of</strong><br />
the hu man con di tion.<br />
“Pro le gom e non to a Fu ture Hu man i ties<br />
Pol icy” by Rob ert Frodeman, Adam Briggle,<br />
Erik Fisher, and Shep Ryan is a col lab o ra tive<br />
es say on how phi los o phy and the hu man i ties<br />
might be come more en gaged with sci ence pol -<br />
icy. It points up a gap be tween the abun dant<br />
knowl edge pro duced by the nat u ral sci ences<br />
and the con crete needs <strong>of</strong> de ci sion mak ers,<br />
sug gest ing that nei ther more sci ence nor more<br />
“sci en tific” pol icy anal y sis by them selves will<br />
lead to better de ci sions. A better hope for<br />
bridg ing this gulf lies in bring ing the nor ma -<br />
tive and acculturating per spec tives <strong>of</strong> the hu -<br />
man i ties to bear in pol icy de bates in a way that<br />
com ple ments the re search <strong>of</strong> both phys i cal sci -<br />
en tists and pol icy sci en tists, thereby mak ing<br />
their work more rel e vant to so ci ety.<br />
Matthias Gross and Wolfgang Krohn’s<br />
“Sci ence in a Real-World Con text: Con struct -<br />
ing Knowl edge through Re cur sive Learn ing”<br />
pro vides an ex tended his tor i cal and philo soph -<br />
EDITORS' INTRODUCTION<br />
11
i cal re view <strong>of</strong> pro pos als for how the spe cial -<br />
ized world <strong>of</strong> sci en tific ex per i ment prop erly<br />
con trib utes to larger (or real) world. In the<br />
course <strong>of</strong> con sid er ing the views <strong>of</strong> phi los o -<br />
phers Fran cis Ba con and René Des cartes, poet<br />
Johann Wolfgang von Goe the, chem ist Justus<br />
von Liebig, and so cial ac tiv ist Jane Addams,<br />
the au thors ar gue that the so cial sup port <strong>of</strong><br />
mod ern nat u ral sci ence is it self a ma jor<br />
historico-so cial ex per i ment, and must be as -<br />
sessed as such. Frodeman et al. and Gross and<br />
Krohn be tween them <strong>of</strong> fer new ways to see<br />
phi los o phy at work in re la tion to sci ence, not<br />
just in pro fes sional phi los o phy but in the hu -<br />
man i ties more broadly con strued.<br />
With “On the Au ton omy <strong>of</strong> the Sci ences”<br />
Philip Kitcher un der takes a fron tal crit i cism <strong>of</strong><br />
the widely as sumed idea that the sci ences are<br />
and/or should be in de pend ent <strong>of</strong> so cial and po -<br />
lit i cal pres sures. Ac cord ing to this view, sci en -<br />
tists should seek truth no mat ter where it leads.<br />
But ex plor ing a crit i cism that sci en tific knowl -<br />
edge pro duc tion some times ig nore the com -<br />
mon good, Kitcher ar gues in stead that sci en -<br />
tists must seek not just truth in gen eral but<br />
truths that mat ter, and truths that mat ter not<br />
just to sci en tists but also those truths that mat -<br />
ter to the larger so ci ety in which sci en tists live<br />
and work. This es say thus con sti tutes an im -<br />
por tant gloss on the larger ar gu ment <strong>of</strong> his<br />
book Sci ence, Truth, and De moc racy (2001)<br />
that seeks to de velop the no tion <strong>of</strong> “well-or -<br />
dered sci ence.”<br />
In “From Fron tier to Ter ror ism: To ward an<br />
In ter dis ci plin ary As sess ment <strong>of</strong> Sci ence Ed u -<br />
ca tion Pol icy Mak ing” Juan Lucena places<br />
cur rent ar gu ments in sup port <strong>of</strong> in creased sci -<br />
ence fund ing as part <strong>of</strong> the de fense against ter -<br />
ror ism in their larger his tor i cal and so cial con -<br />
text. As his in ter dis ci plin ary anal y sis<br />
dem on strates, a rhe tor i cal strat egy that first be -<br />
came dom i nant af ter World War II was sim ply<br />
ad justed to con tinue a long-stand ing ap peal for<br />
in creas ing sci ence ed u ca tion for na tional ben -<br />
e fit. Lucena case study thus il lus trates again<br />
the ar gu ment <strong>of</strong> Frodeman et al., that to ig nore<br />
hu man i ties per spec tives is to fail to ap pre ci ate<br />
im por tant di men sions <strong>of</strong> sci ence pol icy.<br />
Alison Shaw and John Rob in son’s “Rel e -<br />
vant but not Pre scrip tive? Sci ence Pol icy Mod -<br />
els in the IPCC” <strong>of</strong> fers a case study in or der to<br />
de scribe a new type <strong>of</strong> re la tion be tween sci -<br />
ence and pol icy as it has emerged in con nec -<br />
tion the In ter gov ern men tal Panel on Cli mate<br />
Change (IPCC), the larg est ex am ple <strong>of</strong> “man -<br />
dated sci ence” ever un der taken. Pre vi ous stud -<br />
ies <strong>of</strong> the IPCC have em pha sized is sues re lated<br />
to the sci en tific cred i bil ity <strong>of</strong> its find ings; the<br />
fo cus here is on the cred i bil ity <strong>of</strong> the pro cess<br />
and pro to cols em ployed to as sess “pol icy rel e -<br />
vant but not pol icy pre scrip tive sci en tific in -<br />
for ma tion.” As a back ground for this case<br />
study as sess ment, an ap pen dix pro vides an ex -<br />
tended de scrip tion <strong>of</strong> the IPCC it self. But the<br />
more philo soph i cal ar gu ment is that the ne go -<br />
ti a tion <strong>of</strong> mean ing that takes place within the<br />
IPCC rep re sents a cred i ble and use ful way to<br />
bridge the sci ence/pol icy di vide and <strong>of</strong> fers in -<br />
sights into the fu ture role <strong>of</strong> sci ence in so ci ety.<br />
Dan iel Sarewitz, Guillermo Foladori,<br />
Noela Invernizza, and Michele S. Garfinkel, in<br />
“Sci ence Pol icy in Its So cial Con text,” de velop<br />
three case stud ies to sup port crit i cism <strong>of</strong> three<br />
com mon in stru men tal jus ti fi ca tions <strong>of</strong> sci en -<br />
tific re search: that it is nec es sary to cre ate new<br />
wealth, to solve par tic u lar so ci etal prob lems,<br />
and/or to pro vide the in for ma tion nec es sary<br />
for ef fec tive de ci sion mak ing. In each case<br />
there ex ist sig nif i cant dis par i ties be tween the -<br />
o ret i cal jus ti fi ca tion and prac ti cal re sults that<br />
arise be cause the rel e vant sci ence pol icy de ci -<br />
sions have been made with out ad e quate con -<br />
sid er ation <strong>of</strong> the broader so cial con text. At -<br />
tend ing to the broader con text will im prove the<br />
ca pac ity <strong>of</strong> sci ence pol icy to achieve de sired<br />
so cial out comes, re duce the po ten tial for neg a -<br />
tive out comes, or at least cre ate more re al is tic<br />
ex pec ta tions for what sci ence can ac tu ally<br />
con trib ute to society.<br />
Kristin Shrader-Frechette writes, in “Mod -<br />
els <strong>of</strong> Pan ther Bi ol ogy and Radibiology: Phi -<br />
los o phy <strong>of</strong> Sci ence as Sci en tific Cit i zen ship,”<br />
with a white heat <strong>of</strong> moral in dig na tion about<br />
the meth od olog i cal short com ings in two cases<br />
<strong>of</strong> sci ence for pol icy. The at tempt to use sci -<br />
ence to down play dan gers <strong>of</strong> eco nomic de vel -<br />
op ment to the Florida pan ther and <strong>of</strong> ra dio log i -<br />
cal ex po sure to hu man health are not just<br />
eth i cally in de fen si ble; they are also bad sci -<br />
ence. If sci ence is to be used to in form pol icy it<br />
first has to be good sci ence, not just a rhe tor i cal<br />
ap peal to sci ence to jus tify spe cial in ter ests. In<br />
this es say Shrader-Frechette pro poses a new<br />
ideal for the pro fes sional sci en tist, that <strong>of</strong> sci -<br />
en tific cit i zen ship, and a jus ti fi ca tion for her<br />
own ex ten sive prac tice <strong>of</strong> crit i ciz ing sci ence<br />
for pol icy work that is os ten si bly sci ence but is<br />
in truth aimed to but tress pol icy de ci sions that<br />
are them selves de fec tive.<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
12
“Sci ence Pol icy for In dia: A Memo to the<br />
In dian Coun cil <strong>of</strong> Sci en tific and In dus trial Re -<br />
search” is adapted from a real-world white pa -<br />
per by Uday T. Turaga and Rama Mohana<br />
Turaga. In dia is cur rently re as sess ing its na -<br />
tional sci ence pol icy, and as part <strong>of</strong> this pro cess<br />
these two early ca reer sci en tists were asked to<br />
con trib ute their views to a na tional com mis -<br />
sion. While grant ing the value <strong>of</strong> sci ence they<br />
ar gue, first, that the In dian gov ern ment should<br />
be more crit i cal in ap ply ing its own tra di tional<br />
cri te ria for as sess ing sci ence fund ing and, sec -<br />
ond, de velop new met rics for as sess ing such<br />
fund ing. Se ri ous con sid er ation should be<br />
given to de vel op ing new cri te ria for as sess ing<br />
pol i cies for sci ence re lated to the abil ity <strong>of</strong> sci -<br />
ence to as sist weaker mem bers <strong>of</strong> so ci ety, in -<br />
crease sci en tific lit er acy, and pro mote na tional<br />
in te gra tion.<br />
Ambrosio Velasco Gómez’s “To ward a Po -<br />
lit i cal Phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> Sci ence” pro vides a fit -<br />
ting con clu sion to this col lec tion by re turn ing<br />
to the twen ti eth cen tury roots <strong>of</strong> stan dard ap -<br />
proaches to the phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence, and<br />
then de ploys the re sources <strong>of</strong> an a lytic phi los o -<br />
phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence to ar gue for the rel e vance <strong>of</strong><br />
moral and po lit i cal is sues even when fo cus ing<br />
on the epistemological or internalist as pects <strong>of</strong><br />
sci ence. His claim is that in so far as Otto<br />
Neurath, Pi erre Duhem, and oth ers have cor -<br />
rectly noted the un der-de ter mi na tion <strong>of</strong> the ory<br />
by em pir i cal ob ser va tions, there are good rea -<br />
sons for col lab o ra tion be tween sci en tists and<br />
cit i zens con cern ing the pro duc tion <strong>of</strong> sci en -<br />
tific knowl edge. Re in forc ing Kitcher, Velasco<br />
Gómez ar gues that even from within the<br />
frame work es tab lished by de bates re gard ing<br />
as sumed dis tinc tions be tween the con text <strong>of</strong><br />
dis cov ery vs. the con text <strong>of</strong> jus ti fi ca tion as<br />
well as externalist vs. internalist ap proaches to<br />
sci ence, there ex ists an im plicit po lit i cal phi -<br />
los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence. The at tempt to priv i lege<br />
epis te mol ogy over pol i tics in ev i ta bly has po -<br />
lit i cal ram i fi ca tions. The con cep tual anal y sis<br />
pre sented here thus com ple ments and con -<br />
firms the more his tor i cal-so cial anal y sis de vel -<br />
oped by Gross and Krohn, that ex per i ment<br />
takes place not only in the lab o ra tory but in the<br />
sci ence-so ci ety re la tion as well—and calls for<br />
philo soph i cal assessment.<br />
Three fea tures <strong>of</strong> these con tri bu tions de -<br />
serve high light ing. First, the twenty-three au -<br />
thors <strong>of</strong> these eleven pa pers rep re sent seven<br />
dif fer ent coun tries (Can ada, Co lom bia, Ger -<br />
many, In dia, Mex ico, Spain, and United<br />
States). Sec ond, more than half (six out <strong>of</strong><br />
eleven) <strong>of</strong> the pa pers are co-authored—in two<br />
cases by four au thors. Third, few <strong>of</strong> the au thors<br />
are pro fes sional phi los o phers; in deed they<br />
rep re sent more than a dozen dis ci plin ary back -<br />
grounds. None <strong>of</strong> these fea tures are ac ci den tal.<br />
Pur suit <strong>of</strong> the phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence pol icy is<br />
in her ently in ter na tional, col lab o ra tive, and in -<br />
ter dis ci plin ary. Also <strong>of</strong> note is the im por tance<br />
<strong>of</strong> case stud ies and the com ple men tary char ac -<br />
ter <strong>of</strong> his tor i cal and an a lytic ap proaches. It is<br />
our ar gu ment and the wit ness <strong>of</strong> this col lec tion<br />
that in all these re spects pos si bil i ties for the<br />
phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence pol icy <strong>of</strong> fer op por tu ni -<br />
ties to en rich phi los o phy—and thereby to con -<br />
trib ute to sci ence policy.<br />
REFERENCES<br />
Borchert, Don ald M., ed. (1996) En cy clo pe dia <strong>of</strong> Phi los -<br />
o phy Sup ple ment. New York: Macmillan.<br />
Brooks, Harvey. (1968) The Gov ern ment <strong>of</strong> Sci ence.<br />
Cam bridge, MA: MIT Press.<br />
Brun ner, Ron ald D. (1991) “The Pol icy Move ment as a<br />
Pol icy Prob lem,” Pol icy Sci ences24: 65–98.<br />
Brun ner, Ron ald D. (1996) “Pol icy Sci ences.” In Adam<br />
Kuper and Jessica Kuper, eds., The So cial Sci ence En cy -<br />
clo pe dia, 2nd edi tion. Lon don: Routledge, 622–25.<br />
Callahan, Dan iel. (2003) What Price Better Health? Haz -<br />
ards <strong>of</strong> the Re search Im per a tive. Berke ley, CA: Uni ver -<br />
sity <strong>of</strong> California Press.<br />
Chadwick, Ruth, ed. (1998) Encyclopedia <strong>of</strong> Applied<br />
Ethics. 4 vols. San Diego, CA: Ac a demic Press.<br />
Craig, Ed ward, ed. (1998) Routledge En cy clo pe dia <strong>of</strong><br />
Phi los o phy. 10 vols. New York: Routledge.<br />
Curd, Mar tin, and J. A. Cover, eds. (1998) Phi los o phy <strong>of</strong><br />
Sci ence: The Cen tral Is sues. New York: W. W. Norton.<br />
Dunn, Wil liam N. (1994) Pub lic Pol icy Anal y sis: An In -<br />
tro duc tion. 2nd ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-<br />
Hall.<br />
Ed wards, Paul, ed. (1968) En cy clo pe dia <strong>of</strong> Phi los o phy. 8<br />
vols. New York: Macmillan.<br />
Guston, Da vid. (2000) Be tween Pol i tics and Sci ence: As -<br />
sur ing the In teg rity and Pro duc tiv ity <strong>of</strong> Re search. New<br />
York: Cambridge University Press.<br />
Halal, Wil liam E., and Ken neth B. Tay lor, eds. (1999)<br />
Twenty-First Cen tury Eco nom ics: Per spec tives <strong>of</strong><br />
EDITORS' INTRODUCTION<br />
13
Socioeconomics for a Chang ing World. New York: St.<br />
Martin’s Press.<br />
Hickmann, Larry. (2001) Philo soph i cal Tools for Tech no -<br />
log i cal Cul ture: Putt ing Prag ma tism to Work.<br />
Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.<br />
Hook, Sid ney. (1980) <strong>Philosophy</strong> and Public <strong>Policy</strong>. Car -<br />
bondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press.<br />
Kitcher, Philip. (2001) Sci ence, Truth, and De moc racy.<br />
New York: Ox ford Uni ver sity Press.<br />
Klemke, E. D., Rob ert Hollinger, and A. Da vid Kline,<br />
eds. (1988) In tro duc tory Read ings in the Phi los o phy <strong>of</strong><br />
Sci ence. Buf falo, NY: Pro me theus Books.<br />
Lambright, Henry W. (1998) “Sci ence, Tech nol ogy, and<br />
Pub lic Pol icy.” In Jay M. Shafritz, ed., In ter na tional En -<br />
cy clo pe dia <strong>of</strong> Pub lic Pol icy Ad min is tra tion. Boul der,<br />
CO: Westview Press, vol. 4, 2032–36.<br />
Lasswell, Har old D. (1971) A Pre-View <strong>of</strong> Pol icy Sci -<br />
ences. New York: Elsevier.<br />
Lasswell, Har old D. (1968) “Pol icy Sci ences.” In Da vid<br />
L. Sills, ed., In ter na tional En cy clo pe dia <strong>of</strong> the So cial<br />
Sci ences. New York: Macmillan, vol. 12, 181–89.<br />
Lerner, Dan iel, and Har old D. Lasswell, eds. (1951) The<br />
Pol icy Sci ences: Re cent De vel op ments in Scope and<br />
Method. Stan ford, CA: Stan ford Uni ver sity Press.<br />
Nagel, Stu art S., ed. (1994) En cy clo pe dia <strong>of</strong> Pol icy Stud -<br />
ies, 2nd rev. and ex panded edi tion. New York: Mar cel<br />
Dekker. First ed., 1983.<br />
Proc tor, Rob ert. (1995) Can cer Wars: How Pol i tics<br />
Shapes What We Know and Don’t Know About Can cer.<br />
New York: Harper Col lins.<br />
Salmon, Merrilee H., John Earman, Clark Glymour,<br />
James G, Lennox, Pe ter Mchamer, J. E. McGuire, John<br />
D. Norton, Wes ley C. Salmon, and Ken neth F.<br />
Schaffner. (1992) In tro duc tion to the Phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> Sci -<br />
ence. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.<br />
Shrader-Fechette, Kristin S. (1984) Sci ence Pol icy, Eth -<br />
ics, and Eco nomic Meth od ol ogy: Some Prob lems <strong>of</strong><br />
Tech nol ogy As sess ment and En vi ron men tal-Im pact<br />
Analysis. Boston: D. Reidel.<br />
Stokey, Edith, and Rich ard Zeckhauser. (1978) A Primer<br />
for <strong>Policy</strong> Analysis. New York: W. W. Norton.<br />
Stuhr, John J. (1997) Ge ne a log i cal Prag ma tism: Phi los -<br />
o phy, Ex pe ri ence, and Com mu nity. Al bany, NY: State<br />
Uni ver sity <strong>of</strong> New York Press.<br />
Tribe, Law rence H. (1972) “Pol icy Sci ence: Anal y sis or<br />
Ideology?” <strong>Philosophy</strong> and Public Affairs 2 (Au tumn):<br />
66–110.<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
14
RE SEARCH, DE VEL OP MENT, AND IN NO VA TION IN<br />
EXTREMADURA<br />
A GNU/LINEX CASE STUDY<br />
Andoni Alonso, Luis Casas, Carlos Cas tro, and Fernando Solís<br />
For forty years in for ma tion and com mu ni -<br />
ca tion tech nol o gies (ICT) to gether with the<br />
internet have been re shap ing daily life. The<br />
crit i cisms <strong>of</strong> elec tronic luddites find it dif fi cult<br />
to in flu ence the fait acompli <strong>of</strong> ICT trans for -<br />
ma tions. In the con tem po rary world it is as -<br />
sumed that tech no log i cal com pe tence plus the<br />
free mar ket equals prog ress. There are sim ply<br />
no al ter na tives.<br />
The econ o mist Jo seph Schumpeter (1883–<br />
1950) dis tin guished in ven tion from in no va -<br />
tion. In ven tion is con sti tuted by tech no log i cal<br />
change alone, but in no va tion re quires the suc -<br />
cess ful mar ket ing <strong>of</strong> an in ven tion by adapt ing<br />
it to the mar ket place. Not all in ven tions en ter<br />
so ci ety sim ply on the ba sis <strong>of</strong> their util ity. But<br />
should mar ket forces alone di rect in no va tion,<br />
with gov ern ments hav ing no role ex cept to fa -<br />
vor or crit i cize al ready cir cu lat ing de vel op -<br />
ments? The re sponse to this ques tion must ac -<br />
knowl edge two ba sic points: First, any<br />
tech nol ogy rep re sents also a po lit i cal choice.<br />
Sec ond, ICT are cre at ing some thing be yond<br />
sim ple eco nomic ben e fit. They are pro duc ing<br />
a new cul ture or what some have called<br />
cyberculture.<br />
It is true that pol i tics and cul ture can not be<br />
com pletely de signed in ad vance. There are al -<br />
ways el e ments <strong>of</strong> un cer tainty. In ter ac tions <strong>of</strong><br />
in ten tion and con tin gency gen er ate dif fer ent<br />
ex pe ri ences. But can we ex pect di ver sity in the<br />
in for ma tion so ci ety as it arises solely from the<br />
mar ket? Should we not try to pro mote mod els<br />
ap pro pri ate to dif fer ent po lit i cal and cul tural<br />
re al i ties? Can we har mo nize dif fer ent mod els<br />
<strong>of</strong> in for ma tion so ci ety and have a shared arena<br />
for dif fer ent ex pe ri ences? If the an swers are<br />
“Yes,” then we should try to imag ine an ar ray<br />
<strong>of</strong> mod els in stead <strong>of</strong> one unique in for ma tion<br />
so ci ety.<br />
But in an in creas ingly glob al ized so ci ety it<br />
is dif fi cult to think in plu ral is tic terms. A sin -<br />
gle mar ket com bined with some one unique<br />
tech nol ogy does not pro mote the imag in ing <strong>of</strong><br />
di ver sity. Tele com mu ni ca tions, the internet,<br />
and a global mar ket im plies a ho mo ge neous or<br />
uni form realm. Nev er the less, some ob serv ers<br />
see such di ver sity emerg ing. Pekka Himannen<br />
(2001) and Manuel Castells an a lyze the Finn -<br />
ish model to re veal an al ter nate in for ma tion<br />
so ci ety in a dis ap pear ing wel fare state man -<br />
aged by pri vate cor po ra tions. The Basque<br />
model (Andoni Alonso and Izaki Arzoz, 2003)<br />
pro vides an other ex am ple—as does the au ton -<br />
o mous re gion <strong>of</strong> Extremadura in west ern<br />
Spain, which is one <strong>of</strong> the most in ter est ing ex -<br />
am ples <strong>of</strong> ICT in no va tion pro moted by po lit i -<br />
cal ini tia tive in Eu rope.<br />
Information Society: Open or Closed?<br />
Ac cord ing to most com men ta tors, ICTs are<br />
pri mar ily means for eco nomic de vel op ment.<br />
Nich o las Negroponte (1996) wrote some years<br />
ago about the new dig i tal par a digm that trans -<br />
forms at oms into bytes; com mod i ties should<br />
be trans lated into in for ma tion. Bill Gates<br />
(1999) con sid ers the internet the larg est shop -<br />
ping mall on Earth, one in which eco nom ics<br />
and com pe tence are per fected be cause all fric -<br />
tions van ish (me di a tors dis ap pear so prices<br />
reach an ab so lutely fair level). In deed, many<br />
econ o mists see United States eco nomic<br />
growth dur ing the 1990s as a re sult <strong>of</strong> im ple -<br />
ment ing the internet and other com puter tools<br />
able to boost pro duc tiv ity. This was a les son<br />
that Eu ro pean tech no crats took very se ri ously<br />
and the Fifth Eu ro pean Com mu nity Frame -<br />
work Programme for Re search, Tech no log i cal<br />
De vel op ment and Dem on stra tion (1998–<br />
2002) had as one <strong>of</strong> its goals pro mot ing a new<br />
Eu ro pean econ omy based in ICTs.<br />
ICTs may power the econ omy, but this is<br />
not all they do. In the apt de scrip tion <strong>of</strong> Chris<br />
Hables Gray (2002), the Internet has mil i tary<br />
past, an an ar chist pres ent, and a free-mar ket<br />
fu ture. Yet in so far as past is pro logue, there is<br />
no need to take the fu ture as de ter mined. The<br />
fact that ICTs have had dif fer ent cul tural con -<br />
fig u ra tions should en cour age us to think <strong>of</strong> al -<br />
ter na tives in what might be. Eco nom ics, pol i -<br />
tics, and cul ture are some times con flict ing<br />
forces seek ing to shape ICT, and there is no<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY SUPPLEMENT 2004<br />
15
ea son to pre sume that one re la tion ship be -<br />
tween these fac tors has pri or ity.<br />
Dif fer en tial weigh ing <strong>of</strong> these three fac tors<br />
yields dif fer ent mod els <strong>of</strong> ICT de vel op ment.<br />
In an econ omy based model, cul ture and pol i -<br />
tics are sub or di nate el e ments. Here the econ -<br />
omy tends to act as a Dar win ian en vi ron ment<br />
that pro motes cer tain kinds <strong>of</strong> sur vival and<br />
elim i nates the less eco nom i cally fit. So cial<br />
Dar win ism is res ur rected as eco nomic Dar -<br />
win ism be cause it ap pears to ex plain com mer -<br />
cial evo lu tion (see Evan I Schwartz, 1999). But<br />
there is no such thing as “pure econ omy.”<br />
Econ o mies are them selves struc tured by pol i -<br />
tics and cul ture. Ev ery eco nomic choice in -<br />
volves some com mit ment con cern ing what<br />
should or should not ex ist. In ad di tion, tech -<br />
nol o gies may some times act as “cul tural eras -<br />
ers,” un der min ing pre vi ous per cep tions and<br />
re shap ing pol i tics. The his tory <strong>of</strong> tech nol ogy<br />
dem on strates how the tele phone, trains, and<br />
au to mo biles all re shaped our no tions <strong>of</strong> space<br />
and time, and con se quently in flu enced be hav -<br />
ior. Re shap ing per cep tions can lead to changes<br />
in ac tors, in sti tu tions, and pro cesses.<br />
At the same time, ICTs do seem to fa vor<br />
cer tain types <strong>of</strong> change, namely, those as so ci -<br />
ated with glob al iza tion and the blur ring <strong>of</strong> na -<br />
tional bound aries that are chal lenges to na tion<br />
states. There may be po lit i cal con se quences <strong>of</strong><br />
ICTs. An a lysts such as Her bert Schiller give<br />
just such an ideo log i cal ac count <strong>of</strong> late in for -<br />
ma tion cap i tal ism (in Frank Web ster 2002).<br />
Cor po ra tions ini tially de vel oped com mu ni ca -<br />
tions in or der to ex pand their in ter na tional net -<br />
works, with the re sult that such net works are<br />
bi ased by con crete aims built into them. Like<br />
the mil i tary, cor po ra tions fa vored tech no log i -<br />
cal sys tems to ex change and share in for ma -<br />
tion, but in for ma tion lim ited to par tic u lar pur -<br />
poses. More over, me dia con tent is bi ased<br />
to ward west ern con sum er ism, the eco nomic<br />
prac tices <strong>of</strong> which are never crit i cized.<br />
Al though eco nom ics is the key el e ment <strong>of</strong><br />
the in for ma tion so ci ety, there may be un in -<br />
tended non-eco nomic con se quences to be con -<br />
sid ered. That is, there are more re sults than the<br />
in creased sales that were ini tially pro jected<br />
and, in deed, the broader im pli ca tions for the<br />
economization <strong>of</strong> cul ture and dem o cratic mar -<br />
ket ing in pol i tics were not just ac cepted but af -<br />
firmed.<br />
At the same time there are other con se -<br />
quences that are not as easy to af firm or ad -<br />
dress. One <strong>of</strong> these is the so-called “dig i tal di -<br />
vide.” As in other as pects <strong>of</strong> life, the cost-ben e -<br />
fit logic dis crim i nates be tween the dig i tal<br />
haves and the dig i tal have nots, un der stood<br />
now as those who have ac cess and those who<br />
do not. Only when those with out ac cess de -<br />
velop both an eco nomic in ter est and means to<br />
be come fu ture ICT con sum ers or pro duc ers<br />
can the sit u a tion be ad dressed.<br />
Clearly ICTs are em bed ded in par tic u lar<br />
po lit i cal and cul tural realms. What is good for<br />
one coun try is not uni ver sally good or use ful.<br />
The Eu ro pean Com mu nity has its own cul tural<br />
and po lit i cal fea tures, which are some times<br />
sub tly dif fer ent from those <strong>of</strong> the United<br />
States. Sup port for the wel fare state, for in -<br />
stance, is a ba sic as sump tion <strong>of</strong> Eu ro pean pol -<br />
icy. More over, Eu ro pean cul tural rich ness and<br />
di ver sity con trast sharply with a greater Amer -<br />
i can uni for mity. Al though it is dif fi cult to iden -<br />
tify any well-de fine ICT cul ture, there are cer -<br />
tainly dif fer ent kinds <strong>of</strong> vir tual and<br />
tech no log i cal com mu ni ties. But the two ba sic<br />
el e ments <strong>of</strong> so cial wel fare and cul tural di ver -<br />
sity must be ac knowl edged, since they are de -<br />
fin ing dif fer ences <strong>of</strong> the two larger cul tures<br />
within which ICTs ex ist.<br />
These two fea tures should work as ba sic pil -<br />
lars for any Eu ro pean ICT pol icy. A de fined<br />
cul tural iden tity, able to adapt tech no log i cal<br />
changes and in no va tions, should be strong<br />
enough to gen er ate its own model for these<br />
tech no log i cal change. To this ex tent pol icy<br />
should fa vor some trends and avoid oth ers in<br />
the pro cess <strong>of</strong> glob al iza tion. But such po lit i cal<br />
ac tiv i ties must them selves rely al ways on a<br />
pre vi ous cul tural frame work. Civil so ci ety<br />
also plays a cru cial al though un planned role in<br />
de fin ing any model.<br />
Open Source, Open Com mu ni ties<br />
The 1990s wit nessed a grow ing philo soph i -<br />
cal in ter est in the idea <strong>of</strong> com mu nity. As a po -<br />
lit i cal phi los o phy communitarianism at tempts<br />
to re cover val ues erased by tech no log i cal de -<br />
vel op ment and the global mar ket. The gen er al -<br />
ized hun ger for com mu nity arises pre cisely<br />
be cause glob al iza tion has re moved par tic u lar<br />
pow ers from states and in di vid u als. In a world<br />
ruled by trans-na tional cor po ra tions and su -<br />
pra-gov ern ment or ga ni za tions such as the Eu -<br />
ro pean Un ion cit i zens find it dif fi cult to know<br />
where po lit i cal power is lo cated and how to<br />
deal with it.<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
16
Thus a coun ter move ment arises, and ef forts<br />
are made to rec on cile the dif fer ent fac tors <strong>of</strong><br />
mar ket forces, state, and com mu nity. So cial<br />
an a lysts re fer to a three-di men sional state in<br />
which where gov ern ment, mar ket, and com -<br />
mu nity col lab o rate across their dif fer ent<br />
realms. Only com mu nity can gen er ate value<br />
codes con vinc ing enough for its mem bers: sol -<br />
i dar ity, friend ship, and re spon si bil ity. Mar kets<br />
most ef fi ciently pro vide many goods and ser -<br />
vices. Gov ern ments are the source <strong>of</strong> laws and<br />
their en force ment. When gov ern ments try to<br />
cre ate sol i dar ity, sol i dar ity be comes cold and<br />
ar ti fi cial. For mar kets to <strong>of</strong> fer friend ship for<br />
sale is even more ab surd. But what gov ern -<br />
ments can do, how ever, is es tab lish oc ca sions<br />
for com mu ni tarian ac tion, and <strong>of</strong> fer ap pro pri -<br />
ate means—both eco nomic and tech no log i cal.<br />
The cre ation <strong>of</strong> Linex may serve as a case in<br />
point.<br />
Al though some crit ics com mu ni ties ar gue<br />
that com mu nity is dis ap pear ing, per haps they<br />
just do not know where to look. Cer tainly<br />
within the in for ma tion so ci ety, the sol i dar ity<br />
<strong>of</strong> what Pekka Himannen in The Hacker Ethic<br />
(1999) calls “hacktivism” is a good can di date<br />
for de fin ing a new kind <strong>of</strong> com mu nity. In deed,<br />
in his ep i log to Pekka’s book, Manuel Castells<br />
also points to ward the eco nomic sig nif i cance<br />
to the in for ma tion so ci ety <strong>of</strong> the nexus <strong>of</strong> val -<br />
ues shared by hack ers. And the no tion <strong>of</strong> free<br />
s<strong>of</strong>t ware con sti tutes an at tempt to instantiate<br />
such val ues in tech nol ogy.<br />
The core val ues in this new com mu nity are,<br />
ac cord ing to Rich ard Stallmann, that “Com -<br />
puter us ers should be free to mod ify pro grams<br />
to fit their needs, and free to share s<strong>of</strong>t ware, be -<br />
cause help ing other peo ple is the ba sis <strong>of</strong> so ci -<br />
ety” (Stallman, 1999, 54). The goal is the pres -<br />
er va tion <strong>of</strong> a kind <strong>of</strong> sci en tific and<br />
tech no log i cal free dom in the midst <strong>of</strong> hard -<br />
ware and s<strong>of</strong>t ware that is in creas ingly de -<br />
signed to re strict free dom <strong>of</strong> use, mod i fi ca tion,<br />
and shar ing. Of the ba sic as sump tions be hind<br />
pro pri etary s<strong>of</strong>t ware—that s<strong>of</strong>t ware com pa -<br />
nies have a nat u ral right to own s<strong>of</strong>t ware, that<br />
s<strong>of</strong>t ware is only a means, and that s<strong>of</strong>t ware<br />
would not ex ist with out pri vate own er ship—<br />
the free s<strong>of</strong>t ware move ment re jects all three.<br />
On the ba sis <strong>of</strong> such a re jec tion free s<strong>of</strong>t ware<br />
pro gram mers use, im prove, and share—in the<br />
pro cess, in ev i ta bly not just ad vance the s<strong>of</strong>t -<br />
ware tech nol ogy but es tab lish a com mu nity <strong>of</strong><br />
us ers, improvers, and shar ers.<br />
One <strong>of</strong> the clear est anal y ses <strong>of</strong> the spe cial<br />
char ac ter <strong>of</strong> s<strong>of</strong>t ware is Eric Ray mond’s The<br />
Ca the dral and the Ba zaar (1999). For Ray -<br />
mond, pro pri etary s<strong>of</strong>t ware is like a ca the dral,<br />
with its ar tic u lated hi er ar chy in side and out;<br />
free s<strong>of</strong>t ware is more like a ba zaar, where dem -<br />
o cratic trad ing and bar gain ing takes place.<br />
Lots <strong>of</strong> peo ple have no real need for large-scale<br />
s<strong>of</strong>t ware de signs such as the in te grated ca the -<br />
dral <strong>of</strong> a Win dows Op er at ing Sys tem; all they<br />
re ally want is a bas ket <strong>of</strong> s<strong>of</strong>t ware ca pa bil i ties<br />
that can be cob bled to gether by pick ing up one<br />
thing from this shop and other from that in the<br />
ba zaar <strong>of</strong> pos si bil i ties. The cre ation <strong>of</strong> such a<br />
ba zaar be gan in the 1980s when Stallman, via<br />
the Internet, sum moned pro gram mers from<br />
around the world to set up their stalls in just<br />
such a high-tech ba zaar. Al though high-tech<br />
s<strong>of</strong>t ware ar ti sans set up the ba zaar and at first<br />
traded only with each other, in prin ci ple and<br />
even tu ally the ba zaar was open to any one, and<br />
its in ter ac tions be gan to give life to a new kind<br />
<strong>of</strong> com mu nity—or, more ac cu rately, to pre -<br />
serve and en large a com mu nity <strong>of</strong> hack ers that<br />
had been on the verge <strong>of</strong> dy ing.<br />
The GNU/Linux Con text<br />
Al though the very idea <strong>of</strong> free s<strong>of</strong>t ware<br />
made its ini tial ap pear ance in the in di vid u al ist,<br />
mar ket-dom i nated United States, one might<br />
rea son ably ar gue that its nat u ral home is in fact<br />
the cul ture <strong>of</strong> Eu rope with its em pha sis on re -<br />
gional sol i dar i ties and iden ti ties. Cer tainly it<br />
was in Eu rope dur ing the late 1990s that Linux<br />
and Debian (two free or open source op er at ing<br />
sys tems) made the jump from be ing some thing<br />
for nerds or techies to be come op tions for in de -<br />
pend ently ex ist ing com mu ni ties and sup -<br />
ported by gov ern men tal in sti tu tions.<br />
The free and open source his tory may be<br />
sum ma rized in terms <strong>of</strong> four piv otal events.<br />
The first was Stallman’s 1983 “GNU Man i -<br />
festo” and his sub se quent work. Stallman had<br />
be come con vinced <strong>of</strong> the vir tues <strong>of</strong> the hacker<br />
cul ture <strong>of</strong> shared skills and en ergy that had<br />
grown up at Stan ford, Berke ley, Car ne gie<br />
Mellon, MIT, and other re search cen ters dur -<br />
ing the 1950s and 1960s. But as a pro gram mer<br />
at the MIT Com puter Lab he found him self<br />
forced to wit ness on slaughts against this cul -<br />
ture as s<strong>of</strong>t ware was in creas ingly pri vat ized. In<br />
re sponse, Stallman called for cre ation <strong>of</strong> a new<br />
op er at ing sys tem he called GNU (stand ing for<br />
A GNU/LINEX CASE STUDY<br />
17
“Gnu’s Not Unix”) and a de fense <strong>of</strong> the pub lic<br />
shar ing <strong>of</strong> s<strong>of</strong>t ware and source code.<br />
The next year Stallman re signed from MIT<br />
in or der to as sure that the uni ver sity had no<br />
claim on his cre ation. In 1985 he es tab lished<br />
the Free S<strong>of</strong>t ware Foun da tion to sup port his<br />
and oth ers’ work. And in 1989 he cre ated the<br />
GNU Gen eral Pub lic Li cense (GPL) that de -<br />
fines “copyleft” protections. This pro to col al -<br />
lows any one to freely use, mod ify, and dis trib -<br />
ute copyleft s<strong>of</strong>t ware, but pro hib its them from<br />
copy right ing it or any mod i fi ca tions they<br />
might make to it. The GPL keeps GNU in the<br />
pub lic do main.<br />
In 1990 Stallman was awarded a Mac Ar thur<br />
Fel low ship and be gan work on a GNU ker nel<br />
called HURD. The next year, still some way to<br />
go on this task, a sec ond de fin ing event took<br />
place: Linus Torvalds, a twenty-two year old<br />
grad u ate stu dent at the Uni ver sity <strong>of</strong> Hel sinki,<br />
<strong>of</strong> fered his own in com plete ker nel called<br />
Linux (for Linus+ Unix).<br />
It is cru cial to rec og nize that free s<strong>of</strong>t ware is<br />
not, in all senses, free. A lot <strong>of</strong> work goes into<br />
cre at ing the s<strong>of</strong>t ware, and there are sig nif i cant<br />
costs (as with pro pri etary s<strong>of</strong>t ware) in its ad ap -<br />
ta tion, in stal la tion, and main te nance. As<br />
Stallman suc cinctly puts it, with re gard to free<br />
s<strong>of</strong>t ware: “Think free speech, not free beer.”<br />
What is free is the abil ity to ac cess the source<br />
code <strong>of</strong> an op er at ing sys tem or ap pli ca tions<br />
pack age, thus be ing able to know what the<br />
s<strong>of</strong>t ware re ally says; with the source code,<br />
peo ple are also free to adapt com put ers to<br />
speak in their own voice.<br />
Al though free s<strong>of</strong>t ware en ables us ers to be -<br />
come in de pend ent <strong>of</strong> pro pri etary sup pli ers,<br />
there is still a need for tech ni cians to in stall,<br />
adapt, and ser vice free s<strong>of</strong>t ware. Rec og niz ing<br />
this, in 1994 Marc Ew ing de cided to ex plore<br />
the pos si bil i ties for a new model <strong>of</strong> busi ness,<br />
sell ing free s<strong>of</strong>t ware, and cre ated the com pany<br />
called Red Hat GNU/Linux to do so. This was<br />
the third de fin ing event in the free s<strong>of</strong>t ware<br />
movement.<br />
Then year 1998 wit nessed a fourth im por -<br />
tant event. As back ground, Netscape an -<br />
nounced that it would open the source code for<br />
Netscape Nav i ga tor 5.0. But the cen tral mo -<br />
ment was when Eric Ray mond, Bruce Perens,<br />
Tim O’Reilly, and a few oth ers, coined a new<br />
term: open source s<strong>of</strong>t ware. Ar gu ing both that<br />
there needed to be some method for cer ti fy ing<br />
“free s<strong>of</strong>t ware” and that the ex ist ing term was<br />
con fus ing is sues, they es tab lished the Open<br />
Source Ini tia tive. Shortly af ter ward Linus<br />
Torvalds and Linux ap peared on the cover <strong>of</strong><br />
Forbes mag a zine (Au gust 10, 1998).<br />
There are tech ni cal dis tinc tions be tween<br />
“free” and “open source” s<strong>of</strong>t ware that have<br />
led Stallman to de cline to aban don his own<br />
term and work. But in prac tice the two move -<br />
ments com ple ment and col lab o rate with each<br />
other, mak ing it pos si ble for those not di rectly<br />
in volved to re fer to a com pound “free and open<br />
source s<strong>of</strong>t ware move ment.” “Open source<br />
s<strong>of</strong>t ware” (OSS) has also be come the de facto<br />
term <strong>of</strong> choice.<br />
From Linux to Linex<br />
So far, ex cept for Torvalds’ con tri bu tion,<br />
most <strong>of</strong> the OSS ac tion had taken place in the<br />
United States. Then in early 2002 some thing<br />
new hap pened in an un ex pected place: the au -<br />
ton o mous re gion <strong>of</strong> Extremadura in west ern<br />
Spain. Extremadura, with a pop u la tion <strong>of</strong> 1.1<br />
mil lion (out <strong>of</strong> 42.6 mil lion for Spain as a<br />
whole) is one <strong>of</strong> the poor est re gions <strong>of</strong> the<br />
coun try. At the be gin ning <strong>of</strong> the new cen tury<br />
the re gion was faced with the ne ces sity <strong>of</strong> in -<br />
stall ing s<strong>of</strong>t ware pro grams for mul ti ple ad -<br />
min is tra tive func tions. To avoid pay ing li cens -<br />
ing fees that could (through re quired<br />
up grades) go on for ever, Luis Millan Vazquez<br />
de Miguel, a chem ist and Min is ter <strong>of</strong> Ed u ca -<br />
tion, Sci ence, and Tech nol ogy for the re gion,<br />
con vinced the gov ern ment to take the risk <strong>of</strong><br />
go ing open source. Go ing fur ther, as so ci ates<br />
such as Carlos Cas tro, Luis Casas, and Jesús<br />
Rubio de cided to use the pro cess <strong>of</strong> ad ap ta tion<br />
as a re gional de vel op ment strat egy and cre ated<br />
Linex (Linux+Extremadura) as a new OSS op -<br />
er at ing sys tem.<br />
Linex is an easy to in stall, uni fied pack age<br />
that, like Micros<strong>of</strong>t Win dows, in cludes a num -<br />
ber <strong>of</strong> ap pli ca tions pack ages. More over, not<br />
only in the source code avail able for any one<br />
who re quests it, but the desk top has a plea sur -<br />
ably lo cal char ac ter. For in stance, for word<br />
pro cess ing, us ers click on “Brocense,” an im -<br />
age <strong>of</strong> the six teenth cen tury Extremaduran<br />
writer Fran cisco Sánchez de las Brozas.<br />
Extremadura then <strong>of</strong> fered to dis trib ute Linex<br />
free to any one who wanted to use it (), and in<br />
No vem ber 2002 hosted a na tional con fer ence<br />
to pub li cize its achieve ment. The re sults were<br />
also re ported in a front page story in the Wash -<br />
ing ton Post, No vem ber 3, 2002: “Eu rope’s<br />
Micros<strong>of</strong>t Al ter na tive.”<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
18
But none <strong>of</strong> this came easy. The lo cal gov -<br />
ern ment (Junta de Extremadura) was led by a<br />
so cial ist party that was strug gling to fig ure out<br />
new ways to pro mote eco nomic growth. As so -<br />
cial ists they had a dif fi cult task to bal ance so -<br />
cial wel fare and eco nomic de vel op ment pri or i -<br />
ties. An em pha sis on so cial wel fare, be cause <strong>of</strong><br />
the taxes on which it de pends, can some times<br />
be a bar rier to turbo-cap i tal ist growth; but<br />
with out eco nomic growth so cial wel fare may<br />
in the long run it self be un der mined. Faced<br />
with this di lemma, the so cial ists in<br />
Extremadura had a vi sion <strong>of</strong> ICT de vel op ment<br />
as a pos si ble way to bridge the di vide.<br />
One fac tor con trib ut ing to this vi sion was<br />
the re cent his tory <strong>of</strong> Spain. The tran si tion from<br />
dic ta tor ship into de moc racy fol low ing the<br />
death <strong>of</strong> Franco (1975) and the sub se quent en -<br />
try <strong>of</strong> Spain into the Eu ro pean Com mu nity<br />
(over the pe riod 1986–1993) pro vided a back -<br />
ground that en cour aged new think ing. And<br />
start ing from scratch, the so cial ists had to for -<br />
mu late an ap pro pri ate sci ence and tech nol ogy<br />
pol icy. Es pe cially af ter trade bar ri ers came<br />
down and Spain was forced to be come com -<br />
pet i tive with the rest <strong>of</strong> Eu rope, the lo cal gov -<br />
ern ment in Extremadura worked ac tively to<br />
de velop an am bi tious pro gram in re search and<br />
de vel op ment (R&D) that would co or di nate<br />
ini tia tives by uni ver sity re search ers, pri vate<br />
cor po ra tions, and other groups with the sup -<br />
port <strong>of</strong> pub lic funds. Over the pe riod from<br />
1998 to 2000 this plan aimed to raise R&D<br />
spend ing from 0.28 % <strong>of</strong> the GDP to 0.54%.<br />
Al though small by U.S. com par i sons (where<br />
R&D in vest ment is closer to 3% <strong>of</strong> GDP), the<br />
dou bling in Extremadura was sig nif i cant and<br />
ac tu ally led for the first time, for ex am ple, to<br />
the ap proval <strong>of</strong> nine pat ents ap proved that<br />
were the di rect re sult <strong>of</strong> pub lic fund ing.<br />
An other in flu ence con trib ut ing to the new<br />
sci ence and tech nol ogy pol icy in Extremadura<br />
was cul tural in ter est in the idea <strong>of</strong> an in for ma -<br />
tion so ci ety. Yet in ter est in in for ma tion so ci ety<br />
de vel op ment be gan at a time when con nec tiv -<br />
ity in Spain was about 7% (com pared with<br />
10% in Eu rope, 30% in the United States), so<br />
that es pe cially for a pri mar ily ag ri cul tural re -<br />
gion like Extremadura, in vest ment in ICTs<br />
was a real gam ble. Such un cer tain ties nev er -<br />
the less had their ad van tages, which made pos -<br />
si ble more free and imag i na tive pol icy de vel -<br />
op ments than those tak ing place else where.<br />
It was in this con text that a new Min is try <strong>of</strong><br />
Ed u ca tion, Sci ence, and Tech nol ogy (or<br />
Consejería de Educación, Ciencia y<br />
Tecnología), the first such port fo lio <strong>of</strong> re spon -<br />
si bil i ties in a Span ish re gional gov ern ment,<br />
was charged with “giv ing all cit i zens com puter<br />
ac cess to the in fra struc ture and ser vices <strong>of</strong> -<br />
fered by the in for ma tional so ci ety and pro mot -<br />
ing tech no log i cal lit er acy for peo ple in both<br />
cit ies and vil lages.” The min is try saw three<br />
main ar eas for ac tiv ity: in fra struc ture, tech no -<br />
log i cal lit er acy, and busi ness op por tu ni ties. Its<br />
main aim was to for mu late plans in each area,<br />
and the Linex ini tia tive had the ad van tage <strong>of</strong><br />
cross ing bound aries. It prom ised to de velop<br />
tech no log i cal lit er acy, pro vide ICT s<strong>of</strong>t ware<br />
in fra struc ture, and stim u late pri vate sec tor<br />
busi ness op por tu ni ties.<br />
Two sec ond ary school teach ers—An to nio<br />
Ullán (math e mat ics) and José Luis Redrejo<br />
(elec tron ics)—cre ated Linex for use on a new<br />
Extremadura intranet. The two pro gram mers<br />
tried to sim plify GNU/Linux to make it better<br />
adapted for ed u ca tional uses. The sys tem did<br />
not ex clude other pro pri etary s<strong>of</strong>t ware but<br />
gave us ers the ap pli ca tions they were most<br />
likely to need: word pro cess ing, email man ag -<br />
ing, mul ti me dia pro grams, graphic con vert ers,<br />
and so on. Right from the be gin ning this ap -<br />
proach saved the re gional gov ern ment ap prox -<br />
i mately eigh teen mil lion dol lars in li cens ing<br />
fees, money that could be used to meet so cial<br />
needs. Be tween 1999 and 2001 the Linex op er -<br />
at ing sys tem was cre ated to gether with web<br />
pages that pro vided all kinds <strong>of</strong> pro gram sup -<br />
port. Free s<strong>of</strong>t ware also trans lated into more<br />
pur chases in hard ware for high schools<br />
(64,000 com put ers). Fi nally, GNU/Linex rep -<br />
re sented an op por tu nity for busi ness de vel op -<br />
ment, since it cre ated a cadre <strong>of</strong> tech ni cally<br />
pro fi cient work ers in Extremadura.<br />
But as in ter est ing and im por tant as are such<br />
re sults, it is also cru cial to rec og nize the com -<br />
mu ni tarian el e ment <strong>of</strong> the GNU/Linex ef fort.<br />
This op er at ing sys tem not only rep re sents a<br />
good sci ence and tech nol ogy pol icy in vest -<br />
ment in the fi nan cial sense, its de vel op ment<br />
and use has cre ated a sense <strong>of</strong> com mu nity in at<br />
least two senses. First, it has cre ated a small<br />
group <strong>of</strong> com puter skilled pro fes sion als shar -<br />
ing much <strong>of</strong> the open source value sys tem.<br />
Sec ond, it has sup ported ever en larg ing groups<br />
<strong>of</strong> in ter ac tive cit i zens in Extremadura who<br />
take some pride in the achieve ments <strong>of</strong> a Span -<br />
ish re gion oth er wise <strong>of</strong> ten de scribed as un de -<br />
vel oped.<br />
A GNU/LINEX CASE STUDY<br />
19
Fi nally, Linex is also an im por tant link in<br />
the ed u ca tion sys tem. And its us ers show some<br />
ev i dence <strong>of</strong> tak ing an ac tive at ti tude and crit i -<br />
cal to ward their com put ers rather than sim ply<br />
play ing the role <strong>of</strong> pas sive con sum ers <strong>of</strong> a for -<br />
eign cor po rate prod uct. The gam ble on the fu -<br />
ture may be pay ing <strong>of</strong>f in more ways that one.<br />
Conclusion: Priming the Pump<br />
What the gov ern ment <strong>of</strong> Extremadura did<br />
can be summed up in a phrase used by the ad -<br />
min is tra tion <strong>of</strong> U.S. Pres i dent Frank lin Delano<br />
Roo se velt to de scribe its own re sponses to the<br />
eco nomic cri sis <strong>of</strong> 1929: prim ing the pump.<br />
The Junta had pre vi ously pro moted de vel op -<br />
ment <strong>of</strong> a com mu ni ca tion in fra struc ture (the<br />
intranet in Extremadura), and with the de vel -<br />
op ment <strong>of</strong> Linex it con fronted an other big util -<br />
ity is sue, sys tem s<strong>of</strong>t ware. Both steps were<br />
sim i lar. Al though the writ ing <strong>of</strong> s<strong>of</strong>t ware is not<br />
some thing that just any one can do, Linex does<br />
cre ate the ba sis for a s<strong>of</strong>t ware com mu nity in<br />
Extremadura. Draw ing on the work <strong>of</strong> the preex<br />
ist ing free s<strong>of</strong>t ware move ment, the Junta<br />
cre ated a new sys tem that both saves costs and<br />
pro motes a lo cal com mu ni tarian de vel op ment<br />
(im ple ment ing the sys tem in its own com put -<br />
ers).<br />
From a com mu nity de vel op ment per spec -<br />
tive, the sec ond point is more im por tant, since<br />
it con sti tutes <strong>of</strong> fi cial sup port against big s<strong>of</strong>t -<br />
ware com pa nies. Now us ers can de velop their<br />
own ways <strong>of</strong> internet par tic i pa tion and ICT<br />
use. Per haps this re sult was un in tended and the<br />
suc cess un ex pected. Yet bet ting on com mu ni -<br />
tarian ef forts and pro vid ing com puter tools for<br />
cit i zen use was nev er the less part <strong>of</strong> the orig i nal<br />
in spi ra tion among many <strong>of</strong> those who worked<br />
on Linex. Prim ing the pump can be more than<br />
eco nomic—it can be po lit i cal and cul tural as<br />
well.<br />
REFERENCES<br />
Alonso, Andoni, and IZaki Arzoz. (2003) Basque<br />
Cyberculture: From Dig i tal Euskadi to<br />
CyberEuskalerria. Reno: Uni ver sity <strong>of</strong> Ne vada Press.<br />
Castells, Manuel. (2001) La Galaxia Internet.<br />
Baqrcelona: Plaza y Janés.<br />
Gates, Bill. (1999) Busi ness @ the Speed <strong>of</strong> Thought: Us -<br />
ing a Dig i tal Ner vous Sys tem. With Col lins Hem ing -<br />
way. New York: Warner Books.<br />
Gray, Chris Hables. (2002) Cy borg Cit i zens: Pol i tics in<br />
the Posthuman Age. New York: Routledge.<br />
Himanen, Pekka. (2001) The Hacker Ethic: A Rad i cal<br />
Ap proach to the Phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> Busi ness. New York:<br />
Random House.<br />
Negroponte, Nicholas. (1996) Being Digital. Cam bridge,<br />
MA: MIT Press.<br />
Ray mond, Eric S. (1999) The Ca the dral and the Ba zaar:<br />
Mus ings on Linux and Open Source by an Ac ci den tal<br />
Rev o lu tion ary. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly.<br />
Schwartz, Evan I. (1999) Digital Darwinism. New York:<br />
Random House.<br />
Stallman, Rich ard. (1999) “The GNU Op er at ing Sys tem<br />
and the Free S<strong>of</strong>t ware Move ment,” in Chris DiBona,<br />
Sam Ockman, and Mark Stone, eds., Open Sources:<br />
Voices from the Open Source Rev o lu tion (Sebastopol,<br />
CA: O’Reilly), pp. 53-XX<br />
Web ster, Frank. (2002) The o ries <strong>of</strong> the In for ma tion So ci -<br />
ety. Lon don: Routledge and Kegan Paul.<br />
WEBOGRAPHY<br />
www.linex.org<br />
www.extremadurasi.org<br />
www.juntaex.es/consejerias/ect/dgsi<br />
www.fundecyt.es<br />
www.hispalinux.es<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
20
SCI ENCE, DE MOC RACY, AND STEM CELLS<br />
Eric Co hen<br />
It is rarely a com pli ment to be ac cused <strong>of</strong><br />
“po lit i ciz ing sci ence.” But the term it self has at<br />
least two mean ings—one neg a tive and one<br />
pos i tive: The first mean ing in volves dis tort ing<br />
sci en tific facts or sci en tific ev i dence to pro -<br />
mote one’s own ide ol ogy or agenda. The temp -<br />
ta tion to en gage in such a prac tice ex ists (and<br />
some times pre vails) on all sides <strong>of</strong> the po lit i cal<br />
spec trum: en vi ron men tal ac tiv ists tempted to<br />
ex ag ger ate the threat <strong>of</strong> global warm ing; in -<br />
dus try ad vo cates tempted to down play the eco -<br />
log i cal ef fects <strong>of</strong> oil ex plo ra tion; pro-life ac -<br />
tiv ists tempted to over-hype the prom ise <strong>of</strong><br />
adult stem cells; em bryo re search ad vo cates<br />
tempted to prom ise cures for dreaded dis eases<br />
based only on pre lim i nary an i mal ex per i -<br />
ments. Such “politicization” is rightly con -<br />
demned by re spon si ble peo ple on all sides.<br />
The sec ond mean ing <strong>of</strong> “po lit i ciz ing sci -<br />
ence,” how ever, is not a prob lem but a ne ces -<br />
sity. Pol i tics, rightly un der stood, is the ac tiv ity<br />
<strong>of</strong> or der ing our life to gether, and in so far as sci -<br />
ence both af fects and de pends on civic life, it is<br />
rightly a po lit i cal is sue. In deed, all dem o cratic<br />
so ci et ies need to de bate the rel a tive im por -<br />
tance <strong>of</strong> dif fer ent sci en tific pro jects (e.g., cur -<br />
ing AIDS vs. go ing to Mars), the rel a tive risks<br />
and ben e fits <strong>of</strong> cer tain ar eas <strong>of</strong> sci en tific re -<br />
search (e.g., cre at ing ar ti fi cial vi ruses), or the<br />
eth i cal di lem mas <strong>of</strong> pro ceed ing or not pro -<br />
ceed ing with cer tain types <strong>of</strong> ex per i ments<br />
(e.g., em bry onic stem cells). Sci ence alone<br />
can not an swer the types <strong>of</strong> ques tions that sci -<br />
ence sets be fore us, and a self-gov ern ing peo -<br />
ple must gov ern the di rec tion <strong>of</strong> sci ence, es pe -<br />
cially (but not only) when cit i zens are pay ing<br />
the bills.<br />
The chal lenge, there fore, is to avoid po lit i -<br />
ciz ing sci en tific facts while en gag ing in po lit i -<br />
cal de bates about sci ence. This chal lenge is<br />
made even greater by the com plex i ties and un -<br />
cer tain ties that are in trin sic to most ar eas <strong>of</strong> ad -<br />
vanced sci ence. Af ter all, we do not know the<br />
sci en tific truth while we are look ing for it; the<br />
very need for “re search” sug gests the re al ity <strong>of</strong><br />
un cer tainty; and the his tory <strong>of</strong> sci ence is filled<br />
with ex am ples <strong>of</strong> sci en tific “com mon sense”<br />
be ing turned on its head. The sci en tific facts<br />
are some times hazy not be cause <strong>of</strong> will ful dis -<br />
tor tion but be cause <strong>of</strong> hon est dis agree ment.<br />
And so it is not only cit i zens and states man<br />
who ar gue about the role <strong>of</strong> sci ence in so ci ety,<br />
but the sci en tists them selves who ar gue about<br />
what is true, what will work, and what is most<br />
im por tant in their own sci en tific fields. These<br />
two de bates take place side by side, some times<br />
in form ing and some times de form ing one an -<br />
other.<br />
Since the late 1990s, the de bate over em bry -<br />
onic stem cell re search has been cen tral to this<br />
larger de bate about sci ence and Amer i can de -<br />
moc racy. The de bate has been very po lem i cal<br />
at times—with re search ad vo cates claim ing<br />
the man tle <strong>of</strong> Ga li leo in de mand ing more fed -<br />
eral fund ing and fewer reg u la tions, and re -<br />
search op po nents claim ing that em bryo re -<br />
search will lead Amer ica to ward a “brave new<br />
world” or “cul ture <strong>of</strong> death” (McDermott,<br />
2001; Connor, 2001). On bal ance, how ever,<br />
the stem cell de bate has been an im pres sive<br />
and im por tant one. It is rare that Amer ica dis -<br />
cusses such deep ques tions in such a se ri ous<br />
way—ques tions about hu man na ture, hu man<br />
or i gins, the as pi ra tions <strong>of</strong> med i cal re search,<br />
and the char ac ter <strong>of</strong> the good so ci ety. This is,<br />
in the deep est sense, what the stem cell de bate<br />
is all about. We are dis cuss ing the small est hu -<br />
man thing—the hu man em bryo—which sets<br />
be fore us the big gest hu man ques tions (Co hen,<br />
2003a). And by study ing the char ac ter <strong>of</strong> this<br />
par tic u lar de bate, one can dis cern many <strong>of</strong> the<br />
deeper di lem mas that lie at the cross roads be -<br />
tween mod ern sci ence and mod ern de moc racy.<br />
I will dis cuss three things: First, I’ll try to<br />
ex plain briefly how em bry onic stem cells be -<br />
came an is sue <strong>of</strong> great pub lic im por tance, and<br />
how it is burst into na tional con scious ness in<br />
2001. Sec ond, I’ll ex plore why this de bate is<br />
uniquely im por tant to the fu ture <strong>of</strong> Amer i can<br />
life and Amer i can pol i tics, and es pe cially to<br />
the mean ing <strong>of</strong> our own most cher ished ide als.<br />
And fi nally, I will try to give an over view <strong>of</strong> the<br />
de bate it self: what are the ar gu ments, who are<br />
the ac tors, what do they be lieve, and why do<br />
they be lieve it. In do ing so, I will at tempt to<br />
draw out the larger hu man themes—such as<br />
the na ture <strong>of</strong> rea son, the mean ing <strong>of</strong> equal ity,<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY SUPPLEMENT 2004<br />
21
and the di lem mas <strong>of</strong> prog ress—that lie na scent<br />
in the em bryo re search de bate.<br />
The Or i gins <strong>of</strong> the Stem Cell De bate<br />
The first ques tion is sim ply how did we get<br />
here. If one can re mem ber back to the 2000<br />
elec tion, one re calls that the stem cell ques tion<br />
was never even dis cussed. But then sud denly,<br />
in the first few months <strong>of</strong> the Bush pres i dency,<br />
stem cells be came the de fin ing po lit i cal is sue<br />
in the coun try, a front-page story ev ery day for<br />
many months, in clud ing the front-page <strong>of</strong> the<br />
ma jor news pa pers on Sep tem ber 11 (Stolberg,<br />
2001).<br />
But the story <strong>of</strong> stem cells goes back much<br />
fur ther, and the story <strong>of</strong> hu man em bry onic<br />
stem cells be gins in ear nest in the 1960s and<br />
1970s, when Rob ert Ed wards be gan his quest<br />
to treat in fer til ity by con ceiv ing hu man em -<br />
bryos in the lab o ra tory. His goal in pro duc ing<br />
em bryos out side the body was to pro duce a hu -<br />
man child. But even then he re al ized that there<br />
would be other pos si bil i ties, sci en tific pos si -<br />
bil i ties, hav ing noth ing to do with fer til ity at<br />
all. This is how Ed wards put it in 1980:<br />
Will we be able to ex tract the stem cells <strong>of</strong> var i -<br />
ous or gans from the em bryo, the pre cious foun -<br />
da tion cells <strong>of</strong> all the body’s or gans and then use<br />
them ther a peu ti cally? Will it ever be pos si ble to<br />
use the cells to cor rect de fi cien cies in other hu -<br />
man be ings—to re place one de fi cient tis sue<br />
with an other that func tions nor mally? For in -<br />
stance, will we be able to use the blood-form ing<br />
cells <strong>of</strong> an em bryo to re-col o nize de fec tive<br />
blood-form ing tis sue in an adult or child? And<br />
will these no tions be met with pursed lips and<br />
frown ing faces? (Ed wards and Steptoe, 1980,<br />
186–87)<br />
When Rob ert Ed wards pro duced the first hu -<br />
man em bryo out side the hu man body, we en -<br />
tered a new era in eth ics, in sci ence, and in pol -<br />
i tics. For the first time, we be held our own<br />
or i gins di rectly; we saw what was never be fore<br />
seen with hu man eyes; we held what was never<br />
be fore held with hu man hands. Many cou ples<br />
who might never have had chil dren <strong>of</strong> their<br />
own were now able to do so through in vi tro<br />
fer til iza tion. But we also opened the door, for<br />
better or for worse, to uses <strong>of</strong> hu man em bryos<br />
that have noth ing to do with giv ing life to a<br />
new per son, but rather with sav ing or im prov -<br />
ing the life <strong>of</strong> an ex ist ing one.<br />
In the years that fol lowed, re search pro -<br />
ceeded on hu man em bryos and an i mal em bry -<br />
onic cells—cul mi nat ing in the an nounce ment,<br />
in 1998, <strong>of</strong> the iso la tion <strong>of</strong> the first hu man em -<br />
bry onic stem cells (Thomson et al., 1998).<br />
This was an other mo men tous event—sci en tif -<br />
i cally, eth i cally, and po lit i cally.<br />
Since 1996, there has been a ban on the fed -<br />
eral fund ing <strong>of</strong> re search in volv ing the de struc -<br />
tion <strong>of</strong> hu man em bryos (Pres i dent’s Coun cil<br />
on Bioethics, 2004, 25–28). Spe cif i cally, Con -<br />
gress (not the pres i dent, as is <strong>of</strong> ten be lieved in<br />
this case) passed a law en act ing such a fund ing<br />
ban, which it has re-en acted ev ery year since<br />
then. This law does not ban all em bryo re -<br />
search, just pub lic or tax payer money for em -<br />
bryo re search. In the pri vate sec tor, em bryo re -<br />
search and em bryo de struc tion pro ceeds, if not<br />
as quickly or as <strong>of</strong> ten as it would with NIH sup -<br />
port.<br />
To ward the end <strong>of</strong> his pres i dency, Pres i dent<br />
Clinton sought a way to get around the con -<br />
gres sio nal ban on fed eral fund ing. He cre ated<br />
new guide lines that would fund re search on<br />
em bry onic stem cell lines, so long as the em -<br />
bryo de struc tion it self was not done with pub -<br />
lic funds (Pres i dent’s Coun cil on Bioethics,<br />
2004, 191–97). This would up hold the tech ni -<br />
cal mean ing <strong>of</strong> the law, but ar gu ably not the<br />
spirit; and it would open up new funds for em -<br />
bry onic stem cell re search where they never<br />
ex isted be fore. The move spawned much re ac -<br />
tion from in sid ers—es pe cially re search ad vo -<br />
cates and pro-life groups—but it did not spark<br />
a big na tional de bate.<br />
Be fore the guide lines were ever im ple -<br />
mented, Pres i dent Bush came to <strong>of</strong> fice in<br />
2001, and or dered a re view <strong>of</strong> the Clinton<br />
changes. Out <strong>of</strong> no where—or seem ingly no -<br />
where—a great na tional de bate be gan. The<br />
spe cific ques tion was this: Should there be fed -<br />
eral fund ing for em bry onic stem cell re search?<br />
But the is sues were much deeper, and the de -<br />
bate much broader: What do we owe to na scent<br />
hu man life—es pe cially na scent hu man life<br />
cre ated in the lab o ra tory? What do we owe<br />
those who suf fer from ter ri ble dis ease —dis -<br />
eases that might one day be cured if em bry onic<br />
stem cell re search pro ceeds apace? And what<br />
do we owe to so ci ety as a whole? What kind <strong>of</strong><br />
peo ple are we, and what kind <strong>of</strong> civ i li za tion do<br />
we want to live in? (Pres i dent’s Coun cil on<br />
Bioethics, 2002, 117–71)<br />
On Au gust 9, 2001, Pres i dent Bush de liv -<br />
ered a spe cial ad dress to the na tion to an -<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
22
nounce his new stem cell pol icy (Pres i dent’s<br />
Coun cil on Bioethics, 2004, 183–87). The<br />
NIH would fund re search on ex ist ing stem cell<br />
lines—where the de struc tion <strong>of</strong> em bryos has<br />
al ready taken place, and thus can not be un -<br />
done. But it would not fund re search that in -<br />
volved fu ture em bryo de struc tion—since to do<br />
so would cre ate a pub lic in cen tive and en -<br />
dorse ment <strong>of</strong> more em bryo de struc tion. It was<br />
the first time that any em bry onic stem cell re -<br />
search would get pub lic fund ing. But it was not<br />
fund ing with out lim its. It was fund ing within<br />
lim its. It aimed to give pub lic sup port for this<br />
sig nif i cant new area <strong>of</strong> sci ence, while at the<br />
same time re spect ing the moral views <strong>of</strong> those<br />
who do not be lieve that em bryos should be<br />
used as a sci en tific re source, no mat ter how<br />
use ful they may be.<br />
To day, the de bate con tin ues both about the<br />
sci en tific prom ise <strong>of</strong> em bry onic stem cell re -<br />
search and about the pub lic pol icy that should<br />
gov ern this con tro ver sial area <strong>of</strong> sci ence.<br />
Some seek a much more per mis sive pol icy,<br />
and fear that we are greatly lim it ing a rev o lu -<br />
tion ary new area <strong>of</strong> bio med i cal re search by not<br />
ad e quately fund ing it. Oth ers seek a more re -<br />
stric tive pol icy, be liev ing that we should ban<br />
all em bryo re search, in clud ing that which is<br />
funded by the pri vate sec tor. The de bate has fu -<br />
eled ex ces sive at tacks and coun ter at tacks (the<br />
politicization <strong>of</strong> sci ence in its worst form) and<br />
se ri ous re flec tion and de lib er a tion (the<br />
politicization <strong>of</strong> sci ence in its best form).<br />
The Moral and Political Significance <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Stem Cell De bate<br />
This leads me to my sec ond ques tion: Why<br />
is the stem cell de bate so im por tant? What<br />
does it mean for the fu ture <strong>of</strong> Amer i can life,<br />
Amer i can pol i tics, and Amer i can so ci ety as a<br />
whole? Let me sug gest four rea sons why this<br />
de bate is sig nif i cant, be yond the ob vi ous sig -<br />
nif i cance <strong>of</strong> seek ing to cure ter ri ble hu man dis -<br />
eases.<br />
First, the stem cell de bate is im por tant be -<br />
cause it is, along with the war on ter ror, the<br />
only other de bate in Amer i can life that raises<br />
gen u ine ex is ten tial ques tions. In deed, one is<br />
struck by the way the bioethics is sues and the<br />
war on ter ror ism both came to dom i nate our<br />
pub lic life at the same time—with Pres i dent<br />
Bush’s stem cell speech de liv ered on Au gust 9;<br />
the hor ri ble at tacks a month later on Sep tem -<br />
ber 11. Both <strong>of</strong> these chal lenges have de -<br />
manded a new moral and po lit i cal se ri ous ness;<br />
both raise ques tions about life and death, about<br />
the pros pects for hu man hap pi ness in mod ern<br />
de moc ra cies, and es pe cially about our idea <strong>of</strong><br />
the good life and good so ci ety. The bioethics<br />
de bate—and bio tech nol ogy it self—is driven<br />
by our dreams <strong>of</strong> greater health and better<br />
lives; by our quest for greater con trol over the<br />
course <strong>of</strong> life from birth to death; and by the<br />
be lief that our biotechnical in ge nu ity might<br />
even tu ally con quer the worst hu man dis eases.<br />
And yet, the war on ter ror re minds us <strong>of</strong> the<br />
mor tal fra gil ity <strong>of</strong> life, and the per ma nent bur -<br />
dens <strong>of</strong> his tory that bio tech nol ogy alone will<br />
not likely con quer. Taken to gether, these are<br />
the two great de bates <strong>of</strong> our time. And this psy -<br />
cho log i cal disjunction—a golden age <strong>of</strong> health<br />
and prog ress, a dark age <strong>of</strong> fear and de struc -<br />
tion—is ar gu ably the de fin ing char ac ter is tic <strong>of</strong><br />
our age (Co hen, 2003b).<br />
The sec ond rea son why the stem cell de bate<br />
is so im por tant is that it forces Amer ica to ar -<br />
gue about the mean ing <strong>of</strong> its own ide als—es -<br />
pe cially the Amer i can idea <strong>of</strong> equal ity. To<br />
many op po nents <strong>of</strong> em bryo re search, the em -<br />
bryo is “one <strong>of</strong> us”—small, weak, with dif fer -<br />
ent ap pear ance, and yet an in di vid ual hu man<br />
life in pro cess (Pres i dent’s Coun cil on<br />
Bioethics, 2002, 258–76 and 288–91). It is<br />
what all <strong>of</strong> us looked like at this stage <strong>of</strong> our ex -<br />
is tence. To deny le gal protections to hu man<br />
em bryos, some ar gue, is to un der mine the<br />
Amer i can com mit ment to equal ity. It is to<br />
make our hu man ity con di tional—de pend ent<br />
on be ing big enough, or strong enough, or<br />
healthy enough, or con scious enough.<br />
And yet, it is the pros pect <strong>of</strong> mak ing men<br />
and women more equal that makes many em -<br />
bry onic stem cell sup port ers see such re search<br />
as a moral im per a tive. They see a child who is<br />
un fairly sick, and they want to cure him so he<br />
might have a fair chance at a full life. They see<br />
bi o log i cal in equal i ties—the in equal ity <strong>of</strong> hav -<br />
ing a dis ease like ju ve nile di a be tes—and they<br />
seek to use our bi o log i cal cre ativ ity and ex per -<br />
i men tal pow ers to pur sue med i cal jus tice<br />
where fate, or genes, or both has de nied it. This<br />
re turns us to one <strong>of</strong> the fun da men tal pre mises<br />
<strong>of</strong> Amer i can life: What does it mean to say that<br />
“all men are cre ated equal?” And what is the<br />
role <strong>of</strong> sci ence in prov ing, pro duc ing, or un -<br />
der min ing such equal ity? Does mod ern em -<br />
bry ol ogy “prove” the equal ity <strong>of</strong> hu man em -<br />
bryos? Does em bryo re search prom ise to give<br />
a more equal life to those born with ge netic in -<br />
SCI ENCE, DE MOC RACY, AND STEM CELLS<br />
23
equal i ties? These are very big ques tions raised<br />
by the small est hu man or gan isms. And they<br />
are ques tions that re quire bi o log i cal un der -<br />
stand ing, but also philo soph i cal re flec tion that<br />
goes be yond the field <strong>of</strong> bi ol ogy it self.<br />
The third rea son why the stem cell de bate is<br />
im por tant is that it re veals and ag gra vates<br />
some <strong>of</strong> the fun da men tal di vides within Amer -<br />
i can pol i tics—and may lead to a fun da men tal<br />
po lit i cal trans for ma tion or re align ment<br />
(Kristol and Co hen, 2002, 246–49). Most in -<br />
ter est ing are the di vides within the two par ties:<br />
be tween lib er tar i ans and so cial con ser va tives<br />
on the Re pub li can right, and be tween nat u ral -<br />
ists and qual ity-<strong>of</strong>-life lib er als on the Dem o -<br />
cratic left. Nat u ral ists and so cial con ser va tives<br />
see em bryo re search as a vi o la tion <strong>of</strong> the nat u -<br />
ral or der; they see em bryo re search as an ex -<br />
ploi ta tion <strong>of</strong> the vul ner a ble—as an ig no ble<br />
act, if for a no ble pur pose. Lib er tar ian con ser -<br />
va tives and qual ity-<strong>of</strong>-life lib er als, by con trast,<br />
see em bryo re search as a boon to sci en tific<br />
free dom and to the moral im per a tive to heal the<br />
sick. On this is sue, in other words, some <strong>of</strong> our<br />
nor mal al li ances re con fig ure. And this might<br />
be, over the long-term, a sign <strong>of</strong> things to<br />
come. We may soon find our selves ask ing:<br />
What is a lib eral? What is a con ser va tive? And<br />
we may find that our new con fu sion—and new<br />
an swers—may largely take shape around the<br />
ques tion <strong>of</strong> em bry onic stem cells in par tic u lar<br />
and the ques tion <strong>of</strong> sci en tific prog ress in<br />
general.<br />
The fourth (and fi nal) rea son why this de -<br />
bate is so im por tant is that em bryo re search<br />
touches di rectly on hu man or i gins—on the<br />
way we all come into the world. The is sue here<br />
is not sim ply the moral sta tus <strong>of</strong> the em bryo,<br />
and not sim ply the eth ics <strong>of</strong> em bryo de struc -<br />
tion. The is sue is also that by ex per i ment ing<br />
with life at its ear li est stages, we may gain new<br />
pow ers and new in sights into hu man de vel op -<br />
ment. We may gain some ca pac ity to change,<br />
in the fu ture, the very char ac ter <strong>of</strong> our ge netic<br />
her i tage. Al ready, we can con tem plate the<br />
pros pect <strong>of</strong> pro duc ing hu man clones, and al -<br />
ready we have pro duced chil dren with genes<br />
from three dif fer ent par ents (Hwang et al.<br />
2004; Barritt et al., 2001). There is also re -<br />
search un der way that in volves hy brid man-an -<br />
i mal em bryos, and that in volves pro duc ing<br />
em bryos with mixed gen ders (Chen et al.<br />
2003; Gleicher et al., 2003). Much <strong>of</strong> this re -<br />
search is sci en tif i cally very in ter est ing and<br />
very prom is ing. But it also raises moral ques -<br />
tions about how far we should go in al ter ing<br />
our ge netic na ture. It gives us new pow ers we<br />
never be fore pos sessed. And it re minds us <strong>of</strong><br />
the great re spon si bil ity that co mes with ini ti at -<br />
ing hu man life in the lab o ra tory, since all <strong>of</strong><br />
these pros pects de pend on our ca pac ity to see,<br />
study, and ma nip u late hu man em bryos out side<br />
the body.<br />
And so for these four rea sons—the mean ing<br />
<strong>of</strong> mor tal ity and prog ress, the mean ing <strong>of</strong><br />
Amer ica’s most cher ished ide als, the shake-up<br />
<strong>of</strong> Amer i can po lit i cal life, and the pros pect <strong>of</strong><br />
un der stand ing and al ter ing hu man or i gins—<br />
the stem cell de bate is deeply sig nif i cant.<br />
Four Phi los o phies <strong>of</strong> Em bryo Re search<br />
And this brings me to my fi nal sub ject:<br />
What are the ma jor po si tions and ma jor ar gu -<br />
ments in the stem cell de bate? Who be lieves<br />
what and why? And what does the stem cell<br />
de bate re veal about the re la tion ship be tween<br />
sci ence and de moc racy more broadly? There<br />
are four gen eral po si tions in the em bryo re -<br />
search de bate: (1) “Let’s roll” sci en tists; (2)<br />
“en light ened lib er als”; (3) “mys te ri ous mod -<br />
er ates”; and (4) “one <strong>of</strong> us” con ser va tives. (At<br />
the April 25, 2002, meet ing <strong>of</strong> the Pres i dent’s<br />
Coun cil on Bioethics, Leon Kass sug gested a<br />
typology <strong>of</strong> four po si tions on the eth ics <strong>of</strong><br />
clon ing-for-bio med i cal re search with which<br />
the pres ent typology, though dis tinct, over -<br />
laps.) These cat e go ries are, <strong>of</strong> course, over sim -<br />
pli fi ca tions, as all typologies are. The moral<br />
ar gu ments on these is sues are very com plex—<br />
as com plex, one should say, as the un der ly ing<br />
sci ence. And the po lit i cal ar gu ments are not al -<br />
ways gov erned by in tel lec tual con sis tency,<br />
since other pres sures, not sim ply ideas, al ways<br />
shape the re al i ties <strong>of</strong> po lit i cal life. But nev er -<br />
the less, I hope an over view <strong>of</strong> these four po si -<br />
tions will clar ify things a bit.<br />
(1) The “Let’s roll” po si tion is held mostly<br />
by re search sci en tists and re search ad vo cates<br />
who are ea ger to make ex per i men tal ad vances,<br />
ea ger to find cures, and ea ger to pro mote ba sic<br />
sci ence (Pres i dent’s Coun cil on Bioethics,<br />
2002, 255–57). This po si tion is driven by two<br />
ba sic im per a tives: the right to sci en tific free -<br />
dom and the prom ise <strong>of</strong> bio med i cal tech nol -<br />
ogy to re lieve man’s es tate. It be lieves that pol -<br />
i tics should have lit tle or no role in de cid ing<br />
the na tional re search agenda, and what it seeks<br />
from gov ern ment is more money and less reg u -<br />
la tion. On the ques tion <strong>of</strong> the moral stand ing <strong>of</strong><br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
24
hu man em bryos—the em bryos they ea gerly<br />
seek to use for re search—those in the “Let’s<br />
roll” camp see no spe cial moral con cern at all.<br />
They see em bryos as a “clump <strong>of</strong> cells” with<br />
great sci en tific value but no spe cial moral<br />
stand ing; they should be treated with only the<br />
same mea sure <strong>of</strong> re spect that we treat any hu -<br />
man tis sue and no more. In the deep est sense,<br />
this group be lieves in the un fet tered pur suit <strong>of</strong><br />
hu man knowl edge, and in their own ca pac ity<br />
to dis cover bi o log i cal truths that are both in tel -<br />
lec tu ally in ter est ing in-them selves and po ten -<br />
tially use ful for mil lions <strong>of</strong> pa tients.<br />
(2) The sec ond gen eral po si tion in this de -<br />
bate is “en light ened lib er al ism.” This po si tion<br />
shares many <strong>of</strong> the same goals and as pi ra tions<br />
as the re search sci en tists: the de sire to find<br />
cures and ease suf fer ing; to pro mote ba sic sci -<br />
en tific re search; and to im prove the gen eral<br />
wel fare <strong>of</strong> so ci ety. But this group thinks more<br />
po lit i cally than most sci en tists do; it thinks<br />
more about so ci ety than re search; and its in ter -<br />
ests are more ex plic itly eth i cal. It gets its selfworth<br />
not from do ing sci ence, but from de -<br />
fend ing the sci en tific pro ject, and mak ing sure<br />
that sci en tific prog ress con forms to the ide als<br />
<strong>of</strong> au ton omy and equal ity that en light ened lib -<br />
er als hold dear. This group be lieves that sci en -<br />
tists should be largely free to do their work, but<br />
that cer tain min i mal reg u la tions (like in -<br />
formed con sent) need to be en acted into law. It<br />
vig or ously sup ports em bry onic stem cell re -<br />
search, and be lieves that most ef forts to curb<br />
med i cal sci ence are “re li gious” in fringe ments<br />
on the sep a ra tion <strong>of</strong> church and state. It ac -<br />
knowl edges that peo ple dis agree about the<br />
moral sta tus <strong>of</strong> hu man em bryos, but it be lieves<br />
this dis agree ment should not pre vent the gov -<br />
ern ment from fund ing such re search. More<br />
deeply, en light ened lib er als see im prov ing<br />
health and qual ity <strong>of</strong> life as per haps the cen tral<br />
po lit i cal en ter prise. And thus they be lieve that<br />
the state has a ma jor role to play in shap ing the<br />
di rec tion <strong>of</strong> med i cal prog ress. Taken to gether,<br />
en light ened lib er al ism tries to con nect the<br />
grand aims <strong>of</strong> mod ern sci ence to the grand<br />
aims <strong>of</strong> mod ern dem o cratic pol i tics, and it dis -<br />
misses op po si tion to em bryo re search as un en -<br />
light ened re li gi os ity—to be tol er ated as a pri -<br />
vate mat ter <strong>of</strong> opin ion, but with no place in<br />
set ting na tional policy.<br />
(3) The third po si tion is per haps the most<br />
com plex. It com bines an ac count <strong>of</strong> our en -<br />
coun ter with the ex vivo hu man em bryo and a<br />
sen si bil ity about the need for mod er a tion in<br />
pol i tics. This group be lieves that the em bryo is<br />
a mys tery, and a sig nif i cant one (Co hen,<br />
2003a). Em bryos are not ob vi ously “one <strong>of</strong><br />
us,” and not nec es sar ily de serv ing <strong>of</strong> equal<br />
pro tec tion un der the law. And yet, the hu man<br />
em bryo is not to be treated as a mere thing; it is<br />
a com plete hu man or gan ism at the ear li est<br />
stage <strong>of</strong> de vel op ment; it is a life in po ten tial<br />
and in pro cess. Those who hold this po si tion<br />
<strong>of</strong> ten ar gue that the mys tery <strong>of</strong> the em bryo—<br />
its com bi na tion <strong>of</strong> great sig nif i cance and un -<br />
cer tain stand ing—should in cline us to act with<br />
re straint. On pol icy ques tions, this group both<br />
seeks to cham pion med i cal prog ress and to<br />
main tain im por tant moral pa ram e ters gov ern -<br />
ing that prog ress. It might tol er ate re search on<br />
em bryos al ready cre ated, frozen, and left-over<br />
in fer til ity clin ics, but it be lieves that we<br />
should never pro duce an em bryo solely for the<br />
pur pose <strong>of</strong> re search and de struc tion. And it<br />
won ders what kind <strong>of</strong> so ci ety we might be -<br />
come if we use “the seeds <strong>of</strong> the next gen er a -<br />
tion” to pr<strong>of</strong>it our own (Kass, 2002). In a<br />
deeper sense, this group rec og nizes that the<br />
choices be fore us in this de bate are ul ti mately<br />
tragic: to use na scent hu man life as a raw ma te -<br />
rial or to slow down an area <strong>of</strong> sci ence that<br />
might ease suf fer ing and cure dis ease. In the<br />
end, it seeks a mod er ate course—some re -<br />
search, some lim its—even if the lim its mean<br />
that we will not ex plore ev ery sci en tific av e -<br />
nue. The no blest end, af ter all, does not jus tify<br />
any means. And the hu man em bryo, while<br />
mys te ri ous, is a mys tery that de mands our rev -<br />
er ence and respect.<br />
(4) The fi nal po si tion in this de bate is the<br />
“one <strong>of</strong> us” po si tion — the be lief that em bryos<br />
are full hu man be ings at the ear li est stages <strong>of</strong><br />
life, and that we owe them the same mea sure <strong>of</strong><br />
re spect and pro tec tion that we af ford to all vul -<br />
ner a ble per sons: whether in fants, the sick, the<br />
dis abled, or the in firm (Pres i dent’s Coun cil on<br />
Bioethics, 2002, 290). While cur ing suf fer ing<br />
is a moral good, it is not the high est moral<br />
good—which is to re spect all hu man life fully<br />
and equally. Many in this group are peo ple <strong>of</strong><br />
re li gious faith. Yet, they do not ground their<br />
eth i cal ar gu ment sim ply in re li gious teach -<br />
ing—but in moral rea son and mod ern bi ol ogy.<br />
They ar gue that there is an un bro ken bi o log i cal<br />
con ti nu ity from con cep tion, to the em bry onic<br />
stage, to the fe tal stage, to birth and be yond.<br />
These are all stages in an in di vid ual hu man life<br />
(Pres i dent’s Coun cil on Bioethics, 2002, 258–<br />
66). And thus if we be lieve in hu man equal ity,<br />
SCI ENCE, DE MOC RACY, AND STEM CELLS<br />
25
then stop ping such de vel op ment at any<br />
point—by de stroy ing hu man em bryos for their<br />
stem cells—is mor ally in de fen si ble. On the<br />
pol icy ques tion, this group be lieves we should<br />
stop all em bryo re search, not just ban fed eral<br />
fund ing. It be lieves that med i cal prog ress is a<br />
no ble cause, but that it must be gov erned by an<br />
even higher moral ob li ga tion: re spect for the<br />
sanc tity and dig nity <strong>of</strong> ev ery hu man life.<br />
The Di lem mas <strong>of</strong> Prog ress<br />
Step ping back, there is much here to dis en -<br />
tan gle—both about stem cells in par tic u lar and<br />
the in ter sec tion <strong>of</strong> sci ence and de moc racy in<br />
gen eral. In ter est ingly, all sides in the stem cell<br />
de bate are prone to de spair: Those who sup -<br />
port stem cell re search be lieve we are los ing<br />
time and los ing ground be cause <strong>of</strong> in suf fi cient<br />
fund ing and mis guided pol i tics. They see great<br />
sci en tific prom ise, and they can not stand the<br />
fact that there are “un sci en tific” bar ri ers stand -<br />
ing in the way. The moral im per a tive, they say,<br />
is to seek knowl edge and find cures. The ban<br />
on fed eral fund ing is a dark cloud over this<br />
mission.<br />
At the same time, those who op pose em bryo<br />
re search be lieve we have en tered the Brave<br />
New World—with more and more em bryo de -<br />
struc tion tak ing place by the day, with our re -<br />
spect for life erod ing with ev ery new prom ise<br />
<strong>of</strong> a cure, and with lit tle pos si bil ity <strong>of</strong> en act ing<br />
a fed eral ban on em bryo re search. They see a<br />
cul ture that in creas ingly treats the most vul -<br />
ner a ble form <strong>of</strong> hu man life as a mere thing, and<br />
a so ci ety that seeks to pr<strong>of</strong>it from mor ally re -<br />
pug nant ex per i ments.<br />
For now, the pros pect <strong>of</strong> any great con sen -<br />
sus seems un likely. All we can do is mud dle<br />
along, ar gu ing in the way dem o cratic so ci et ies<br />
do, seek ing to con vince our op po nents and re -<br />
main hon est our selves. All pol i tics is ul ti -<br />
mately an ar gu ment about the good life and<br />
good so ci ety — mat ters that nat u ral sci ence by<br />
it self can never set tle. More over, the search for<br />
the truths <strong>of</strong> na ture is not the only goal <strong>of</strong> mod -<br />
ern so ci et ies, and when it con flicts with other<br />
goals and val ues, the pol i tics <strong>of</strong> sci ence is at its<br />
most pointed and pro found. It is these ba sic di -<br />
lem mas that lie at the heart <strong>of</strong> the stem cell de -<br />
bate: Will we be come a better so ci ety or a<br />
lesser so ci ety if we en gage in em bryo re -<br />
search? This is a ques tion about sci ence, but<br />
not sim ply a sci en tific ques tion. For in the end,<br />
only eth i cal re flec tion and po lit i cal de lib er a -<br />
tion can de cide when good sci ence is truly<br />
good.<br />
REFERENCES<br />
Barritt, J. et al. (2001) “Cy to plas mic Trans fer in As sisted<br />
Re pro duc tion,” Hu man Re pro duc tion Up date 7: 428–<br />
35.<br />
Chen, Y., et al. (2003) “Em bry onic Stem Cells Gen er ated<br />
by Trans fer <strong>of</strong> Hu man So matic Nu clei into Rab bit<br />
Oocytes,” Cell Re search 12: 251–64.<br />
Co hen, Eric. (2003a) “Of Em bryos and Em pire,” The<br />
New Atlantis (Sum mer): 3–16.<br />
Co hen, Eric. (2003b) “Bioethics in War time,” The New<br />
Atlantis (Fall): 23–33.<br />
Connor, Ken neth L. (2001) “Stem Cells: Bush’s Bro ken<br />
Prom ise,” Wash ing ton Post (Au gust 11), A21.<br />
Ed wards, Rob ert, and Pat rick Steptoe. (1980) A Mat ter <strong>of</strong><br />
Life. New York: Wil liam Mor row.<br />
Gleicher, N., et al. (2003) “Blastomere trans plan ta tion as<br />
a pos si ble treat ment,” pre sented at the 19 th An nual Meet -<br />
ing <strong>of</strong> the Eu ro pean So ci ety <strong>of</strong> Hu man Re pro duc tion<br />
and Em bry ol ogy (June 29 to July 2), Ma drid, Spain<br />
(www.eshre.com).<br />
Hwang, W.S., et al. (2004) “Ev i dence <strong>of</strong> a Pluripotent<br />
Hu man Em bry onic Stem Cell Line De rived from a<br />
Cloned Hu man Blastocyst,” Sci ence Ex press,<br />
doi:10.1126/sci ence.1094515.<br />
Kass, Leon. (2002) Quoted in the tran script <strong>of</strong> July 11,<br />
2002, meet ing <strong>of</strong> the Pres i dent’s Coun cil on Bioethics.<br />
www.bioethics.gov.<br />
Kristol, Wil liam, and Eric Co hen. (2002) The Fu ture is<br />
Now: Amer ica Con fronts the New Ge net ics. Lanham,<br />
MD: Rowman and Littlefield Pub lisher Inc.<br />
McDermott, Jim. (2001) Con gres sio nal Re cord (July 31),<br />
H4922.<br />
Pres i dent’s Coun cil on Bioethics. (2002) Hu man Clon ing<br />
and Hu man Dig nity: An Eth i cal In quiry. Wash ing ton,<br />
DC.<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
26
Pres i dent’s Coun cil on Bioethics. (2004) Mon i tor ing<br />
Stem Cell Re search. Wash ing ton, DC.<br />
Stolberg, Sheryl Gay. (2001) “Sci en tists Urge Big ger<br />
Sup ply <strong>of</strong> Stem Cells,” New York Times (Sep tem ber 11),<br />
A1.<br />
Thomson, J., et al. (1998) “Em bry onic Stem Cells De -<br />
rived from Hu man Blastocysts,” <strong>Science</strong>, 282: 1145–47.<br />
SCI ENCE, DE MOC RACY, AND STEM CELLS<br />
27
PRO LE GOM E NON TO A FU TURE HU MAN I TIES POL ICY<br />
Rob ert Frodeman, Adam Briggle, Erik Fisher, and Shep Ryen<br />
It would be folly to set up a pro gram un der<br />
which re search in the nat u ral sci ences and<br />
med i cine was ex panded at the cost <strong>of</strong> the so -<br />
cial sci ences, hu man i ties, and other stud ies<br />
so es sen tial to na tional well-be ing.<br />
Vannevar Bush,<br />
Sci ence—The End less Fron tier (1945)<br />
The re la tion ship be tween sci ence and so ci -<br />
ety to day is a trou bled one. The first, more ac a -<br />
demic part <strong>of</strong> the trou ble oc curs in the lit er a -<br />
ture <strong>of</strong> pol icy jour nals, while the sec ond has<br />
en gaged a wider au di ence in clud ing sci en tists,<br />
de ci sion mak ers, and the gen eral pub lic. The<br />
first con cerns sci ence pol icy re search, the sec -<br />
ond con cerns sci ence pol icy writ large. In the<br />
first case, a con tex tual move ment has taken<br />
root that in creas ingly com petes with a pro -<br />
cess-ori ented type <strong>of</strong> re search. In the sec ond<br />
case, the fed er ally funded re search com mu nity<br />
has come un der in creased so ci etal pres sure to<br />
show the rel e vance <strong>of</strong> the $132 bil lion slice <strong>of</strong><br />
the fed eral bud get de voted to re search and de -<br />
vel op ment. Dan iel Sarewitz, for ex am ple, ar -<br />
gues that the ques tion to be asked in sci ence<br />
pol icy is not “How much money should we<br />
spend on R&D?” but rather “What ends is this<br />
money sup posed to serve?” (Sarewitz, 2003).<br />
Sim i larly, Dan iel Callahan be lieves that cur -<br />
rent sci en tific prac tice is mo ti vated more and<br />
more by the im per a tive to do re search, and less<br />
and less by the quest for mean ing ful, life-en -<br />
hanc ing knowl edge and prod ucts (Callahan,<br />
2003).<br />
The com mon prob lem play ing out in both<br />
cases is the break down <strong>of</strong> the be lief that sci -<br />
ence can pro vide un am big u ous an swers for<br />
pub lic de ci sion-mak ing. In cases such as the<br />
global warm ing grid lock dis cussed by<br />
Sarewitz and Pielke, de ci sion-mak ing re mains<br />
sty mied de spite giga bytes <strong>of</strong> sci en tific in for -<br />
ma tion (Sarewitz and Pielke, 2000). Evok ing<br />
the im age <strong>of</strong> push ing a rope, the sur feit <strong>of</strong> in -<br />
for ma tion about the cli mate serves to high light<br />
the gap be tween what sci ence <strong>of</strong> fers and what<br />
de ci sion mak ers need.<br />
Our claim is that bridg ing the gap be tween<br />
knowl edge and ac tion is not (pri mar ily) a mat -<br />
ter <strong>of</strong> pro mot ing fur ther sci en tific re search.<br />
Nor will it be bridged only through the type <strong>of</strong><br />
ap proach found in the var i ous schools <strong>of</strong> sci -<br />
ence pol icy re search, which take po lit i cal ends<br />
and out comes as given and seek the most ef fi -<br />
cient way to reach them. Also needed to bridge<br />
the gulf be tween sci ence and its ef fec tive use is<br />
a bring ing <strong>of</strong> the nor ma tive and acculturating<br />
per spec tives <strong>of</strong> the hu man i ties to bear on pol -<br />
icy de bates, com ple ment ing the re search <strong>of</strong><br />
both phys i cal sci en tists and sci ence pol icy re -<br />
search ers while help ing to reach out to the pub -<br />
lic. Put dif fer ently: our un der stand ing <strong>of</strong> sci -<br />
ence pol icy stands to gain con sid er ably if it is<br />
com ple mented by the de vel op ment <strong>of</strong> the field<br />
<strong>of</strong> hu man i ties pol icy (Frodeman et al., 2003).<br />
A hu man is tic sci ence pol icy can help ful fill<br />
Vannevar Bush’s orig i nal vi sion <strong>of</strong> knowl edge<br />
that con trib utes to the com mon good.<br />
<strong>Philosophy</strong>, <strong>Science</strong>,<br />
and Pol icy Re search<br />
Within the pol icy move ment, sci ence pol icy<br />
plays a mi nor role com pared to eco nomic,<br />
health, and for eign pol icy. This is strik ing,<br />
given the grow ing im por tance <strong>of</strong> sci ence and<br />
tech nol ogy as driv ers <strong>of</strong> eco nomic growth and<br />
glob al iza tion, and as the source <strong>of</strong> both op por -<br />
tu ni ties and dan gers. A sci ence pol icy in flu -<br />
enced by the hu man i ties can help ad dress this<br />
rel a tive in at ten tion.<br />
The over all pol icy move ment takes a va ri -<br />
ety <strong>of</strong> ap proaches to its sub jects, for ex am ple,<br />
that <strong>of</strong> eco nom ics (“pol icy anal y sis”), po lit i cal<br />
sci ence (“pol icy stud ies”), and the tra di tion <strong>of</strong><br />
the pol icy sci ences. The pol icy sci ences cre -<br />
ated by Har old Lasswell and de vel oped by<br />
Myres McDougal, Abra ham Kaplan, and<br />
many oth ers in the post-WWII era have never<br />
been sci en tific in the same way that the nat u ral<br />
and so cial sci ences are sci en tific. It is true that<br />
in both cases, “sci ence” means a ra tio nal, rig -<br />
or ous, and sys tem atic ap proach to prob lems<br />
pre sented to us by thought or ex pe ri ence. But<br />
the pol icy sci ences, build ing from their prag -<br />
ma tist roots, have also stressed the need for<br />
tak ing a con tex tual and ex plic itly nor ma tive<br />
ap proach to prob lems (Lasswell, 1970;<br />
Lasswell and McDougal, 1992). The pol icy<br />
sci en tist seeks eth i cal as well as em pir i cal<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY SUPPLMENT 2004<br />
28
knowl edge, and rec og nizes that the knowl edge<br />
claims pro duced are not uni versal izable.<br />
The prag ma tism <strong>of</strong> the pol icy sci ences<br />
gives the term “sci ence” a more ro bust mean -<br />
ing. As Pe ter deLeon and Sam Over man<br />
(1997) note, “Sci ence . . . is to be judged on the<br />
ba sis <strong>of</strong> its con tri bu tions to ward im prov ing the<br />
hu man con di tion. This in stru men tal no tion <strong>of</strong><br />
the role <strong>of</strong> knowl edge in so ci ety is the ba sic<br />
prem ise <strong>of</strong> the pol icy sci ences” (470). It is de -<br />
rived di rectly from John Dewey, who was<br />
highly sen si tive to “the . . . dread di lemma <strong>of</strong> a<br />
choice be tween an ob jec tive sci ence or moral<br />
val ues” (Levi, 1959, 286). As Dewey (1930)<br />
re marked:<br />
I be came more and more trou bled by the in tel -<br />
lec tual scan dal that seemed to me in volved in<br />
the . . . du al ism in log i cal stand point and method<br />
be tween some thing called “sci ence” on the one<br />
hand and some thing called “mor als” on the<br />
other. I have long felt that the con struc tion <strong>of</strong> . . .<br />
a method <strong>of</strong> ef fec tive in quiry, which would ap -<br />
ply with out abrupt breach <strong>of</strong> con ti nu ity to the<br />
fields des ig nated by both <strong>of</strong> these words, is at<br />
once our needed the o ret i cal sol vent and the sup -<br />
ply <strong>of</strong> our great est prac ti cal want. (23)<br />
This early prag ma tist tenet <strong>of</strong> “ef fec tive in -<br />
quiry” formed a ba sis for the de vel op ment <strong>of</strong><br />
pol icy sci ences.<br />
The pol icy sci ences, then, were de signed to<br />
be sci en tific with out be ing positivistic—“sci -<br />
en tific” in the larger sense <strong>of</strong> be ing em pir i cally<br />
grounded, sys tem atic knowl edge, in keep ing<br />
with the orig i nal mean ing <strong>of</strong> lo gos. By con -<br />
trast, the nat u ral and so cial sci ences them -<br />
selves are his tor i cally firmly rooted in the<br />
epistemological pre sump tions <strong>of</strong> pos i tiv ism—<br />
the be lief that valid knowl edge claims are<br />
value neu tral, re peat able, and con text in de -<br />
pend ent. Even though the Vi enna Cir cle brand<br />
<strong>of</strong> pos i tiv ism is long gone and pos i tiv ism has<br />
been roundly crit i cized for de cades, its pre sup -<br />
po si tions still find reg u lar ex pres sion within<br />
both the sci en tific and pol icy re search com mu -<br />
ni ties. The ques tion is whether or to what de -<br />
gree sci ence pol icy (as a topic <strong>of</strong> pol icy re -<br />
search) and the pol icy sci ences (as a school <strong>of</strong><br />
pol icy re search) ap prox i mate Dewey’s un der -<br />
stand ing <strong>of</strong> sci ence.<br />
The re cent boomlet <strong>of</strong> post-posi tiv ist lit er a -<br />
ture in the pol icy sci ences sug gests that<br />
Dewey’s nor ma tive and con tex tual “ef fec tive<br />
in quiry” is <strong>of</strong> ten re placed with more posi tiv ist<br />
pre sump tions. Ac cord ing to this lit er a ture, the<br />
term “pol icy” is too <strong>of</strong> ten flat tened into<br />
proceduralist jar gon. Wil liam Ascher (1986)<br />
makes this ob ser va tion, ar gu ing that per sonal<br />
temp ta tions and in sti tu tional pres sures “push<br />
many prac ti tio ners away from solid pub lic pol -<br />
icy stud ies, back to ward dis ci plin ary spe cial -<br />
iza tion and ir rel e vance” (365). In short, even<br />
contextualized pol icy re search <strong>of</strong> ten passes<br />
over the task <strong>of</strong> eval u at ing the wor thi ness <strong>of</strong><br />
com pet ing out comes to fo cus on eval u at ing<br />
the rel a tive ef fec tive ness <strong>of</strong> dif fer ent means to<br />
achieve given, un ex am ined goals. One may<br />
thus ques tion whether the pol icy sci ences have<br />
truly es caped the il licit at trac tions <strong>of</strong> our long,<br />
mod ern ist love af fair with ob jec tiv ity and cer -<br />
tainty.<br />
The ten dency <strong>of</strong> pol icy to be “sci en tific” in<br />
this con stricted sense can be coun ter acted by a<br />
more con scious bal anc ing be tween the em pir i -<br />
cal and the philo soph i cal. For it is worth ask -<br />
ing, in what ways are pol i cies dif fer ent than<br />
philo sophic prin ci ples? Could it be said, for in -<br />
stance, that phi los o phers such as Plato or<br />
Machiavelli had pol i cies? One way <strong>of</strong> un der -<br />
stand ing the re la tion be tween phi los o phy and<br />
pol icy is to see pol icy as the bridge be tween<br />
gen eral moral and philo sophic prin ci ples and<br />
par tic u lar de ci sions. An iso lated de ci sion does<br />
not con sti tute a pol icy; the lat ter prop erly im -<br />
plies a sys tem atized, or ga nized and me thod i -<br />
cal ap pli ca tion <strong>of</strong> a philo sophic prin ci ple or<br />
worldview. Pol icy mak ing (and re search into<br />
the same) in volves the art ful bal ance <strong>of</strong> gen eral<br />
philo sophic and axiological per spec tives and<br />
em pir i cal, ver i fi able facts, as well as an ap pre -<br />
ci a tion <strong>of</strong> the way that these two per spec tives<br />
in flu ence one an other. It is through ne glect ing<br />
the philo sophic pole <strong>of</strong> this pro cess that (sci -<br />
ence) pol icy re search can slip to ward pos i tiv -<br />
ism.<br />
The stan dard and still dom i nant ac count <strong>of</strong><br />
val ues in the twen ti eth cen tury has seen them<br />
as de fi cient by com par i son with the ex em plary<br />
ra tio nal ity and ob jec tiv ity <strong>of</strong> sci ence. The<br />
temp ta tion, then, has been to turn val ues into<br />
so ci etal facts—into the ob jects <strong>of</strong> so cial sci -<br />
ence—or to ig nore them al to gether. This is an<br />
un der stand able re ac tion to the con tem po rary<br />
state <strong>of</strong> val ues de bates. For not only do val ues<br />
re sist quan ti fi ca tion and eval u a tion un der con -<br />
trolled con di tions; prac ti cally speak ing, val -<br />
ues dis cus sions reg u larly de gen er ate into in -<br />
ter mi na ble con flict.<br />
A FUTURE HUMANITIES POLICY<br />
29
None the less, the gulf be tween sci en tific<br />
and val ues de bates is nei ther as great nor as<br />
dis tinct as might be as sumed. On the side <strong>of</strong><br />
sci ence, one need not em brace the ex tremes <strong>of</strong><br />
post-mod ern thought to rec og nize that com -<br />
plete ob jec tiv ity <strong>of</strong> sci ence is a chi mera. To day<br />
it is gen er ally ac knowl edged that the sci en tific<br />
en ter prise is and must be built upon var i ous<br />
sets <strong>of</strong> val ues—those that de ter mine which<br />
sci en tific facts are to be sought, as well as the<br />
stan dards used for eval u at ing sci en tific claims<br />
(e.g., Proc tor, 1991).<br />
This point is <strong>of</strong> course con sis tent with the<br />
ob ser va tion that sci ence has been suc cess ful<br />
by any num ber <strong>of</strong> mea sures. None the less, “ob -<br />
jec tive” truths must be seen as con structs, in so -<br />
far as they are cre ated by ab stract ing from the<br />
on go ing flow <strong>of</strong> life in or der to build a neatly<br />
pack aged ar ti fi cial world—the ex per i ment,<br />
and more re cently, the com puter model—<br />
where ev ery vari able can be con trolled. While<br />
these re sults surely count as truth, such truths<br />
re side in a highly formulized or Pla tonic realm<br />
whose re la tion ship to our per sonal and pub lic<br />
lives re quires an act <strong>of</strong> in ter pre ta tion. Within<br />
the real world <strong>of</strong> lived ex pe ri ence we can not<br />
bracket things <strong>of</strong>f a piece at a time; nei ther can<br />
we con trol more than a small num ber <strong>of</strong> the<br />
vari ables to which events are sub ject. Nor can<br />
we re es tab lish ini tial con di tions again and<br />
again. Out side the lab we are caught in the nonre<br />
peat able flow <strong>of</strong> his tory. Heraclitus’ dic tum<br />
that you can never step into the same river<br />
twice im plies that we are al ways rea son ing by<br />
anal ogy—com par ing a law <strong>of</strong> na ture with a<br />
spe cific nat u ral phe nom e non, or lab re sults<br />
with what hap pens in the field, or our own time<br />
with by gone eras. In suf fi cient as it may be,<br />
gen er als tend to fight the last war be cause a<br />
weak anal ogy is <strong>of</strong> ten better than none at all.<br />
The si ren song <strong>of</strong> sci en tific ob jec tiv ity has<br />
been se duc tive in large part be cause our un der -<br />
stand ing <strong>of</strong> sci ence has been based in the lab o -<br />
ra tory. View ing sci ence from the per spec tive<br />
<strong>of</strong> field sci ences such as ge ol ogy or ecol ogy<br />
high lights how de bates over sci ence are <strong>of</strong> ten -<br />
times not so dif fer ent from value de bates<br />
(Frodeman, 2003). Both re quire a con ge nial<br />
dis cur sive en vi ron ment where ap peals to rea -<br />
son are pos si ble, and where the par ties to the<br />
dis cus sion show in tel lec tual sym pa thy for<br />
each other’s points <strong>of</strong> view. As in sci en tific de -<br />
bates, par tic i pants in eth i cal and po lit i cal dis -<br />
cus sions must em body “the de sire for rea son -<br />
able agree ment, not the pur suit <strong>of</strong> mu tual<br />
ad van tage” (Scanlon, 1982, x). In both cases,<br />
peo ple give rea sons for their opin ions in or der<br />
to see if these opin ions can find jus ti fi ca tion in<br />
the mind <strong>of</strong> an other, and com mit them selves to<br />
chang ing their mind in the face <strong>of</strong> su pe rior ev i -<br />
dence or rea son ing. It is a cu ri os ity <strong>of</strong> mod ern<br />
cul ture that these (hu man is tic) qual i ties <strong>of</strong><br />
mind have been much more as sid u ously cul ti -<br />
vated in the sci ences than in our eth i cal and po -<br />
lit i cal debates.<br />
It is only by fo cus ing on the po lar i ties—sci -<br />
ence in the sense <strong>of</strong> New to nian me chan ics, and<br />
val ues in dif fi cult cases such as eu tha na sia and<br />
abor tion—that we have been able to sus tain<br />
the ul ti mately coun ter pro duc tive lan guage <strong>of</strong><br />
sub jec tive ver sus ob jec tive knowl edge. In the<br />
real world, de ci sion mak ers find that prob lems<br />
lie be tween these poles. Our great est ob sta cle<br />
to better dis cus sions about val ues may be the<br />
prej u dice that the qual i ties <strong>of</strong> open-mind ed -<br />
ness and ev i den tial rea son ing ap ply to only a<br />
nar row range <strong>of</strong> hu man ex pe ri ence de fined as<br />
“sci ence.” Re search ers in the pol icy sci ences,<br />
if they re main true to their prag ma tist past, can<br />
broaden this range <strong>of</strong> open-mind ed ness and<br />
so cial rea son ing to in clude de bates about the<br />
good life. In this pro le gom e non to a fu ture hu -<br />
man i ties pol icy, we sug gest that the hu man i -<br />
ties can play an im por tant role in this wid en ing<br />
<strong>of</strong> rea son able debate.<br />
Re-en vi sion ing Val ues in Pol icy De bates<br />
What is at stake here is <strong>of</strong> course some thing<br />
more than just the fu ture <strong>of</strong> a given pol icy<br />
school (sci en tific or oth er wise) or sci en tific re -<br />
search pro gram. The real prob lem is our so ci -<br />
ety’s over-re li ance upon tech ni cal so lu tions to<br />
our prob lems—fixes in volv ing a new tax pol -<br />
icy, eco nomic mech a nism, or sci en tific or<br />
tech no log i cal break through that al low us to<br />
over come a pol icy im passe with out mak ing a<br />
change in our selves. Of course some prob lems<br />
are ame na ble to tech ni cal so lu tions, but most<br />
live in a gray area that re quires a mix <strong>of</strong> sci -<br />
ence, tech nol ogy, and val ues anal y sis. For ex -<br />
am ple, wild fire pol icy has sci en tific (fire ecol -<br />
ogy), tech ni cal (fire re tar dant), and axiological<br />
(the mean ing <strong>of</strong> a healthy for est) as pects. Ste -<br />
phen Pyne (1999, x) re marks that in wild fire<br />
man age ment, “hu man is tic schol ar ship” is nec -<br />
es sary, be cause the “tech nol ogy could en able<br />
but not ad vise, [the] sci ence could ad vise but<br />
not choose,” and that ul ti mately the world <strong>of</strong><br />
po lit i cal econ omy needs “the vi tal ity and rigor<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
30
<strong>of</strong> phi los o phy, lit er a ture, and his tory if it were<br />
to choose wisely.” In the end, com plex prob -<br />
lems like those pre sented in wild fire man age -<br />
ment pres ent a be wil der ing mix <strong>of</strong> facts and<br />
val ues, and we are forced to ex am ine, and per -<br />
haps al ter, our be liefs about the right course <strong>of</strong><br />
ac tion. This re quires pub lic fo rums ca pa ble <strong>of</strong><br />
fos ter ing greater open ness to self-im prove -<br />
ment, better-tem pered con ver sa tion, and<br />
deeper re flec tion upon the mean ing <strong>of</strong> the<br />
good life within a technoscientific world.<br />
These goals have tra di tion ally be longed to the<br />
hu man i ties; prog ress in our pub lic de bates re -<br />
quires that they be come part <strong>of</strong> our pol icy<br />
processes.<br />
In formed by the con cepts, tools, and meth -<br />
od ol o gies found in the hu man i ties—e.g., the<br />
wider per spec tive <strong>of</strong> fered by his tory, the em -<br />
pathic un der stand ing gen er ated by lit er a ture,<br />
po etry, and art, and the log i cal clar ity <strong>of</strong> fered<br />
by phi los o phy—the hu man i ties aids pol icy<br />
con text anal y sis and en hance re flec tive di a -<br />
logue among stake holders in the pol icy pro -<br />
cess. It sup ple ments the val ues map ping ef -<br />
forts <strong>of</strong> the so cial sci ences by pro vid ing new<br />
cat e go ries <strong>of</strong> de scrip tion and al ter na tive meth -<br />
ods <strong>of</strong> eval u at ing pol icy mak ing. As a means<br />
<strong>of</strong> pol icy res o lu tion, hu man i ties pol icy gen er -<br />
ates op por tu ni ties for val ues ed u ca tion, clar i fi -<br />
ca tion, en hance ment, and trans for ma tion.<br />
Granted, the hu man i ties are not widely cel -<br />
e brated for their prac ti cal util ity. For over a<br />
cen tury now they have been jus ti fied largely<br />
on ro man ti cist grounds, their worth a mat ter<br />
be yond ba sic ne ces si ties, con sist ing in the dis -<br />
tinc tive plea sures <strong>of</strong> the life <strong>of</strong> the mind. This<br />
wor thy point should not blind us to the fact that<br />
since an cient times what we to day call hu man -<br />
is tic re flec tion was con sid ered es sen tial to a<br />
good life.<br />
Narrow and Wide Humanities <strong>Policy</strong><br />
Cri tiques <strong>of</strong> cur rent sci ence pol icy—or<br />
more sim ply, the dawn ing rec og ni tion that the<br />
sim ple ap pli ca tion <strong>of</strong> the nat u ral sci ences<br />
alone is un likely to solve the so ci etal prob lems<br />
in whose name they are jus ti fied—have led<br />
pub lic fund ing agen cies to make mod est in -<br />
vest ments in so cial sci ence. For ex am ple, re -<br />
search into the so cial and po lit i cal as pects <strong>of</strong><br />
cli mate change—known as “hu man con tri bu -<br />
tions and re sponses to global change”—re -<br />
ceives around two per cent <strong>of</strong> the US Global<br />
Cli mate Change Re search bud get, to tal ing $50<br />
mil lion. Even here, how ever, the over whelm -<br />
ing ma jor ity <strong>of</strong> this in vest ment goes to ward<br />
quan ti ta tive (<strong>of</strong> ten eco nomic) re search. The<br />
in vest ment in the hu man is tic as pects <strong>of</strong> is sues<br />
such as cli mate change has re mained quite<br />
small. The Hu man Ge nome pro ject co-spon -<br />
sors, the Na tional In sti tutes <strong>of</strong> Health (NIH)<br />
and the De part ment <strong>of</strong> En ergy (DOE), have de -<br />
voted five and three per cent <strong>of</strong> their re spec tive<br />
bud gets to so ci etal im pacts re search.<br />
There is <strong>of</strong> course some over lap be tween<br />
the fields, but to draw out the dif fer ences: the<br />
so cial sci ences de scribe val ues, while the hu -<br />
man i ties seek to im prove them. Draw ing from<br />
fields such as phi los o phy, lit er a ture, art, his -<br />
tory, and re li gion, hu man i ties pol icy ap plies<br />
hu man is tic knowl edge and per spec tives to<br />
prob lems in or der to clar ify, ex plore, chal -<br />
lenge, and re de fine pat terns <strong>of</strong> thought among<br />
stake holders in the pol icy pro cess. This in te -<br />
gra tion <strong>of</strong> the hu man i ties into pol icy de lib er a -<br />
tions can take dif fer ent (and com ple men tary)<br />
paths, which may be sum ma rized in terms <strong>of</strong><br />
nar row and wide hu man i ties pol icy.<br />
The nar row ap proach to hu man i ties pol icy<br />
is al ready pres ent to day in a va ri ety <strong>of</strong> fed eral<br />
con texts, such as Eth i cal, Le gal, and So ci etal<br />
Im pli ca tions (ELSI) pro gram within the Hu -<br />
man Ge nome Pro ject, the Na tional<br />
Nanotechnology Ini tia tive, and Eth ics and<br />
Val ues Stud ies (EVS) within the Na tional Sci -<br />
ence Foun da tion’s So cial Sci ence Di rec tor ate.<br />
This ap proach is char ac ter ized by a pre dom i -<br />
nant fo cus upon ques tions <strong>of</strong> eth ics and epis te -<br />
mol ogy. Brack et ing ar eas <strong>of</strong> philo sophic con -<br />
cern such as meta phys ics and aes thet ics, this<br />
ap proach fo cuses on ques tions <strong>of</strong> logic and<br />
knowl edge within is sues such as the re li abil ity<br />
<strong>of</strong> ge netic test ing for sus cep ti bil i ties to var i ous<br />
med i cal con di tions, and is sues such as pri vacy,<br />
au ton omy, and prior and in formed con sent.<br />
Sim i larly, is sues such as pa tient and re search<br />
vol un teer safety and fair ness in the use <strong>of</strong> ge -<br />
netic in for ma tion by in sur ers, em ploy ers, and<br />
the courts have loomed large.<br />
Nar row hu man i ties pol icy can also be de -<br />
fined in terms <strong>of</strong> its fo cus upon pro cess rather<br />
than prod uct. It takes a proceduralist ap proach<br />
to ques tions <strong>of</strong> val ues, em pha siz ing that the<br />
right re sult is the one that co mes from fol low -<br />
ing the proper pro ce dures: open de lib er a tion,<br />
prior and in formed con sent, and op por tu nity<br />
for di a logue. This per spec tive urges de ci sionmak<br />
ers and par tic i pants to overtly pro nounce<br />
and de fend their value in ter ests, rather than<br />
A FUTURE HUMANITIES POLICY<br />
31
treat them as per sonal pref er ences or purely<br />
given. Prac ti tio ners are urged to be open and<br />
hon est about their value com mit ments and<br />
make val ues an ex plicit part <strong>of</strong> their ra tio nale<br />
for de ci sion mak ing, just as sci en tific facts are.<br />
In seek ing to un cover and clar ify mo ti va -<br />
tions, hu man i ties pol icy can pro ceed by means<br />
<strong>of</strong> anal y sis or by shared di a logue. In the for mer<br />
case, hu man i ties pol icy com pares the stated<br />
(“for mal”) goals <strong>of</strong> an agency with its ac tual<br />
(“ef fec tive”) goals, and in cor po rates some ten -<br />
ets <strong>of</strong> the pol icy sci ences. Among the pol icy<br />
re search com mu nity, the pol icy sci ences may<br />
come clos est to the value-crit i cal anal y sis pro -<br />
moted by hu man i ties pol icy. By draw ing out<br />
log i cal im pli ca tions and, in some cases, con -<br />
tra dic tions, we can un cover philo sophic val ues<br />
and as sump tions that un der lie more vis i ble ac -<br />
tions and de ci sions. In this re spect, hu man i ties<br />
pol icy re veals the ex ist ing, if oth er wise in vis i -<br />
ble, mo ti vat ing val ues within an agency or sci -<br />
ence pol icy. While such val ues, once re vealed,<br />
may then be come open to pub lic or pri vate cri -<br />
tique, the spe cific con text will de ter mine<br />
whether they are then sub mit ted to eval u a tion<br />
and pos si ble re fine ment, or whether the anal y -<br />
sis will sim ply be meant to lead to greater<br />
trans par ency and more ef fi ciently fo cused en -<br />
er gies.<br />
In con trast, wide hu man i ties pol icy high -<br />
lights two ad di tional fac tors to those cov ered<br />
by nar row hu man i ties pol icy: draw ing upon a<br />
wider set <strong>of</strong> hu man i ties per spec tives and em -<br />
pha siz ing val ues ed u ca tion, eval u a tion, and<br />
mod i fi ca tion. Hu man i ties pol icy should not<br />
only be con cerned with see ing that ac tions are<br />
con sis tent with val ues; it should also de ter -<br />
mine, as far as pos si ble, which val ues are the<br />
best ones. Hu man i ties pol icy in this stron ger<br />
form seeks not just an ac count ing <strong>of</strong> val ues,<br />
but an ac tive role in shap ing this land scape.<br />
Wide hu man i ties pol icy at tempts to re shape<br />
the fun da men tal land scape <strong>of</strong> pol icy dis cus -<br />
sions: it is an at tempt at world mak ing, not just<br />
map-mak ing. Of course, the new land scape en -<br />
vi sioned by wide hu man i ties pol icy is not preformed;<br />
its shape and nu ance will re sult from<br />
ac tive di a logue on the val ues and goals <strong>of</strong> par -<br />
tic i pants and de ci sion-mak ers. Hu man i ties<br />
pol icy re joins the bat tle to iden tify and pro -<br />
mul gate val ues that im prove so ci ety and cre ate<br />
good pol icy. It is a re jec tion <strong>of</strong> the view that<br />
sees val ues as in ev i ta bly sub jec tive.<br />
More over, wide hu man i ties pol icy takes up<br />
tra di tional ar eas <strong>of</strong> philo soph i cal re flec tion<br />
that have fallen into dis fa vor, in ves ti gat ing<br />
ques tions such as what it means to be hu man. It<br />
be lieves that many <strong>of</strong> the is sues be ing brought<br />
up by sci ence and tech nol ogy to day re turn us<br />
to tra di tional aes thetic, meta phys i cal, and<br />
theo log i cal ques tions. For in stance, pos si ble<br />
fu ture ad vances in bio tech nol ogy do more<br />
than sim ply raise is sues <strong>of</strong> safety and prior<br />
con sent; they also go to the heart <strong>of</strong> what it<br />
means to be hu man. What would be the con se -<br />
quences for our sense <strong>of</strong> our selves if we can<br />
con sciously de sign chil dren? How would our<br />
sense <strong>of</strong> ac com plish ment be af fected if our<br />
skills and achieve ments were picked by some -<br />
one else? (see McKibben, 2003; Sandel, 2004)<br />
Aes thet ics pro vides a prom i nent ex am ple<br />
<strong>of</strong> the pos si ble con tri bu tion that the hu man i -<br />
ties can add to pol icy mak ing. While the anal y -<br />
sis <strong>of</strong> beauty has long been ruled by ro man ti -<br />
cist as sump tions that see art as pre dom i nantly<br />
a means <strong>of</strong> self-ex pres sion, aes thet ics has also<br />
been un der stood as tasked with force fully<br />
bring ing the re al ity <strong>of</strong> a sit u a tion home to peo -<br />
ple (Heidegger, 1971). On this view, aes thet ics<br />
consists in re al iza tion, mak ing some thing real<br />
and rel e vant to peo ple’s lives, whether it is a<br />
sci en tific fact or a per plex ity that a com mu nity<br />
finds it self in. Pic tures, paint ings, and fic tional<br />
nar ra tive be come bridges be tween bare fact<br />
and poi gnant mean ing, places where peo ple<br />
“get it,” fully grasp ing the im por tance <strong>of</strong>, say,<br />
sci en tific in sights to their daily lives.<br />
Aes thet ics al ready plays a con sti tu tive (if<br />
usu ally un ac knowl edged) role in the fram ing<br />
<strong>of</strong> pub lic pol icy. Take the ex am ple <strong>of</strong> acid mine<br />
drain age. Acid mine drain age (AMD) is a wa -<br />
ter qual ity prob lem com mon to rivers and lakes<br />
af fected by wa ter drain ing from mine sites. It is<br />
a crit i cal wa ter qual ity is sue around the world,<br />
af fect ing na tions from the Far East to Eu rope<br />
and the Amer i cas. Es ti mates <strong>of</strong> the costs <strong>of</strong><br />
cleanup within the US alone are in the tens <strong>of</strong><br />
bil lion <strong>of</strong> dol lars. As a mat ter <strong>of</strong> on go ing pub -<br />
lic pol icy, the beauty and pop u lar ity <strong>of</strong> a dam -<br />
aged area is fac tored into the de ci sion pro cess<br />
(along with other cri te ria such as cost, prox im -<br />
ity to pop u la tion ar eas, and de gree <strong>of</strong> dam age).<br />
Hu man i ties pol icy can help im prove such de -<br />
lib er a tions by mak ing them more hon est, sys -<br />
tem atic, and self-aware, as well as help them<br />
ap pre ci ate the ways in which aes thetic judg -<br />
ment are sus cep ti ble to rea son able dis cus sion<br />
(Frodeman, 2003).<br />
Re li gious thought pro vides an other no ta ble<br />
ex am ple <strong>of</strong> the pos si ble con tri bu tion <strong>of</strong> hu -<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
32
man i ties pol icy. Part <strong>of</strong> the rea son that val ues<br />
ed u ca tion has been passed over within the pol -<br />
icy move ment lies in our lack <strong>of</strong> ap pre ci a tion<br />
<strong>of</strong> the spir i tual di men sion <strong>of</strong> sci en tific prac -<br />
tice, whether it be nat u ral, so cial, or pol icy sci -<br />
ence. The point here has noth ing to do with<br />
sec tar ian re li gion. Be com ing a sci en tist re -<br />
quires much more than tech ni cal skill at mem -<br />
o riz ing con ge ries <strong>of</strong> facts or ma nip u lat ing for -<br />
mu las, equip ment, or meth od ol ogy. It also<br />
re quires more than the mys te ri ous spark <strong>of</strong> cre -<br />
ativ ity that seizes upon a prob lem in an orig i -<br />
nal way. Be com ing a sci en tist re quires dis ci -<br />
plin ing the soul as well as the in tel lect. The<br />
pa tient sift ing <strong>of</strong> facts, the will ing ness to set<br />
aside per sonal de sires to fol low ev i dence<br />
wher ever it leads, the fair-mind ed ness that<br />
helps an op po nent im prove his or her own ar -<br />
gu ment to the det ri ment <strong>of</strong> one’s own, the abil -<br />
ity to live with un cer tainty as a per ma nent fact<br />
<strong>of</strong> life: these qual i ties con sti tute what can be<br />
iden ti fied as the spir i tual el e ment ly ing at the<br />
heart <strong>of</strong> science.<br />
This point has real im pli ca tions for hu man i -<br />
ties pol icy. Con sider, for in stance, a Bud dhist<br />
per spec tive on pol icy. At its root Bud dhism is<br />
con cerned with the man age ment <strong>of</strong> de sire, <strong>of</strong> -<br />
fer ing a psy cho log i cal and philo soph i cal read -<br />
ing <strong>of</strong> our trou bles as be ing less based in the<br />
lack <strong>of</strong> pos ses sions, and more rooted in our un -<br />
will ing ness to place lim its on our wants. Bud -<br />
dhist prac tice—for Bud dhism is pri mar ily a<br />
set <strong>of</strong> prac tices rather than a sys tem <strong>of</strong> be -<br />
liefs—fo cuses on loos en ing our at tach ment to<br />
our own wants. Suf fer ing re sults from the at -<br />
tach ment to what we want; lessen this, and we<br />
lessen our heart ache.<br />
Such points have gen er ally been taken as a<br />
mat ter <strong>of</strong> per sonal phi los o phy. But as an ex am -<br />
ple <strong>of</strong> a hu man i ties pol icy, a Bud dhist-in flu -<br />
enced sci ence pol icy could com ple ment our<br />
pre dom i nantly scientistic ap proach to prob -<br />
lems by rec og niz ing the folly <strong>of</strong> dog matic de -<br />
vo tion to tech no log i cal fixes (see Sivaraksa,<br />
1992). This ap proach to ward hu man i ties pol -<br />
icy could thus help ed u cate us to be more ju di -<br />
cious in the pur suit <strong>of</strong> our own de sires within<br />
pol icy de bates.<br />
As sug gested ear lier—and not with out a<br />
touch <strong>of</strong> irony—the most ef fec tive way to pro -<br />
mote such prac tices may be to ex tract and gen -<br />
er al ize the set <strong>of</strong> skills found within sci en tific<br />
prac tice, adapt ing them for the world <strong>of</strong> pol -<br />
icy-mak ing and po lit i cal de bate. But if an ed u -<br />
ca tion in per sonal val ues is pos si ble within sci -<br />
en tific prac tice, why not within the prac tice <strong>of</strong><br />
pol icy-mak ing and po lit i cal de bate? This<br />
would not, <strong>of</strong> course, mean an ed u ca tion in<br />
what is the “right” opin ion about, e.g., wel fare<br />
pay ments or the size <strong>of</strong> gov ern ment, but rather<br />
an in creased at ten tion to im prov ing the pro -<br />
cess and de meanor <strong>of</strong> po lit i cal de bate through<br />
per sonal trans for ma tion. This trans for ma tion<br />
also hear kens back to the idea <strong>of</strong> Bildung, a<br />
Ger man term that de fines ed u ca tion as largely<br />
con sist ing in the de vel op ment <strong>of</strong> a self that is<br />
more self-aware, em pa thetic, and self-con -<br />
trolled.<br />
The out stand ing cur rent ex am ple <strong>of</strong> a wide<br />
ap proach to hu man i ties pol icy is the Pres i -<br />
dent’s Coun cil on Bioethics, which uses a wide<br />
range <strong>of</strong> hu man i ties ma te ri als (phi los o phy, lit -<br />
er a ture, re li gion, etc.) to in form its de lib er a -<br />
tions on is sues such as stem cell re search, clon -<br />
ing, ge netic en hance ment, and ag ing. The field<br />
<strong>of</strong> bioethics, with its or i gins in the 1960s, is an<br />
ex em plary case <strong>of</strong> nar row hu man i ties pol icy,<br />
fo cus ing on var i ous ques tions <strong>of</strong> eth ics and<br />
epis te mol ogy such as the au ton omy and rights<br />
<strong>of</strong> pa tients, and de vis ing more nuanced def i ni -<br />
tions such as that <strong>of</strong> brain death. In con trast,<br />
the Pres i dent’s Coun cil has been dis tinc tive in<br />
ex pand ing the range <strong>of</strong> top ics to in clude the<br />
full range <strong>of</strong> the hu man i ties. Its re cent com pi -<br />
la tion <strong>of</strong> read ings, Be ing Hu man, draws from a<br />
wide va ri ety <strong>of</strong> po etry, sa cred books, his tory,<br />
phi los o phy, sci ence, and per sonal es says<br />
(Pres i dent’s Coun cil on Bioethics, 2003).<br />
The re ac tions that the Coun cil’s de lib er a -<br />
tions have elic ited have been tell ing. On the<br />
one hand, the Coun cil’s at tempt to bring an ex -<br />
panded sense <strong>of</strong> the hu man i ties to bear in pol -<br />
icy for mu la tion has been crit i cized for its tech -<br />
no log i cal pes si mism and per ceived po lit i cally<br />
con ser va tive agenda, and for its lack <strong>of</strong> ex plicit<br />
pol icy rec om men da tions: “there are times for<br />
get ting to the damn point” (Brainard, 2004).<br />
But on the other, Be ing Hu man has sold out its<br />
ini tial print ing <strong>of</strong> 5000 cop ies, and its work has<br />
been praised in a num ber <strong>of</strong> pub li ca tions as a<br />
ground break ing ef fort in alert ing the pub lic to<br />
the op por tu ni ties and dan gers <strong>of</strong> bio tech nol -<br />
ogy (e.g, Schaub, 2004). The Coun cil’s goal <strong>of</strong><br />
in form ing rather than di rect ing pub lic con ver -<br />
sa tion ex em pli fies the pos si ble con tri bu tions<br />
<strong>of</strong> hu man i ties policy.<br />
A FUTURE HUMANITIES POLICY<br />
33
Conclusion<br />
This es say con sti tutes only a pro le gom e non<br />
to a fu ture hu man i ties pol icy. The only real<br />
way to tell whether the claims made here are<br />
co gent will be to test them through a se ries <strong>of</strong><br />
case stud ies (e.g., Frodeman, 2003). Only<br />
through a sus tained ex plo ra tion <strong>of</strong> is sues such<br />
as cli mate change, bio tech nol ogy, and<br />
nanotechnology will we be able to iden tify the<br />
con se quences <strong>of</strong> a se ri ous com mit ment to hu -<br />
man i ties pol icy.<br />
None the less, this es say does serve a mod est<br />
pur pose. For even the bare in tro duc tion <strong>of</strong> the<br />
idea that the hu man i ties have sig nif i cant con -<br />
tri bu tions to make to pol icy de bates serves as<br />
an in vi ta tion to keep an eye out for ne glected<br />
di men sions <strong>of</strong> so ci etal is sues. The de vel op -<br />
ment <strong>of</strong> a more hu man is tic ap proach to sci ence<br />
pol icy re search will best oc cur through a thou -<br />
sand in quir ing thoughts and in cre men tal ac -<br />
tions in as many sit u a tions.<br />
REFERENCES<br />
Ascher, Wil liam. (1986). “The Evo lu tion <strong>of</strong> the Pol icy<br />
Sci ences: Un der stand ing the Rise and Avoid ing the<br />
Fall,” Jour nal <strong>of</strong> Pol icy Anal y sis and Man age ment 5, no.<br />
2: 365-389.<br />
Brainard, Jeffrey. (2004) “A New Kind <strong>of</strong> Bioethics,”<br />
Chron i cle <strong>of</strong> Higher Ed u ca tion (May 21), A22.<br />
Bush, Vannevar. (1945) Sci ence—The End less Fron tier.<br />
Wash ing ton, D.C.: United States Gov ern ment Print ing<br />
Of fice. Avail able from http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/<br />
nsf50/vbush1945.htm<br />
Callahan, Dan iel. (2003). What Price Better Health?<br />
Haz ards <strong>of</strong> the Re search Im per a tive. Berke ley, CA:<br />
University <strong>of</strong> California Press.<br />
DeLeon, Peter. (1998) “Introduction: The Evidentiary<br />
Base for Pol icy Anal y sis: Em pir i cist Ver sus<br />
Postpositivist Positions,” <strong>Policy</strong> Studies Journal, 26, no.<br />
1: 109–13.<br />
DeLeon, Pe ter, and Sam Over man. (1997). “A His tory <strong>of</strong><br />
the Pol icy Sci ences,” in Jack Rabin, W. Bartley<br />
Hildreth, and Ger ald J. Miller, eds. Hand book <strong>of</strong> Pub lic<br />
Administration, 2nd ed. New York: Dekker, 467–505.<br />
Dewey, John. (1930). “From Ab so lut ism to<br />
Experimentalism,” in vol. 2 <strong>of</strong> G. P. Ad ams and W. P.<br />
Montague, eds. Con tem po rary Amer i can Phi los o phy.<br />
New York: Macmillan, 13–27.<br />
Frodeman, Rob ert. (2003) Geo-Logic: Break ing Ground<br />
be tween Phi los o phy and the Earth Sci ences. Al bany,<br />
NY: SUNY Press.<br />
Frodeman, Rob ert, Carl Mit cham, and Roger Pielke, Jr.,<br />
(2003) “Hu man i ties Pol icy — and a Pol icy for the Hu -<br />
manities,” Is sues in Sci ence and Tech nol ogy 20 (Fall):<br />
29-32.<br />
Heidegger, Mar tin. (1971) “The Or i gin <strong>of</strong> the Work <strong>of</strong><br />
Art,” in Po etry, Lan guage, Thought, trans. Al bert<br />
H<strong>of</strong>stadter. New York: Harper and Row, 17–87.<br />
Lasswell, Har old D. (1970) “The Emerg ing Con cep tion<br />
<strong>of</strong> the Pol icy Sci ences,” Pol icy Sci ences 1: 3–14.<br />
Lasswell, Har old, and Myres McDougal. (1992) Jurispru<br />
dence for a Free So ci ety: Stud ies in Law, Sci ence<br />
and Pol icy, 2 vols. West Ha ven, CT: Uni ver sity <strong>of</strong> New<br />
Haven Press.<br />
Levi, Al bert Wil liam. (1959). Phi los o phy and the Mod -<br />
ern World. Bloomington, IN: In di ana Uni ver sity Press.<br />
McKibben, Bill. (2003) Enough: Stay ing Hu man in an<br />
En gi neered Age. New York: Times Books.<br />
Moulakis, Athanasios. (1994) Be yond Util ity: Lib eral<br />
Ed u ca tion for a Tech no log i cal Age. Co lum bia, MO:<br />
University <strong>of</strong> Missouri Press.<br />
Proc tor, Rob ert. (2002). Value Free Sci ence? Pu rity and<br />
Power in Mod ern Knowl edge. Cam bridge, MA: Har -<br />
vard Uni ver sity Press.<br />
Pyne, Ste phen. (1999). “Smokechasing,” Ideas from the<br />
Na tional Hu man i ties Cen ter 6, no. 2. Avail able from:<br />
http://www.nhc.rtp.nc.us/ideasv62/pyne.htm<br />
Sandel, Mi chael. (2004) “The Case Against Per fec tion,”<br />
At lan tic Monthly 293 (April): 50–60.<br />
Sarewitz, Dan iel, and Roger A. Pielke, Jr. (2000). Break -<br />
ing the Global Warm ing Grid lock. At lan tic Monthly 286<br />
(July): 55–64.<br />
Sarewitz, Dan iel. (2003) “Does Sci ence Pol icy Ex ist, and<br />
If So, Does it Mat ter?: Some Ob ser va tions on the U.S.<br />
R&D Bud get,” Dis cus sion Pa per for Earth In sti tute Sci -<br />
ence, Technology, and Global Development Seminar,<br />
April 8.<br />
Scanlon, Thomas. (1982) “Contractualism and Util i tar i -<br />
an ism,” in Amartya Sen and Ber nard Wil liams, eds.,<br />
Util i tar i an ism and Be yond. Cam bridge: Cam bridge<br />
Uni ver sity Press, 103–28.<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
34
Schaub, Di ana. (2004) “Me thu se lah and Us,” The New<br />
Atlantis 2, no. 4. Avail able from http://<br />
www.thenewatlantis.com/archive/4/schaub.htm.<br />
Sivaraksa, Sulak. (1992) Seeds <strong>of</strong> Peace: A Bud dhist Vi -<br />
sion for Re new ing So ci ety. Berke ley: Par al lax.<br />
The Pres i dent’s Coun cil on Bioethics. (2003) Be ing Hu -<br />
man: Read ings from the Pres i dent’s Coun cil on<br />
Bioethics. New York: Regan Books. Avail able from<br />
http://www.bioethics.gov/bookshelf/<br />
A FUTURE HUMANITIES POLICY<br />
35
SCI ENCE IN A REAL-WORLD CON TEXT<br />
CON STRUCT ING KNOWL EDGE THROUGH RE CUR SIVE LEARN ING<br />
Matthias Gross and Wolfgang Krohn<br />
The ex per i men tal method is a most pow er -<br />
ful means <strong>of</strong> the em pir i cal sci ences that com -<br />
bines the the ory-based ask ing <strong>of</strong> ques tions<br />
with the readi ness to reg is ter sur prises. From<br />
the days <strong>of</strong> Ga li leo (1564–1642) and Fran cis<br />
Ba con (1561–1626) var i ous mod els have con -<br />
cep tu al ized the ten sion be tween do ing some -<br />
thing with na ture and ob serv ing it, be tween de -<br />
duc tive rea son ing and in duc tive ex pe ri ence,<br />
be tween mod el ing ar ti fi cial set-ups and be ing<br />
in com plex en vi ron ments, be tween con trol<br />
and un der stand ing. For a long time, the phi los -<br />
o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence made ex per i men ta tion sub ser -<br />
vi ent to the ory. Re cent stud ies from his tory<br />
(Gooding, 1990), so ci ol ogy (Pickering, 1995),<br />
and the phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence (Hack ing, 1983;<br />
Rheinberger, 1997) have strongly mod i fied<br />
this view. It is now widely ac cepted that ex per -<br />
i men ta tion has a liv ing space <strong>of</strong> its own with<br />
strik ingly dif fer ent re la tions to con cep tual<br />
work in var i ous fields <strong>of</strong> re search. But in each<br />
case the ten sion that the ex per i men tal method<br />
con sti tutes be tween in ter ven ing into re al ity<br />
and un der stand ing it is what makes ex per i -<br />
men ta tion an uniquely pow er ful learn ing strat -<br />
egy, even if the ten sion it self is still open to<br />
philo soph i cal re flec tion.<br />
If it is so suc cess ful, why then is it re stricted<br />
to the ar ti fi cial world <strong>of</strong> the lab o ra tory? Ob vi -<br />
ously, be cause the method is paved with sur -<br />
prises, fail ures, er rors, and ex cep tions that<br />
peo ple most likely do not want to ex pe ri ence in<br />
real life. The in sti tu tional set-up <strong>of</strong> the lab o ra -<br />
tory con fines all out comes to a spe cial world,<br />
mak ing it easy to start anew if some thing bad<br />
hap pens. If new knowl edge is achieved, the<br />
costs <strong>of</strong> trial and er ror can quickly be for got -<br />
ten. But mis takes im ply no dan gers for any one<br />
in real life. No one ex cept the “mad sci en tist”<br />
movie star would ac cept the risks as so ci ated<br />
with this kind <strong>of</strong> knowl edge pro duc tion. The<br />
lab o ra tory sym bol izes an ex clu sive so cial re al -<br />
ity where these risks are wel come. For na ture<br />
too, the lab o ra tory pro vides a de gree <strong>of</strong> con -<br />
trol, <strong>of</strong> bound ary and ini tial con di tions, <strong>of</strong> the<br />
in stru men ta tion <strong>of</strong> ob ser va tion and mea sure -<br />
ment <strong>of</strong> ef fects, so that the causal anal y sis <strong>of</strong><br />
sur prises can be much better ac counted for<br />
than those ex pe ri enced in na ture at large.<br />
It would be point less to deny these so cial<br />
and epistemic ad van tages <strong>of</strong> lab o ra tory sci -<br />
ence. But the ar gu ment can be made that these<br />
ad van tages are achieved by ide als <strong>of</strong> con -<br />
straint, ab strac tion, sim plic ity, and pu rity at<br />
odds with the course <strong>of</strong> na ture and so ci ety.<br />
More over, these ide als have given rise to a<br />
world-view that in ter prets the space, time,<br />
things, and peo ple <strong>of</strong> the world as faint ap prox -<br />
i ma tions <strong>of</strong> the ab strac tions that make up the<br />
lab o ra tory world. Phi los o phers <strong>of</strong> sci ence<br />
have only started to de cons truct this worldview<br />
(cf. Cart wright 1999; Frodeman, 2003).<br />
Con tem po rary so ci ety in creas ingly faces<br />
re search strat e gies that, de spite their ex per i -<br />
men tal fea tures, can not be re stricted to the spe -<br />
cial world <strong>of</strong> the lab o ra tory. Re lease ex per i -<br />
ments with ge net i cally mod i fied or gan isms,<br />
which are par a dox i cal in char ac ter, are a good<br />
ex am ple. The ques tion as to whether the risks<br />
<strong>of</strong> re leas ing GMOs are ac cept able can only be<br />
an swered by re leas ing them. Even if small<br />
scale and sim u la tion stud ies serve to re strict<br />
the risks, they even tu ally can only serve to<br />
sharpen the hy poth e ses sur round ing ex per i -<br />
men tal ac tion in the open field. (For an in ter -<br />
est ing ex am ple see Levidov, 2003.) An even<br />
more ex treme case oc curs with the anal y sis <strong>of</strong><br />
high-risk tech nol o gies such as nu clear power<br />
plants. They are built and run ac cord ing to<br />
care fully de vel oped safety mea sures and se cu -<br />
rity plans. But whether or not these cover all<br />
rel e vant fac tors <strong>of</strong> po ten tial tech no log i cal and<br />
or ga ni za tional mal func tion ing is an open<br />
ques tion, to be an swered only by putt ing the<br />
in stal la tions into op er a tion (Krohn and<br />
Weingart, 1987). An al most op po site en sem -<br />
ble <strong>of</strong> cases can be made <strong>of</strong> land fills. These<br />
have been built more or less care lessly, with<br />
the only goal be ing to get rid <strong>of</strong> waste as<br />
cheaply as pos si ble, only to dis cover that they<br />
are “wild bio-chem i cal re ac tors” (ex pert opin -<br />
ion) no body can con trol. Land fills have turned<br />
out to be un will ingly in stalled ex per i men tal<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY SUPPLEMENT 2004<br />
36
sta tions to which only later hy po thet i cal rea -<br />
son ing was at tached (Krohn, 2003).<br />
These and other cases pro vide ev i dence that<br />
de spite the risks <strong>of</strong> real world ex per i men ta -<br />
tion—partly de lib er ately and partly un will -<br />
ingly—the ex per i men tal method has spread<br />
through out so ci ety, leav ing be hind the re stric -<br />
tions <strong>of</strong> the lab o ra tory. Whether the cases are<br />
taken to be ac cept able or not de pends on a va ri -<br />
ety <strong>of</strong> fac tors we can only men tion in pass ing:<br />
in for ma tion, vol un ta rism, fair dis tri bu tion <strong>of</strong><br />
costs and ben e fits, avail abil ity <strong>of</strong> al ter na tives,<br />
and so on. A phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence that se ri -<br />
ously con sid ers this so ci etal char ac ter <strong>of</strong> ex -<br />
per i men tal learn ing faces an im por tant task in<br />
de vel op ing a frame work for keep ing in bal -<br />
ance sci en tific knowl edge pro duc tion and so -<br />
cial change.<br />
The cases so far men tioned sug gest that ex -<br />
per i men ta tion be yond the lab o ra tory is a re -<br />
cent phe nom e non. In the fol low ing we want to<br />
pro pose that there is a much older and more<br />
deeply rooted un der stand ing <strong>of</strong> the so cial<br />
char ac ter <strong>of</strong> mod ern sci ence. We have se lected<br />
a set <strong>of</strong> epistemological po si tions that will al -<br />
low us to think through the idea <strong>of</strong> ex per i men -<br />
ta tion in so ci ety by high light ing dif fer ent as -<br />
pects. The se lec tion is guided by a for mula<br />
which J. W. von Goe the (1749–1832) chose as<br />
the ti tle for one <strong>of</strong> his es says on nat u ral phi los -<br />
o phy: “The ex per i ment as me di a tor be tween<br />
sub ject and ob ject.” We want to give it a more<br />
gen eral read ing than Goe the did. There are<br />
var i ous ways in which ex per i men ta tion can be<br />
de fined as a re la tion be tween those who ex per -<br />
i ment and the re al ity ex per i mented upon. The<br />
lab o ra tory view is that the ex per i ment nei ther<br />
ef fects the ex per i menter nor re al ity, but when<br />
the job is done be comes part <strong>of</strong> his tory. Al ter -<br />
na tive views take into ac count that the ex per i -<br />
menter as sub ject is also sub jected to change<br />
ex erted by the ex per i ment, and that re al ity<br />
does not re main the same af ter hav ing been<br />
treated by in stru men tal pro cess ing.<br />
The fol low ing sec tions out line some <strong>of</strong> the<br />
po si tions de vel oped. They shall es cort us to a<br />
richer un der stand ing <strong>of</strong> real-world ex per i men -<br />
ta tion as a way <strong>of</strong> chang ing and de sign ing so ci -<br />
ety and na ture. They should also dem on strate<br />
the rel e vance <strong>of</strong> the en dur ing value <strong>of</strong> cre ative<br />
en gage ment with his tor i cal writ ings in the<br />
fields <strong>of</strong> phi los o phy and so ci ol ogy <strong>of</strong> sci ence.<br />
Experimentation Institutionalized:<br />
The Baconian Con tract<br />
Our first ref er ence is to Fran cis Ba con who<br />
was the first phi los o pher to re flect upon the re -<br />
la tion <strong>of</strong> the ex per i men tal method and so ci ety.<br />
He was also in flu en tial in the for ma tion <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Car te sian world view, which dis tin guished the<br />
ex per i menter’s realm from the world <strong>of</strong> ob -<br />
jects ex per i mented upon and priv i leged hu man<br />
(ra tio nal) be ings as mas ters <strong>of</strong> the world to<br />
which they es sen tially do not be long.<br />
Ba con’s most pro voc a tive pro posal was the<br />
idea that ap proval <strong>of</strong> the ex per i men tal method<br />
in phi los o phy and sci ence would turn so ci ety<br />
it self into an ex per i ment. Af ter try ing in vain to<br />
use his po si tion in the high est ad min is tra tive<br />
ranks <strong>of</strong> the Brit ish Em pire to ad vance the new<br />
sci ence by ei ther po lit i cal res o lu tion or no ble<br />
pa tron age, he re sorted to pub lic ity: “I turn to<br />
men; to whom I have cer tain sal u tary ad mo ni -<br />
tions to <strong>of</strong> fer and cer tain fair re quests to make”<br />
(Great In stau ra tion, pref ace, para graph 5).<br />
Among the re quests is “to join in con sul ta tion<br />
for the com mon good” (para graph 6). Later,<br />
hav ing pon dered the pros and cons <strong>of</strong> the new<br />
ex per i men tal method, he de clares: “Lastly,<br />
even if the breath <strong>of</strong> hope . . . were fainter than<br />
it is and harder to per ceive; yet the trial (if we<br />
would not bear a spirit al to gether ab ject) must<br />
by all means be made” (Novum Organum, I,<br />
114). In the Latin orig i nal: “experiendum<br />
esse.”<br />
So ci ety should give the ex per i men tal<br />
method an ex per i men tal chance. The prom ises<br />
<strong>of</strong> gains can not be jus ti fied by an tic i pa tory ar -<br />
gu ment, but only by prac tic ing the new<br />
method. Those who are re luc tant are in vited to<br />
con sider the deal in terms <strong>of</strong> a risk as sess ment:<br />
“For there is no com par i son be tween that<br />
which we may lose by not try ing and by not<br />
suc ceed ing; since by not try ing we throw away<br />
the chance <strong>of</strong> an im mense good: by not suc -<br />
ceed ing we only in cur the loss <strong>of</strong> a lit tle hu man<br />
la bor. But . . . it ap pears to me . . . that there is<br />
hope enough and to spare, not only to make a<br />
bold man try [ad experiendum], but also to<br />
make a so ber-minded and wise man be lieve”<br />
(Novum Organum, I, 114). Ba con’s re mark -<br />
able in sight into the so ci etal risks <strong>of</strong> po lit i cally<br />
au tho riz ing the ex per i men tal method <strong>of</strong> sci -<br />
ence is as so ci ated with a set <strong>of</strong> in sti tu tional<br />
con di tions and epistemological ax i oms. These<br />
are:<br />
SCI ENCE IN A REAL-WORLD CON TEXT<br />
37
The po ten tial harm <strong>of</strong> new knowl edge is<br />
con cealed from so ci ety, be cause sci ence is<br />
per formed by a fra ter nity <strong>of</strong> in sid ers who have<br />
taken an oath to se crecy un til the use ful ness <strong>of</strong><br />
new knowl edge and tech nol ogy is ap proved by<br />
ex perts [“And this we do also: we have con sul -<br />
ta tions, which <strong>of</strong> the in ven tions and ex pe ri -<br />
ences which we have dis cov ered shall be pub -<br />
lished, and which not; and take all an oath <strong>of</strong><br />
se crecy, for the con ceal ing <strong>of</strong> those which we<br />
think fit to keep se cret” (New Atlantis III,<br />
264)].<br />
Ex per i men tal fail ure as well as er rors <strong>of</strong> hy -<br />
po thet i cal rea son ing are ac cept able be cause<br />
they af fect only the in ter nal dis course <strong>of</strong> sci -<br />
ence, not its so cial en vi ron ment. So ci ety is ex -<br />
cluded from the prac tice <strong>of</strong> sci ence. Be ing in -<br />
ter nal to sci ence, fail ure and er ror are<br />
con sid ered harm less or valu able. Mis takes in<br />
the lab o ra tory can be eas ily cor rected (Novum<br />
Organum, II, Aph o rism XX).<br />
Sci en tific re sults have the form <strong>of</strong> ef fects,<br />
which can—if prop erly un der stood—be<br />
“superinduced” into many ob jects <strong>of</strong> the ma te -<br />
rial world (e.g. mag ne tism, color). Nat u ral<br />
laws are con sid ered to be dis po si tions for ac -<br />
tion (Novum Organum, II, Aph o rism IV).<br />
An ex per i menter is not part <strong>of</strong> the ex per i -<br />
ment. He or she changes ob jects with out be ing<br />
changed.<br />
These con di tions <strong>of</strong> ac cept ing ex per i men tal<br />
sci ence be came in sti tu tion al ized in the found -<br />
ing charters <strong>of</strong> sci en tific acad e mies and so ci et -<br />
ies, and they be came com po nents <strong>of</strong> the dom i -<br />
nant ide ol ogy for sup port ing sci en tific<br />
prog ress. They formed what has come to be<br />
called the con tract be tween sci ence and so ci -<br />
ety (Gib bons et al., 1994) and be tween so ci ety<br />
and na ture (Serres, 1995).<br />
This is a re mark able con struc tion. There is<br />
no other func tional field in so ci ety—nei ther<br />
pol i tics, nor econ omy, nor the le gal sys tem,<br />
not to men tion arts, ed u ca tion, or re li gion—<br />
where a com pa ra ble type <strong>of</strong> ac tion on a trial<br />
ba sis is in sti tu tion ally de fined. We still largely<br />
be lieve in and live with this con trac tual<br />
scheme. Yet its prob lem atic im pli ca tions with<br />
re spect to our at ti tudes to ward and ac tion<br />
against na ture are well known and are in need<br />
<strong>of</strong> re vi sion, as Goe the was al ready able to re al -<br />
ize.<br />
Goethe and the Experimenter’s Self<br />
Johann Wolfgang von Goe the, as au thor<br />
and nat u ral ist re searcher, calls this con cept <strong>of</strong><br />
dis tance and dom i na tion into ques tion and de -<br />
vel ops a view <strong>of</strong> ex per i men ta tion com monly<br />
paved by con tri bu tions from both sides. Goe -<br />
the is, <strong>of</strong> course, best known for his drama<br />
Faust, which por trays an ex per i men tal seeker<br />
<strong>of</strong> truth with quite a dif fer ent char ac ter than the<br />
Baconian sci en tists. Dr. Fau stus was de voted<br />
to sci ence with all his worldly life and his eter -<br />
nal soul. Fau stus not only per formed ex per i -<br />
ments but also lived an ex per i men tal life, in -<br />
clud ing all the risks that the Baconian con tract<br />
had re stricted to the spe cial world <strong>of</strong> the lab o -<br />
ra tory. Fau stus con ducted a real-life ex per i -<br />
ment driven by an un lim ited will to knowl -<br />
edge, ready to face ev ery ex pe ri ence <strong>of</strong> fered to<br />
him on the ba sis <strong>of</strong> the Mephistophelean con -<br />
tract. He was ab so lutely con vinced that fac ing<br />
the ev i dence <strong>of</strong> truth would be some thing very<br />
dif fer ent from the pos ses sion <strong>of</strong> some prop o si -<br />
tional knowl edge able to be traded to oth ers. If<br />
his en deavor is still con sid ered to be re search,<br />
it is in al most ev ery re spect a coun ter-par a -<br />
digm to the Baconian idea <strong>of</strong> do ing sci ence.<br />
Surely Goe the was not Faust, what ever<br />
Faust ian traits may have driven him. His to ri -<br />
ans <strong>of</strong> sci ence ac knowl edge Goe the as a rather<br />
dis tin guished re searcher <strong>of</strong> his own in var i ous<br />
fields—the ory <strong>of</strong> color, ge ol ogy, bot any, and<br />
anat omy. Yet there are re la tions be tween his<br />
fic tional char ac ter and his phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> ex -<br />
per i men tal sci ence. When Goe the’s con tro -<br />
versy with the New to nian stan dard model <strong>of</strong><br />
color reached its first peak, he wrote a small es -<br />
say, The Ex per i ment as Me di a tor Be tween Ob -<br />
ject and Sub ject (1988, orig i nally writ ten in<br />
1792–1793).<br />
Its ba sic idea is that ex per i men ta tion is a<br />
mu tual pro cess <strong>of</strong> shap ing the ob server and the<br />
ob served field <strong>of</strong> study. Shap ing the ob served<br />
field means gen er at ing phe nom ena de pend ent<br />
on con di tions set by the ex per i menter. Shap ing<br />
ob serv ers means let ting their ex pe ri ences ex -<br />
pand their skills <strong>of</strong> do ing and see ing. Ex per i -<br />
men ta tion is a con tin u ous prac tice <strong>of</strong> ex pand -<br />
ing both the phe nom ena and our<br />
un der stand ing <strong>of</strong> their sim i lar i ties and dis sim i -<br />
lar i ties (Krohn, 1998).<br />
Whereas the Baconian lab o ra tory re flects a<br />
view <strong>of</strong> na ture where ma te ri als and ef fects can<br />
be iso lated, stored, and used at will for var i ous<br />
pur poses, the Goethean field-lab o ra tory re -<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
38
flects the fol low ing view: “As ev ery thing in<br />
na ture, es pe cially the gen eral pow ers and el e -<br />
ments are in ev er last ing ef fect and coun ter ef -<br />
fect, it can be said <strong>of</strong> ev ery phe nom e non that it<br />
re lates to in nu mer a ble oth ers just as a free glid -<br />
ing point <strong>of</strong> light is said to emit its rays into ev -<br />
ery di rec tion” (HA, vol 13, 17f.). Goe the’s<br />
mes sage is by no means meant to guard nat u ral<br />
phe nom ena from the ar ti facts <strong>of</strong> ex per i men ta -<br />
tion, but to ex pand one’s own ex pe ri ence <strong>of</strong> the<br />
phe nom e nal world by means <strong>of</strong> ex per i ment. It<br />
is this mu tual ex pan sion <strong>of</strong> phe nom ena made<br />
vis i ble and the lived ex pe ri ence <strong>of</strong> the re -<br />
searcher that makes ex per i men ta tion a me di at -<br />
ing op er a tion. “Have we per formed an ex per i -<br />
ment . . . we can not care fully enough<br />
in ves ti gate what im me di ately bor ders on it. . . .<br />
The di ver si fi ca tion <strong>of</strong> ev ery sin gle ex per i ment<br />
is the nat u ral sci en tist’s es sen tial duty” (HA,<br />
XIII, 18).<br />
Goe the was con vinced that the stan dard<br />
method <strong>of</strong> test ing ideas by ex per i ment was a<br />
dan ger ous in vi ta tion to ex ert hu man power<br />
over na ture and to dom i nate, in stead <strong>of</strong> de -<br />
velop a pro cess <strong>of</strong> mu tual im pact. A fi nal quote<br />
shows how Goe the was will ing to use the<br />
Baconian ter mi nol ogy <strong>of</strong> power, vic tory, and<br />
de feat, but to use it in a sym met ri cal way and<br />
thereby aban don it:<br />
If some one trained in vi va cious ob ser va tion be -<br />
gins to strug gle with na ture, he first feels the tre -<br />
men dous de sire/drive to con quer things. It does<br />
not last long, how ever, so that they force their<br />
way into him so bru tally, that he feels well how<br />
much rea son there is to ac knowl edge their<br />
power and to adore/ad mire their im pact. Hav ing<br />
re al ized this mu tual in flu ence he shall be come<br />
aware <strong>of</strong> a dou ble in fin ity: with re spect to the<br />
ob jects the man i fold <strong>of</strong> be ing and be com ing and<br />
the vi va cious cross over <strong>of</strong> their re la tions, with<br />
re spect to him self the po ten tial <strong>of</strong> in fi nite for -<br />
ma tion (Ausbildung) by skill fully de vel op ing<br />
his sus cep ti bil ity as well as his judg ment to ever<br />
new forms <strong>of</strong> ac com mo da tion and coun ter ac -<br />
tion. (HA XIII, p. 53; Mor ph ol ogy, Apol o gies <strong>of</strong><br />
the work)<br />
The in ter pre ta tion <strong>of</strong> the ex per i ment as a pro -<br />
cess <strong>of</strong> mu tual form ing <strong>of</strong> sub ject and ob ject<br />
con veys con cepts de vel oped in the eigh teenth<br />
cen tury. These con cepts were de vel oped to<br />
link bi o log i cal pro cesses <strong>of</strong> self-or ga ni za tion<br />
to hu man ists’ con cepts <strong>of</strong> ed u ca tion as a pro -<br />
cess <strong>of</strong> in structed self-for ma tion. To lis ten<br />
care fully to na ture’s in struc tions is as im por -<br />
tant as guid ing her to ex hibit fur ther<br />
phe nom ena.<br />
Goe the de vel oped his con cep tion more or<br />
less as a de fen sive po si tion against what he<br />
con sid ered to be the mo nop o lis tic New to nian<br />
school. Rather than di rect ing it against phys -<br />
ics, it might be more ap pro pri ate to take it as an<br />
al ter na tive model <strong>of</strong> ex per i men tal prac tice<br />
fruit ful in non-lab o ra tory fields <strong>of</strong> re search.<br />
Bryson (2002) has traced back a sim i lar no tion<br />
<strong>of</strong> ex per i ment to Henry Thoreau’s so journ to<br />
Walden Pond and the po lar sci en tist Rich ard<br />
Evelyn Byrd con ducted im por tant re search on<br />
Ross Ice Bar rier in Antarctica in the 1930s on a<br />
re lated ba sis <strong>of</strong> un der stand ing the ex per i ment<br />
(Norton, 2002; Gross, 2003b).<br />
Liebig’s Experimentation with Natural<br />
Cy cles<br />
The chem ist Justus von Liebig (1803–<br />
1873) was among the first to deal with the eco -<br />
log i cal prob lems aris ing from mod ern iza tion.<br />
Prob lems <strong>of</strong> ur ban iza tion and in dus tri al iza tion<br />
prod ded him to re con sider the so ci ety-na ture<br />
re la tion ship from a sci en tific per spec tive.<br />
Liebig was fa mous for sev eral ac tiv i ties:<br />
founder <strong>of</strong> the first ac a demic chem is try lab o ra -<br />
tory, founder <strong>of</strong> ag ri cul tural chem is try and in -<br />
ven tor <strong>of</strong> ar ti fi cial fer til izer, ed i tor <strong>of</strong> the lead -<br />
ing jour nal <strong>of</strong> chem is try, ex tremely suc cess ful<br />
in pop u lar iz ing chem is try, and in flu en tial in<br />
shap ing the uni ver sity train ing <strong>of</strong> chem i cal<br />
pro fes sion als. His early ca reer brought him<br />
fame as one <strong>of</strong> the most dis tin guished<br />
experimentalists in or ganic chem is try, while<br />
his stu dents spread all over the world to es tab -<br />
lish chem is try-based in dus tries.<br />
Later he de vel oped a view <strong>of</strong> na ture that<br />
turned his ex per i men tal work to ward an in ves -<br />
ti ga tion <strong>of</strong> the cy cli cal re pro duc tion <strong>of</strong> life.<br />
This was, <strong>of</strong> course, a philo soph i cal par a digm<br />
with a long tra di tion. But only Liebig was the<br />
first to turn the par a digm into a chem i cal re -<br />
search pro gram. The aim was to an a lyze the<br />
con di tions <strong>of</strong> life with out ref er ence to mys te ri -<br />
ous fac tors such as the vi tal force or for ma tive<br />
drive.<br />
Liebig in ves ti gated life dy nam ics on di -<br />
verse lev els. The most ba sic was to ex per i men -<br />
tally re con struct how or ganic sub stances car -<br />
ried out chem i cal syn the sis. Fol low ing the<br />
fa mous first syn the sis <strong>of</strong> uric acid by Friedrich<br />
Wöhler in 1828, it was as sumed that all or -<br />
SCI ENCE IN A REAL-WORLD CON TEXT<br />
39
ganic sub stances could be re pro duced ar ti fi -<br />
cially. At a sec ond level, it was nec es sary to<br />
un der stand how the equi lib rium <strong>of</strong> plant and<br />
an i mal life is main tained over time and un der<br />
chang ing nu tri ent con di tions. On yet an other<br />
level, or ganic chem ists be gan to an a lyze how<br />
dif fer ent spe cies <strong>of</strong> plants and an i mals in ter act<br />
to main tain their en vi ron ments. Fi nally, the<br />
same ques tion was ad dressed in terms <strong>of</strong> the<br />
sta bil ity <strong>of</strong> world cli mate. The re sult was a<br />
grand the ory <strong>of</strong> eco-equi lib rium—that was<br />
also an at tempt to build a chem i cal im pe ri al -<br />
ism, end ing tra di tional ag ri cul tural and farm -<br />
ing re search, and try ing to sup press emerg ing<br />
work in mi cro bi ol ogy, whose most im por tant<br />
ex po nent, Louis Pas teur, was an equally strong<br />
player <strong>of</strong> pol i tics in sci ence (Krohn and<br />
Schäfer, 1982).<br />
The in tro duc tion <strong>of</strong> Liebig’s fa mous Chem -<br />
is try in its Ap pli ca tion to Ag ri cul ture and<br />
Phys i ol ogy (1840) states:<br />
Our pres ent re search in nat u ral his tory pro ceeds<br />
from the con vic tion that laws <strong>of</strong> in ter ac tion not<br />
only ex ist among two or three, but rather among<br />
all phe nom ena which in the realm <strong>of</strong> min er als,<br />
plants, and an i mals con di tion life on the sur face<br />
<strong>of</strong> the earth. Thus none <strong>of</strong> them is sep a rate but at<br />
all times joined to one or sev eral oth ers, all <strong>of</strong><br />
them linked to gether with out be gin ning and<br />
with out end. The se quence <strong>of</strong> these phe nom ena,<br />
their or i gins and their de par tures, may be com -<br />
pared to the tidal move ment within a cy cle.<br />
(1840, 87)<br />
The point is that in di vid ual ex per i ments have<br />
value only with re spect to their func tion in the<br />
com pre hen sive study <strong>of</strong> life on earth, which by<br />
no means can be re duced to the con fines <strong>of</strong> the<br />
lab o ra tory.<br />
While tack ling the sig nif i cant ques tion <strong>of</strong><br />
whether car bo hy drates can be con verted into<br />
fats, Liebig took the op por tu nity to re buke the<br />
poor state <strong>of</strong> ex per i men ta tion in an i mal phys i -<br />
ol ogy:<br />
With out be ing ac quainted with the con di tions<br />
or even ask ing whether such con di tions ex ist<br />
they first <strong>of</strong> all ex clude ev ery thing which would<br />
make it pos si ble to an swer the ques tion. The an -<br />
i mals are put into a state <strong>of</strong> ar ti fi cially in duced<br />
dis ease, de prived <strong>of</strong> all nour ish ment; . . . they<br />
ex clude all those mat ters that play a part in . . .<br />
the sus te nance <strong>of</strong> vi tal func tions act ing on fat<br />
for ma tion. They then be lieve that these mis er a -<br />
ble and cruel ex per i ments have fur nished pro<strong>of</strong>.<br />
. . . These ex per i ments serve only to prove the<br />
ig no rance and to tal in ca pac ity <strong>of</strong> these ex per i -<br />
ment ers to <strong>of</strong> fer a so lu tion to such ques tions.<br />
(1944, 40–41)<br />
What is sig nif i cant here is that in so far as or -<br />
ganic chem i cal ex per i men ta tion is de ter mined<br />
by the con cept <strong>of</strong> the cy cles <strong>of</strong> the el e men tary<br />
com po nents <strong>of</strong> plants, an i mals, soils, and the<br />
at mo sphere, it must be guided by a sci en tific<br />
view that en com passes this real world. Given<br />
the fact that Liebig was fa mous for his in ven -<br />
tive ca pac ity as an ex per i menter and for his<br />
stub born chem i cal reductionism, this at tempt<br />
to de ter mine the lab o ra tory world in terms <strong>of</strong><br />
its global en vi ron ment was a re mark able shift.<br />
Liebig im pressed his con tem po rar ies not<br />
only with this early view <strong>of</strong> a sci ence-based<br />
ecol ogy, but also with his dis cus sion about the<br />
nat u ral con di tions <strong>of</strong> the his tory and fu ture <strong>of</strong><br />
cul ture. All in all, his move into ag ri cul tural<br />
chem is try had the goal <strong>of</strong> pro vid ing in dus trial<br />
so ci ety with a safe and sus tain able ba sis <strong>of</strong> nu -<br />
tri tion. Liebig deeply in flu enced Karl Marx<br />
(1818–1883) with his warn ings against ru in -<br />
ous ex ploi ta tion ef fected by eco nom i cally ori -<br />
en tated farm ing. While Liebig be lieved that<br />
would ra tio nal ize ag ri cul tural in dus try, Marx<br />
did not think so ci ety would be able to con trol a<br />
pro cess in which cap i tal is de ter mined to ac cu -<br />
mu late on an ever-in creas ing ba sis.<br />
Both Liebig and Marx wanted to dem on -<br />
strate the im por tance <strong>of</strong> na ture for so ci ety and<br />
to base their rec om men da tions for so ci etal<br />
change on sci ence. The ba sic mes sage <strong>of</strong> ar ti fi -<br />
cial fer til izer is that only a com pre hen sive un -<br />
der stand ing <strong>of</strong> the chem is try <strong>of</strong> the world en -<br />
ables us to in tro duce tech nol o gies with<br />
pre dict able and con trol la ble ef fects. By and<br />
large, Liebig was mis taken in his own time,<br />
and as ge netic en gi neer ing prom ises the even<br />
larger scale techno-sci en tific plan ning <strong>of</strong> ag ri -<br />
cul ture and the en vi ron ment, such a pro gram is<br />
no less doubt ful. Yet it is the sort <strong>of</strong> real world<br />
ex per i men ta tion that Liebig pro posed from<br />
which les sons about the com plex ity and in de -<br />
ter mi nate non-lin ear dy nam ics <strong>of</strong> na ture are<br />
learned.<br />
The ar gu ment so far thus draws at ten tion to<br />
the fact that the Baconian con tract, de spite its<br />
in sti tu tional and epistemic power, was al ways<br />
in ter spersed with dif fer ent types <strong>of</strong> sci en tific<br />
en deav ors. This be gan with Ba con’s own view<br />
on the con tract it self as trig ger ing so ci etal<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
40
prog ress into an un known fu ture. Al low ing for<br />
ex per i men ta tion even un der well de scribed in -<br />
sti tu tional con di tions im plies un pre dict able<br />
con se quences. There are rea son able ex pec ta -<br />
tions. But they are, af ter all, <strong>of</strong> a hy po thet i cal<br />
char ac ter. The ac cep tance <strong>of</strong> sci en tific ex per i -<br />
men ta tion, even if re stricted to the lab o ra tory,<br />
gives so ci ety an ex per i men tal turn. It is the<br />
pres ent sit u a tion that makes this his tor i cal<br />
read ing <strong>of</strong> Ba con in ter est ing.<br />
To sum ma rize: Es tab lish ment <strong>of</strong> the in sti tu -<br />
tional and epistemic dis tances be tween the<br />
lab o ra tory world and its so ci etal, per sonal, and<br />
nat u ral en vi ron ments is a deeply rooted and<br />
pow er ful myth. How ever, this myth has both<br />
been ques tioned (Goe the) and re for mu lated<br />
(Liebig), and can not be the guide line for sci -<br />
ence as it is em bed ded in the de vel op ing<br />
knowl edge so ci ety.<br />
We turn to the so cial sci ences, which <strong>of</strong> fer a<br />
still dif fer ent view <strong>of</strong> ex per i men ta tion, as they<br />
have been forced from the very be gin ning to<br />
bring to gether ex per i men tal tri als and changes<br />
<strong>of</strong> in di vid ual lives and so cial struc tures. It is<br />
un avoid able that ex per i men ta tion in the so cial<br />
sci ences is em bed ded in the real-world.<br />
Early Attempts at an Experimental Public<br />
So cial Sci ence<br />
From its early institutionalization, Amer i -<br />
can so cial sci ence so ci ol o gists de vel oped a<br />
per spec tive that, on one hand, adopted the ter -<br />
mi nol ogy and meth od ol ogy <strong>of</strong> the nat u ral sci -<br />
ences while, on the other, viewed so cial set -<br />
tings, the city, and even the evolv ing so ci ety as<br />
“lab o ra to ries.” The met a phor has been in use<br />
at least since the cre ation <strong>of</strong> the De part ment <strong>of</strong><br />
So ci ol ogy at the found ing <strong>of</strong> Uni ver sity <strong>of</strong><br />
Chi cago in 1892. When the Uni ver sity was es -<br />
tab lished, it was be lieved that there was con -<br />
sid er able po ten tial for so cial re search to pro -<br />
vide in sights that would <strong>of</strong> fer guid ance for<br />
so ci ety. The idea <strong>of</strong> the city <strong>of</strong> Chi cago as a so -<br />
cial lab o ra tory par ex cel lence was one <strong>of</strong> the<br />
key sug ges tions <strong>of</strong> the first pro fes sor <strong>of</strong> the De -<br />
part ment, Albion W. Small (1854–1926). The<br />
idea can be fol lowed in the first Amer i can text -<br />
book <strong>of</strong> so ci ol ogy, a mono graph en ti tled An<br />
In tro duc tion to the Study <strong>of</strong> So ci ety (1894),<br />
which Small co-authored with George E. Vin -<br />
cent. In the in tro duc tion Small and Vin cent de -<br />
scribed their book bluntly as a “lab o ra tory<br />
guide” to study ing peo ple in their “ev ery-day<br />
oc cu pa tions” (1894, 15). Small and Vin cent<br />
in deed be lieved that their “book is to be com -<br />
pared with lab o ra tory guides in bi ol ogy” (17).<br />
It was meant to out line a method through<br />
which stu dents could study the ex per i ments<br />
go ing on in so ci ety with “units” de scrib ing<br />
pro ce dures for spe cific ex per i ments or ob ser -<br />
va tions. This also in cluded ready-made ex per -<br />
i ments, or ex per i ments that were “set up” by<br />
oth ers. Small and Vin cent, along with other so -<br />
ci ol o gists, be lieved that so cio log i cal re search<br />
should be un der stood as tak ing place in side a<br />
so cial lab o ra tory. To Small ev ery out come <strong>of</strong> a<br />
so cial pro cess is based on an ex per i ment. In an<br />
ar ti cle on “the fu ture <strong>of</strong> so ci ol ogy” Small<br />
stated:<br />
All life is ex per i men ta tion. Ev ery spon ta ne ous<br />
or vol un tary as so ci a tion is an ex per i ment. Ev -<br />
ery con scious or un con scious ac qui es cence in a<br />
habit is an ex per i ment. . . . Each civ i li za tion in<br />
the world to day, each mode <strong>of</strong> liv ing side by<br />
side within or in be tween the sev eral civ i li za -<br />
tions is an ex per i ment. . . . All the lab o ra to ries in<br />
the world could not carry on enough ex per i -<br />
ments to mea sure a thim ble ful com pared with<br />
the world <strong>of</strong> ex per i men ta tion open to the ob ser -<br />
va tion <strong>of</strong> so cial sci ence. The rad i cal dif fer ence<br />
is that the lab o ra tory sci en tists can ar range their<br />
own ex per i ments while we so cial sci en tists for<br />
the most part have our ex per i ments ar ranged for<br />
us. (Small, 1921, 187–88)<br />
This strong state ment that all so cial life is<br />
ex posed to ex per i men tal set tings and en gaged<br />
in ex per i men tal per for mances needs qual i fi ca -<br />
tion, since view ing all pur pose ful ac tion as<br />
bound to risks <strong>of</strong> trial and er ror would not pro -<br />
vide a con cep tual ba sis for a new method <strong>of</strong> ex -<br />
per i men tal so ci ol ogy. As Er nest Green wood<br />
(1976) has ar gued the hit-or-miss or the trialand-er<br />
ror con cep tion <strong>of</strong> ex per i ment is quite in -<br />
ad e quate as a sci en tific method. In fact, with -<br />
out qual i fi ca tions, even the dis tinc tion be -<br />
tween bi o log i cal and so cial ac tion eas ily<br />
be comes blurred. Still, Small’s at tempt at<br />
found ing the idea <strong>of</strong> ex per i men ta tion not in<br />
sci en tific method but in so cial life—and<br />
thereby im port ing the ex per i men tal con di tions<br />
from the ob ject un der study into the method <strong>of</strong><br />
the so cio log i cal ob server—is a re mark able<br />
move, even if it cries out for a more pre cise<br />
spec i fi ca tion <strong>of</strong> the so ci etal and cul tural con di -<br />
tions that give so cial life its ex per i men tal char -<br />
ac ter is tics.<br />
SCI ENCE IN A REAL-WORLD CON TEXT<br />
41
The no tion <strong>of</strong> so ci ety as a lab o ra tory was<br />
first ap plied to all so cial set tle ments, but later<br />
mainly used with ref er ence to cit ies (see<br />
Deegan, 1988; Park, 1929). Other Chi cago so -<br />
cial sci en tists work ing in ar eas <strong>of</strong> so cial work<br />
and pub lic pol icy, like Charles Henderson,<br />
used the term so cio log i cal lab o ra tory to in di -<br />
cate the mix ture <strong>of</strong> so cial set tle ments and so -<br />
cio log i cal re search as a uni fied part <strong>of</strong> the pro -<br />
gres sive de vel op ment <strong>of</strong> so ci ety. Ac cord ing to<br />
Mary Jo Deegan (1988), the im prove ment <strong>of</strong><br />
set tle ments was as so ci ated with so cial work, at<br />
that time un der taken mainly by women, and<br />
the de tached ob server ideal <strong>of</strong> the so ci ol o gists<br />
was the male per spec tive on the so cial lab o ra -<br />
tory. Not with stand ing such a de bat able com -<br />
par i son, for both women and men the so cio -<br />
log i cal pro duc tion <strong>of</strong> knowl edge went hand in<br />
hand with so cial re form. For in stance, the ap -<br />
pli ca tion <strong>of</strong> newly ac quired knowl edge to so ci -<br />
ety and the de sign <strong>of</strong> strat e gies that would feed<br />
knowl edge di rectly back into so ci ety, was<br />
prac ticed in stud ies on de vi ance, on so cial in -<br />
sur ance, on al le vi a tion <strong>of</strong> un em ploy ment, and<br />
on the study <strong>of</strong> the im pact <strong>of</strong> im mi grants on so -<br />
cial change (e.g. Addams, 1970; Henderson,<br />
1898; Lathrop, 1894; Small and Vin cent,<br />
1894). It is this re cur sive pro cess be tween<br />
knowl edge-in formed stra te gic ac tion or in sti -<br />
tu tional plan ning and me thod i cally guided ob -<br />
ser va tion <strong>of</strong> prac ti cal de vel op ment that gives<br />
the ap proach <strong>of</strong> Small an op er a tional in ter pre -<br />
ta tion. It is so ci ety that runs the ex per i ment,<br />
but so ci ol ogy can be in flu en tial in set ting the<br />
con di tions. The pros pects <strong>of</strong> re form as well as<br />
the dan gers <strong>of</strong> tech no cratic con trol im plied in<br />
this ap proach are obvious.<br />
Jane Addams (1860–1935) ex em pli fied the<br />
spirit <strong>of</strong> this view <strong>of</strong> re search prac tice in so ci -<br />
ety. Addams, who won world wide rec og ni tion<br />
in the first third <strong>of</strong> the twen ti eth cen tury as a pi -<br />
o neer so cial worker, in 1889 leased a large<br />
home orig i nally built by Charles Hull to gether<br />
with her friend El len G. Starr. The two women<br />
moved in. Hull House was planned to be come<br />
a set tle ment house like Toynbee Hall in the<br />
slums <strong>of</strong> Lon don, which Addams had vis ited a<br />
few years be fore. In the pref a tory note to a col -<br />
lec tion <strong>of</strong> ar ti cles on Hull-House Maps and<br />
Pa pers, Addams stated that the pri mary ideal<br />
<strong>of</strong> the first so cial set tle ment in Chi cago was<br />
that a group <strong>of</strong> uni ver sity men should re side in<br />
the poorer quar ter for the sake <strong>of</strong> in form ing<br />
and in flu enc ing the peo ple there to ward better<br />
lo cal gov ern ment and a wider so cial and in tel -<br />
lec tual life (Addams, 1970, vii–viii.) (For a<br />
gen eral ap praisal <strong>of</strong> set tle ment so ci ol ogy be -<br />
tween the 1880s and the 1930s see<br />
Lengermann and Niebrugge-Brantley, 2002).<br />
To be fair, fif teen years later Addams con -<br />
fessed that she ob jected to the phrase “so cio -<br />
log i cal lab o ra tory,” be cause “set tle ments<br />
should be some thing much more hu man and<br />
spon ta ne ous than such a phrase con notes”<br />
(Addams, 1967, 309). In like man ner, Charles<br />
Henderson re marked that the peo ple work ing<br />
in so cial set tle ments “very nat u rally re sent the<br />
no tion that a Set tle ment is a ‘lab o ra tory’ where<br />
in quis i tive in ves ti ga tors may pur sue meth ods<br />
<strong>of</strong> vivi sec tion and tor ture, in or der to il lus trate<br />
or test so cio log i cal the o ries” (Henderson,<br />
1899, 183). Al though Henderson un der stands<br />
this ob jec tion and calls it just, he nev er the less<br />
be lieves that ex act sci ence in set tle ment work<br />
is im por tant. He re peat edly points out that the<br />
best sci en tific work is done by those who ac tu -<br />
ally par tic i pate and work in the set tle ments<br />
them selves, since “sci ence and sen ti ment are<br />
not en e mies, but com rades” (184). In this vein<br />
also Addams, in al most ev ery chap ter <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Hull-House vol ume, talks about ex per i ments<br />
when re fer ring to pro jects at Hull-House as<br />
well as to other ac tiv i ties con nected with so cial<br />
set tle ments. The list ranges from ex per i ments<br />
with dif fer ent s<strong>of</strong>t drinks as a sub sti tute for al -<br />
co hol to the gen eral idea <strong>of</strong> “co op er a tive ex -<br />
per i ments” when re fer ring to team work with<br />
other city groups and in sti tu tions.<br />
It thus seems that ex per i ment for Addams<br />
also meant some thing that was not nec es sar ily<br />
to take place in a “sci en tific” and de tached lab -<br />
o ra tory. How ever, it also did not mean that ev -<br />
ery so cial ac tion or any mo ment in which a<br />
change had been ef fected was an ex per i ment.<br />
Ex per i men ta tion in so ci ety, so Addams and<br />
oth ers im plic itly sug gest, al ways in cludes an<br />
ex pected el e ment <strong>of</strong> un cer tainty that can not be<br />
fully elim i nated by plan ning. In fact, it should<br />
not. The mul ti ple di men sions <strong>of</strong> hu man wellbe<br />
ing make what we have called the “ex per i -<br />
men tal sys tem” so com plex that any at tempt to<br />
de scribe it com pletely, let alone to pre dict its<br />
course <strong>of</strong> de vel op ment, would be il lu sory. Or<br />
to re verse the ar gu ment: Peo ple are not sub ject<br />
to ex per i ments but ac tively par tic i pate in them.<br />
It is the peo ple who test the o ret i cal as sump -<br />
tions about so cial life un der re al is tic con di -<br />
tions, which are to a cer tain de gree con trol la -<br />
ble.<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
42
Addams’ idea <strong>of</strong> dif fer ent Hull-House pro -<br />
jects as ex per i ments also ac knowl edged the<br />
ex is tence <strong>of</strong> cer tain bound ary con di tions or the<br />
con trolled vari a tion <strong>of</strong> pa ram e ters. In deed,<br />
this has el e ments <strong>of</strong> an un der stand ing <strong>of</strong> ex per -<br />
i ment as a re form pro cess, a no tion em braced<br />
prom i nently by Don ald Camp bell (1969) at a<br />
later date. Hence in this tra di tion so cial pro -<br />
cesses are in creas ingly un der stood as ex per i -<br />
ments in cop ing with the struc tural com plex ity<br />
and the un pre dict able dy nam ics <strong>of</strong> mod ern so -<br />
cial city life con ducted by so ci ety on it self. So -<br />
ci ol o gists can thus be con ceived as de tached<br />
and ob jec tive sci en tists who de liver ob jec tive<br />
knowl edge and also as prac ti tio ners who al -<br />
most si mul ta neously feed knowl edge back<br />
into so ci ety to im prove so cial con di tions. This<br />
means that ex per i men ta tion in so ci ety, as un -<br />
der stood by the Chi cago so ci ol o gists around<br />
1900, al lows the di rect ap pli ca tion <strong>of</strong> so cio -<br />
log i cal knowl edge to set tle ments, which in<br />
turn feeds back data for the anal y sis <strong>of</strong> so ci ety,<br />
and thus trans forms this pro cess into a so cio -<br />
log i cal ex per i ment. Fur ther more, it places the<br />
ob serv ing so ci ol o gist in the midst <strong>of</strong> the ex per -<br />
i ment itself.<br />
Sci ence in the City: Rob ert Park’s<br />
Foundation <strong>of</strong> Urban Sociology<br />
Tak ing up the no tion <strong>of</strong> ex per i ment em -<br />
braced by the early found ers <strong>of</strong> the dis ci pline,<br />
Rob ert E. Park and Er nest Bur gess in their in -<br />
flu en tial text book In tro duc tion to the Sci ence<br />
<strong>of</strong> So ci ol ogy (Park and Bur gess, 1972) along<br />
with other writ ings by Park, mar shaled the<br />
early Chi cago ideas <strong>of</strong> proto-par tic i pant ob ser -<br />
va tion into a widely re spected re search pro -<br />
gram. Ac cord ing to Park, the city was to be<br />
treated as a so cial lab o ra tory. The con cept<br />
would in clude the walls, the houses, tools,<br />
build ings, and cir cu lat ing things (Park, 1915).<br />
In this ap proach, all parts <strong>of</strong> the en vi ron ment<br />
are in ter de pen dent and moved by in di vid ual,<br />
col lec tive, and eco log i cal forces (see Park,<br />
1915; 1925a; 1925b; 1929; 1936; and 1939).<br />
In or der to un der stand the cha otic de vel op -<br />
ment <strong>of</strong> the great cit ies it was, as Park later<br />
termed it, “the nat u ral ar eas” that should be in -<br />
ves ti gated. The nat u ral area de scribes a unit <strong>of</strong><br />
in ves ti ga tion as dis tin guished from the “ar ti fi -<br />
cially” de fined cul tural or po lit i cal area:<br />
A re gion is called a “nat u ral area” be cause it co -<br />
mes into ex is tence with out de sign, and per -<br />
forms a func tion, as in the case <strong>of</strong> the slum, that<br />
may be con trary to any body’s de sire. It is a nat u -<br />
ral area be cause it has a nat u ral his tory. (Park,<br />
1929, 9)<br />
Ev ery city, ar gued Park, has such seg re -<br />
gated ar eas in the forms <strong>of</strong> busi ness dis tricts,<br />
dwell ings, sat el lite cit ies, slums, and cer tain<br />
im mi gra tion belts. For Park, plan ning in so ci -<br />
ety is an at tempt to di rect the eco log i cal ba sis<br />
<strong>of</strong> so ci ety. But this is not as easy as it seems. He<br />
wrote:<br />
Cit ies are al ways get ting out <strong>of</strong> hand. The ac tual<br />
plan <strong>of</strong> the city is never a mere ar ti fact, it is al -<br />
ways quite as much a prod uct <strong>of</strong> na ture as <strong>of</strong> de -<br />
sign. (Park, 1925a, 674)<br />
Harvey Zorbaugh, one <strong>of</strong> Park’s stu dents, also<br />
ob served:<br />
The city is cu ri ously re sis tant to the fi ats <strong>of</strong> man.<br />
Like the ro bot, cre ated by man, it goes its own<br />
way in dif fer ent to the will <strong>of</strong> its creator. Re -<br />
form ers have stormed, the av a ri cious have spec -<br />
u lated, and thought ful have planned. But again<br />
and again their pro grams have met with ob sta -<br />
cles. Hu man na ture <strong>of</strong> fers some op po si tion; tra -<br />
di tions and in sti tu tions <strong>of</strong> fer more; and—<strong>of</strong> es -<br />
pe cial sig nif i cance—the very phys i cal<br />
con fig u ra tion <strong>of</strong> the city is un yield ing to<br />
change. (Zorbaugh, 1926, 188)<br />
In the un der stand ing <strong>of</strong> the Chi cago school<br />
<strong>of</strong> so ci ol ogy the mod ern city and thus mod ern<br />
so ci ety in gen eral were in part nat u ral phe nom -<br />
ena. There is hu man na ture and there is the<br />
phys i cal en vi ron ment that works to gether or<br />
against hu man cul ture. In thus point ing out the<br />
“nat u ral” side in this un der stand ing <strong>of</strong> the city,<br />
Park, Zorbaugh, and oth ers are simply call ing<br />
spe cial at ten tion to the in ter nal dy nam ics <strong>of</strong><br />
mod ern so ci ety, which re sult from mod ern<br />
means <strong>of</strong> plan ning and pro duc tion. Ev ery plan<br />
hu mans set out is ac tu ally tested within their<br />
own so ci ety. Hu mans make nat u ral ar eas, but<br />
their dy nam ics ap pear to be “nat u ral.” Quite<br />
<strong>of</strong> ten, it is a so ci ety rad i cal ized against the<br />
paths and cat e go ries <strong>of</strong> their own plan ning.<br />
This, in turn, tells the ob serv ing so ci ol o gist<br />
some thing about so ci ety.<br />
In this ap proach the so ci etal dy namic is al -<br />
ways per ceived in terms <strong>of</strong> its de pend ency on<br />
the ma te rial en vi ron ment. In the cha otic cityjun<br />
gle the unity <strong>of</strong> re search was what Park<br />
termed the “nat u ral area.” Nat u ral ar eas can be<br />
SCI ENCE IN A REAL-WORLD CON TEXT<br />
43
e garded as poles <strong>of</strong> or der in an oth er wise dis -<br />
or dered world. What com plex ity the o rists to -<br />
day call is lands <strong>of</strong> sta bil ity in a sea <strong>of</strong> dis or der<br />
is, in a cer tain sense, iden ti cal to what the so ci -<br />
ol o gists <strong>of</strong> the Chi cago School would have<br />
said about their nat u ral ur ban ar eas: ar eas <strong>of</strong><br />
tem po rary, and al ways un cer tain, sta bil ity.<br />
Changes that “tend to have the char ac ter <strong>of</strong><br />
some thing that is at least in dig e nous to the sit -<br />
u a tion and the so ci ety in which it ex ists” (Park,<br />
1939, 8) may evolve.<br />
Park thus in cor po rated both the nat u ral and<br />
the cul tural into his view <strong>of</strong> the city as a lab o ra -<br />
tory. In this con text he <strong>of</strong> ten stressed the com -<br />
plex ity and com pli ca tion <strong>of</strong> so cial re la tions,<br />
while stress ing how this <strong>of</strong> fered new pos si bil i -<br />
ties, es pe cially in cit ies (e.g., 1915, 608). This,<br />
for Park, is that “which jus ti fies the view that<br />
would make the city a lab o ra tory or a clinic in<br />
which hu man na ture and so cial pro cesses may<br />
be most con ve niently and pr<strong>of</strong> it ably stud ied”<br />
(1915, 612). In the re vised ver sion <strong>of</strong> his clas -<br />
sic piece, “The City,” Park stated that “the city,<br />
es pe cially the great city, in which more than<br />
else where hu man re la tions are likely to be im -<br />
per sonal and ra tio nal . . . is in a very real sense<br />
a lab o ra tory for the in ves ti ga tion <strong>of</strong> col lec tive<br />
be hav ior” (Park, 1925b, 31). In terms <strong>of</strong> Park’s<br />
per cep tions, the de vel op ment <strong>of</strong> the city and <strong>of</strong><br />
so ci ety at large can thus be un der stood as as so -<br />
ci ated with pro cesses that “ex per i men tally”<br />
re sult in a better un der stand ing <strong>of</strong> how so ci ety<br />
“works.”<br />
In Chicago: An Ex per i ment in So cial Sci -<br />
ence Re search (1929), the ed i tors Thomas<br />
Smith and Leslie White gath ered twelve ar ti -<br />
cles on the re search done in the city <strong>of</strong> Chi -<br />
cago. The lead ar ti cle was Park’s “The City as<br />
a So cial Lab o ra tory,” where he again de -<br />
scribed the city as “the nat u ral hab i tat <strong>of</strong> civ i -<br />
lized man.” The city rep re sents the most con -<br />
sis tent and suc cess ful at tempt to re make the<br />
world in which peo ple live. How ever:<br />
If the city is the world which man cre ated, it is<br />
the world in which he is hence forth con demned<br />
to live. Thus, in di rectly and with out any clear<br />
sense <strong>of</strong> the na ture <strong>of</strong> his task, in mak ing the city<br />
man has re made him self. It is in some such<br />
sense and in some such con nec tion as this that<br />
we may think <strong>of</strong> the city as a so cial lab o ra tory.<br />
(Park, 1929, 1)<br />
Since the city “mag ni fies, spreads out, and<br />
ad ver tises hu man na ture in all its var i ous man -<br />
i fes ta tions” it is “<strong>of</strong> all places the one in which<br />
to dis cover the se crets <strong>of</strong> hu man hearts, and to<br />
study hu man na ture and so ci ety” (19). In the<br />
pref ace to Nels An der son’s mono graph The<br />
Hobo, Park stated: “If it is true that man made<br />
the city, it is quite as true that the city is now<br />
mak ing man” (Park, 1923, v). For Park, so ci ol -<br />
ogy is on its way to be com ing “an ex per i men -<br />
tal sci ence,” just as he had pre vi ously ar gued<br />
that:<br />
ex per i ments are go ing on in ev ery field <strong>of</strong> so cial<br />
life, in in dus try, in pol i tics, and in re li gion. In all<br />
these fields men are guided by some im plicit or<br />
ex plicit the ory <strong>of</strong> the sit u a tion, but this the ory is<br />
not <strong>of</strong> ten stated in the form <strong>of</strong> a hy poth e sis and<br />
sub jected to a test <strong>of</strong> the neg a tive in stances. (In<br />
Park and Bur gess, 1921, 45; em pha sis added)<br />
Here Park elab o rate the idea <strong>of</strong> Small’s that so -<br />
ci ety it self is op er a tive in de sign ing so cial ex -<br />
per i ments. Again, for Park the city is the most<br />
prom i nent place for cre at ing and sup port ing<br />
the ex per i men tal spirit. But if ex per i men ta tion<br />
is to mean more than sim ple trial and er ror, the -<br />
ory and de sign <strong>of</strong> ac tion must be taken se ri -<br />
ously. It is this move that gives Park’s re flec -<br />
tion upon real life ex per i ments per formed in<br />
all fields <strong>of</strong> so ci ety a fur ther boost.<br />
In or der to gain from these ex per i ments,<br />
Park’s idea is that “the prac ti cal so ci ol o gist<br />
must have the abil ity to en ter into the in ner life<br />
and share the feel ings and sen ti ments <strong>of</strong> all<br />
sorts <strong>of</strong> peo ple.” And he con tin ues, “The<br />
method to which I re fer is the in ten sive study<br />
<strong>of</strong> the typ i cal and in di vid ual” (Park, 1913,<br />
167f.). For Park, im plic itly, an ex per i men tal<br />
method in so ci ol ogy would have to be un der -<br />
stood as a way <strong>of</strong> get ting in side group be hav -<br />
ior, <strong>of</strong> gen er at ing data in “nat u rally” oc cur ring<br />
con texts and al low ing in ter pre tive so cial sci -<br />
en tists to get as close as pos si ble to their sub -<br />
ject mat ter. What Park con tended was that<br />
mod ern so ci ety had turned it self into a place<br />
that could be un der stood as the lab o ra tory for<br />
in ves ti gat ing so ci ol o gists. With this type <strong>of</strong> ex -<br />
per i ment go ing on, the so ci ol o gist as ex per i -<br />
menter was bound to par tic i pate in com plex<br />
net works <strong>of</strong> ac tors im bed ded in in sti tu tional<br />
and nat u ral en vi ron ments they could not com -<br />
pletely con trol. Even less could they be con -<br />
trolled by so ci ol ogy.<br />
A sci en tific ob server <strong>of</strong> so ci ety has to par -<br />
tic i pate in the ex per i ment that so ci ety is un der -<br />
tak ing on it self. What dis tin guished Park’s<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
44
ideas from those <strong>of</strong> an ear lier gen er a tion was<br />
be lief in the ex is tence <strong>of</strong> an or ga nized re search<br />
pro cess and re form in step with evo lu tion ary<br />
changes that iden ti fied the place <strong>of</strong> so ci ol ogy<br />
in so ci ety. In Park’s and his col leagues’ view,<br />
the ap pli ca tion <strong>of</strong> newly gained so cio log i cal<br />
knowl edge is in turn able to tell the ob serv ing<br />
so ci ol o gist some thing about the fun da men tals<br />
<strong>of</strong> so ci ety. From this per spec tive the pro duc -<br />
tion <strong>of</strong> so cial sci en tific knowl edge and its ap -<br />
pli ca tion in so ci ety are cy cli cally inter-de -<br />
pend ant and can not be treated as if they were<br />
de tached from one an other. So ci ol ogy is thus<br />
part <strong>of</strong> the ex per i ment, since so ci ol ogy has al -<br />
ways been and al ways must be a part <strong>of</strong> that re -<br />
al ity it seeks to ex plain. This rad i cal view pro -<br />
vides a ba sis for cer tain as pects <strong>of</strong> a new<br />
phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence policy.<br />
Out look: Sci ence Pol icy and Real-World<br />
Ex per i men ta tion<br />
So ci ol o gists’ con di tions for do ing re search<br />
in so ci ety are quite dif fer ent from those <strong>of</strong> nat -<br />
u ral sci en tists in the lab o ra tory. But their po si -<br />
tion is not an iso lated one. Many fields <strong>of</strong> re -<br />
search in the so cial, po lit i cal, eco nomic,<br />
psy cho log i cal, ed u ca tional, en vi ron men tal,<br />
health, and other sci ences share the fea tures <strong>of</strong><br />
prac ti cal in volve ment in the changes they un -<br />
der take, in flu ence, and mon i tor—but not ini ti -<br />
ate and con trol at will. Given the fact that these<br />
fields <strong>of</strong> re search not only in crease, but be -<br />
come ever more im por tant con stit u ent parts <strong>of</strong><br />
so ci etal change, the ques tion arises as to<br />
whether their epistemological self-un der -<br />
stand ing is in need <strong>of</strong> be ing re placed by one<br />
more ap pro pri ate to this in volve ment. The<br />
strength <strong>of</strong> the lab o ra tory sci ences can not be<br />
doubted as long as their rights to de ter mine<br />
their ar ti fi cial re al i ties are taken for granted.<br />
Their weak nesses are re vealed as soon as<br />
knowl edge gained un der these spe cial con di -<br />
tions is ap plied to the com plex nat u ral and so -<br />
cial re al ity in which we live. The strength <strong>of</strong><br />
the “em bed ded” sci ences is to de fine re search<br />
as part <strong>of</strong> this com plex world, and knowl edge<br />
pro duc tion as an el e ment <strong>of</strong> change. But this<br />
strength can only be played out when the<br />
weak nesses with re spect to the power <strong>of</strong> def i -<br />
ni tion and con trol are ac counted for. One way<br />
to do so is to take real-world ex per i men ta tion<br />
se ri ously.<br />
Don ald Camp bell (1969) tried to bind to -<br />
gether a pol icy <strong>of</strong> so cial re form with a new<br />
evo lu tion ary epis te mol ogy <strong>of</strong> sci ence on the<br />
ba sis <strong>of</strong> so cial ex per i men ta tion. He had two<br />
points <strong>of</strong> de par ture. On the one hand, re form<br />
pro jects on all lev els <strong>of</strong> a rap idly chang ing so -<br />
ci ety are ur gent and can not be post poned un til<br />
ev ery de tail <strong>of</strong> fu ture plan ning has been pre -<br />
cisely pre dicted. In ac tion is a form <strong>of</strong> ac tion. If<br />
po lit i cal lead er ship waits for the ul ti mate sci -<br />
en tific truth, then it mis uses sci ence as a source<br />
for po lit i cal (non-)ac tion. If, on the other hand,<br />
sci en tists pro pose to de liver re li able knowl -<br />
edge in those com plex fields <strong>of</strong> so ci etal<br />
change, they grossly over es ti mate their com -<br />
pe tence. The way out <strong>of</strong> the di lemma is a mu tu -<br />
ally agreed upon strat egy <strong>of</strong> ex per i men tal<br />
learn ing. Re cent at tempts in eco log i cal de sign<br />
pro jects, which can be seen as car ry ing for -<br />
ward the meth ods dis cussed above in new<br />
fields, deal with the prob lem <strong>of</strong> not know ing<br />
be fore the ex per i ment whether the so cial and<br />
eco log i cal risks are ac cept able (see e.g.,<br />
Gobster, 2001; Gross, 2003a; H<strong>of</strong>fmann-<br />
Riem, 2003).<br />
Ne go ti a tions take place be tween dif fer ent<br />
stake holders and “cit i zen sci en tists” who par -<br />
tic i pate as fully val ued ac tors with re spect to<br />
goals and the man age ment <strong>of</strong> sur prises stem -<br />
ming both from so cial and nat u ral sys tems. In<br />
or der to take such a pro ce dure se ri ously, learn -<br />
ing must be re cur sive, since knowl edge ap pli -<br />
ca tion is part <strong>of</strong> the dis cov ery pro cess. The<br />
con tex tual ap pli ca tion <strong>of</strong> sci ence aims at the<br />
im ple men ta tion <strong>of</strong> “ex per i ments in the real<br />
world.” Of ten times ex per i ments lead to sur -<br />
prises, which cause trou ble and pro vide op por -<br />
tu ni ties for learn ing. Such en deav ors ren der<br />
ob so lete the ideal <strong>of</strong> sci ence as a de tached and<br />
aus tere form <strong>of</strong> knowl edge pro duc tion and re -<br />
place it with a re cur sive learn ing pro cess in<br />
which sci ence lis tens both to dif fer ent in ter ests<br />
and un ex pected nat u ral ac tiv i ties. Knowl edge<br />
pro duc tion in the real world be yond the lab o ra -<br />
tory must be able to em bed the learn ing pro -<br />
cess in such a way that sur prises can be ab -<br />
sorbed with fewer prob lems than in tra di tional<br />
man age ment strat e gies.<br />
As real-world ex per i ments are <strong>of</strong> ten part <strong>of</strong><br />
the pub lic’s ev ery day life, the in volve ment <strong>of</strong><br />
the pub lic can de liver a more ro bust le git i ma -<br />
tion ba sis. Ex perts are in creas ingly forced to<br />
open the bor ders and risks <strong>of</strong> the o ret i cal mod -<br />
els, which re duces the ex tent <strong>of</strong> dis ap point -<br />
ments and in creases the readi ness to learn from<br />
ear lier mis takes. For ex am ple, res to ra tion pro -<br />
jects (see Gobster, 2001; Gobster and Barro,<br />
SCI ENCE IN A REAL-WORLD CON TEXT<br />
45
2000; Gross, 2003a; Jor dan, 2003) have<br />
proven that time-con sum ing hear ings, vol un -<br />
teer group or ga ni za tions, and stake holder in -<br />
volve ment have, in the long run, been more<br />
suc cess ful than pre vi ous pro jects. Orig i nal<br />
pro ject de signs have been re peat edly re fined<br />
and spec i fied as lo cal eco log i cal and so cial re -<br />
al i ties are taken into ac count. Per haps fu ture<br />
sci ence pol icy should no lon ger fo cus on the<br />
bound ary be tween sci ence in the lab o ra tory<br />
and the non-sci en tific ap pli ca tion <strong>of</strong> re sults in<br />
the real world, but rather on the prob lem solv -<br />
ing ca pac i ties <strong>of</strong> “em bed ded sci ence” with its<br />
fea tures <strong>of</strong> re cur sive learn ing and so cial ro -<br />
bust ness. Un like Mi chael Gib bons et al.<br />
(1994), who in tro duced the term “ro bust<br />
knowl edge” (see also Nowotny et al., 2001,<br />
168), we do not be lieve that the no tion <strong>of</strong> ro -<br />
bust ness is a well cho sen qual i fi ca tion <strong>of</strong> a new<br />
kind <strong>of</strong> knowl edge. Rather, ro bust ness spec i -<br />
fies re search strat e gies that ac count for lo cal<br />
con texts, in te grate het er o ge neous ac tors, ex -<br />
pect sur prises, and ad just by col lec tive learn -<br />
ing. So cial ro bust ness at tempts to com pen sate<br />
rather than accomodate un cer tainty <strong>of</strong> knowl -<br />
edge and risks <strong>of</strong> ap pli ca tion.<br />
There are res er va tions to be made. There<br />
can be lit tle doubt that po lit i cal and sci en tific<br />
strat e gies founded on the prin ci ple <strong>of</strong> re cur sive<br />
learn ing usu ally face poor pros pects. Pol i ti -<br />
cians who dis play such flex i bil ity in terms <strong>of</strong><br />
means and ends rarely sur vive the crit i cism <strong>of</strong><br />
op po nents, the me dia, and in ter est groups. Sci -<br />
en tists, who prom ise to gain the knowl edge<br />
needed for solv ing ur gent prob lems by try ing<br />
and learn ing, face sim i lar crit i cism. Ap par -<br />
ently, the idea <strong>of</strong> gen er at ing ro bust ness <strong>of</strong><br />
knowl edge by ini ti at ing pro cesses <strong>of</strong> col lec -<br />
tive learn ing is a lost cause when the re ceived<br />
al ter na tive <strong>of</strong> do ing lab o ra tory re search and<br />
wait ing for re li able re sults is avail able. Es pe -<br />
cially with re spect to re duc ing haz ard ous risks<br />
the ad van tages <strong>of</strong> lab o ra tory re search are<br />
badly needed. If, how ever, knowl edge in com -<br />
plex fields <strong>of</strong> ac tion can only be achieved by a<br />
col lec tive and ex per i men tal strat egy <strong>of</strong> learn -<br />
ing, then a change in the un der ly ing phi los o -<br />
phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence pol icy is re quired.<br />
The shift may be as fun da men tal as the<br />
Baconian turn to ward in sti tu tion al ized lab o ra -<br />
tory sci ence. Ba con pro posed that pub lic ac -<br />
cep tance <strong>of</strong> the ex per i men tal method in lab o -<br />
ra tory re search would be a so ci etal ex per i ment<br />
that pol i tics should try out. A new phi los o phy<br />
<strong>of</strong> sci ence pol icy can lay the foun da tions for<br />
the pub lic ac cep tance <strong>of</strong> col lec tive learn ing<br />
pro cesses within the frame work <strong>of</strong> real-world<br />
ex per i men ta tion. It would aim at for mu lat ing a<br />
new con tract be tween sci ence and so ci ety that<br />
makes sci ence more pub lic and mem bers <strong>of</strong><br />
the pub lic more ready to en gage in knowl edge<br />
pro duc tion rel e vant to shap ing their lives,<br />
com mu ni ties, and en vi ron ments.<br />
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20: 188–97.<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
48
ON THE AU TON OMY OF THE SCI ENCES<br />
Philip Kitcher<br />
There are two quite dif fer ent kinds <strong>of</strong> is sues<br />
about the re la tions be tween the sci ences, on<br />
the one hand, and val ues, on the other. From at<br />
least the nine teenth cen tury on, schol ars from a<br />
va ri ety <strong>of</strong> dis ci plines have won dered whether<br />
in creas ing sci en tific un der stand ing <strong>of</strong> na ture<br />
and our place in it would trans form our con -<br />
cep tion <strong>of</strong> moral, po lit i cal, and so cial val ues;<br />
the most prom i nent ven tures <strong>of</strong> this kind ex -<br />
plore the bear ing <strong>of</strong> evo lu tion ary bi ol ogy on<br />
our eth i cal claims. The ques tions that arise<br />
from these in ves ti ga tions are com plex and un -<br />
set tled.<br />
My aim here is to pur sue a sec ond type <strong>of</strong><br />
ques tion, one that strikes many peo ple—es pe -<br />
cially sci en tists—as de cided: What is the role<br />
<strong>of</strong> moral, so cial, and po lit i cal val ues in the<br />
prac tice <strong>of</strong> the sci ences? Those who be lieve<br />
that this is sue is set tled typ i cally be lieve that<br />
the an swer can be given in a sin gle word:<br />
None.<br />
But that can’t be quite right. Even those<br />
who are most in sis tent that sci en tific re search<br />
is to be a value-free zone will ac knowl edge, on<br />
re flec tion, that the con duct <strong>of</strong> that re search is<br />
con strained by moral norms. No body is likely<br />
to in sist that sci en tists may le git i mately pur sue<br />
any means in their ef forts to at tain their<br />
goals—for that would be to per mit the<br />
Tuskegee syph i lis ex per i ment, the prac tices <strong>of</strong><br />
the Nazi doc tors, and a host <strong>of</strong> less re pug nant,<br />
but still mor ally rep re hen si ble, in ter ven tions.<br />
We could re solve prob lems about the rel a tive<br />
strengths <strong>of</strong> the ef fects <strong>of</strong> na ture and <strong>of</strong> nur ture<br />
by try ing to breed pure lines <strong>of</strong> chil dren and<br />
rear ing them in care fully con trolled and var ied<br />
en vi ron ments, but I don’t think there’s likely to<br />
be much en thu si asm for ex per i ments <strong>of</strong> that<br />
kind.<br />
Peo ple who cel e brate the value-free dom <strong>of</strong><br />
the sci ences will surely want to draw a dis tinc -<br />
tion in re sponse to these ex am ples. The means<br />
that re search ers un der take to try to reach their<br />
sci en tific goals are to be sub ject to moral<br />
norms; but the goals them selves are not sub ject<br />
to moral ap praisal. Be hind that claim stands a<br />
wide spread in ter pre ta tion <strong>of</strong> the way in which<br />
the iden tity <strong>of</strong> the sci en tific role was forged in<br />
the early mod ern pe riod. On this pop u lar view,<br />
an im por tant as pect <strong>of</strong> the sci en tific rev o lu tion<br />
was the de nial that the search for truth could in<br />
any way be con strained by con sid er ations <strong>of</strong><br />
the con flict be tween the deliverances <strong>of</strong> the<br />
sci ences and what are ac cepted as moral, so -<br />
cial, or po lit i cal val ues. Mod ern sci ence was<br />
founded in a dec la ra tion <strong>of</strong> in de pend ence.<br />
I’m not go ing to probe the ac cu racy <strong>of</strong> this<br />
his tor i cal view in any de tail, for what in ter ests<br />
me is the dec la ra tion <strong>of</strong> in de pend ence and its<br />
mer its. I want to start by try ing to be as clear as<br />
pos si ble about what is in tended by those who<br />
think <strong>of</strong> the goals <strong>of</strong> sci ences as in de pend ent <strong>of</strong><br />
moral val ues (and other non-epistemic val -<br />
ues).<br />
Here is a rel a tively sim ple way to state the<br />
dec la ra tion <strong>of</strong> in de pend ence: The sci ences are<br />
ded i cated to the pur suit <strong>of</strong> truth, and sci en tists<br />
are per mit ted—even obliged—to seek and to<br />
iden tify the truth whether or not what they dis -<br />
cover con flicts with prin ci ples that ex press<br />
moral, so cial, or po lit i cal val ues. Now there<br />
are many schol ars who would ob ject to this<br />
for mu la tion on the grounds that it makes use <strong>of</strong><br />
a ques tion able no tion (that <strong>of</strong> truth), or be -<br />
cause they think that the aims <strong>of</strong> the sci ences<br />
are better rep re sented in other terms (for ex am -<br />
ple as the pro vi sion <strong>of</strong> mod els that agree with<br />
re al ity in par tic u lar re spects and to par tic u lar<br />
de grees, or as the con struc tion <strong>of</strong> mod els and<br />
tech nol o gies that work). I don’t pro pose to en -<br />
ter these de bates. I have no al lergy to talk <strong>of</strong><br />
truth, nor am I gripped by skep ti cism that sci -<br />
en tific re search ever at tains truth.<br />
A more im por tant short com ing <strong>of</strong> the for -<br />
mu la tion can be brought out by fo cus ing on the<br />
no tion <strong>of</strong> “con flict.” If this is un der stood in<br />
terms <strong>of</strong> the log i cal re la tion <strong>of</strong> con tra dic tion,<br />
then it is easy to rec og nize the mo ti va tion be -<br />
hind the dec la ra tion. The au ton omy <strong>of</strong> the sci -<br />
ences is im por tant pre cisely be cause, if the<br />
course <strong>of</strong> re search were to pro duce claims at<br />
odds with state ments ex press ing ac cepted<br />
moral val ues (say) that would be the oc ca sion<br />
for re vis ing our views about what is valu able;<br />
and it is a mis take to con fine our selves to what<br />
is cur rently ac cepted by al low ing the val ues<br />
we have to con strain the re search that is<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY SUPPLMENT 2004<br />
49
done—we should n’t deny our selves the oc ca -<br />
sions for im prove ment.<br />
But those who worry about the dec la ra tion<br />
<strong>of</strong> in de pend ence have, I think, a dif fer ent con -<br />
cep tion <strong>of</strong> con flict in mind. They think that the<br />
ac cep tance <strong>of</strong> cer tain deliverances <strong>of</strong> sci en tific<br />
re search, deliverances that are true, would pro -<br />
duce, in the ac tual his tor i cal and po lit i cal con -<br />
text in which peo ple find them selves, con se -<br />
quences that are mor ally un ac cept able. A<br />
clas sic ex am ple <strong>of</strong> the sort <strong>of</strong> con flict en vis -<br />
aged here is that <strong>of</strong> the dis cov ery <strong>of</strong> sources <strong>of</strong><br />
enor mous en ergy in some odd com bi na tion <strong>of</strong><br />
ev ery day in gre di ents—by mix ing cab bage,<br />
card board, and cat nip in just the right pro por -<br />
tions you can gen er ate ex traor di narily pow er -<br />
ful ex plo sives. If some re searcher, like the fic -<br />
tional Möbius in Dürrenmatt’s Die Physiker,<br />
were to pur sue re search along sim i lar lines,<br />
then it would be ab surd to ap peal to the dec la -<br />
ra tion <strong>of</strong> in de pend ence to de fend the in ves ti ga -<br />
tion. Hence both means and ends are sub ject to<br />
moral eval u a tion.<br />
Al though I be lieve that ex am ples like this<br />
show that some thing is amiss with the dec la ra -<br />
tion, I don’t think they ex pose the deep est dif fi -<br />
culty. To rec og nize the real trou ble, it’s nec es -<br />
sary to scru ti nize a no tion that many take for<br />
granted, the idea <strong>of</strong> the “search for truth.” Here<br />
it helps to re call Karl Pop per’s fa mous in dict -<br />
ment <strong>of</strong> the view that sci ence starts with ob ser -<br />
va tion. If you tell sci en tists to go and ob serve,<br />
they will, quite prop erly, ask what it is they are<br />
sup posed to be ob serv ing. By the same to ken,<br />
if you ad vise the com mu nity <strong>of</strong> sci en tists to<br />
seek truth, they will rightly won der which<br />
truths they are sup posed to be seek ing.<br />
There are fa mil iar re sponses. One is to say<br />
that the sci ences seek all the truths, the com -<br />
plete ac count <strong>of</strong> our uni verse. A lit tle re flec -<br />
tion will sug gest that this is not ob vi ously co -<br />
her ent—for there are uncountably many<br />
lan guages, each with in fi nitely many truths;<br />
even if it is co her ent, it is not some thing at<br />
which our spe cies could aim; nor would we<br />
want it if we had it, for the vast por tion <strong>of</strong> the<br />
ocean <strong>of</strong> truth is ut terly un in ter est ing. A more<br />
plau si ble line would be to con tend that the<br />
truths at which the sci ences aim are the fun da -<br />
men tal ones, those that some how per vade na -<br />
ture—the laws <strong>of</strong> na ture, if you like, or the di -<br />
vine rulebook. That con cep tion may have had<br />
more ap peal in the sev en teenth cen tury, but it<br />
is far less plau si ble to day. For we have no rea -<br />
son to think that any set <strong>of</strong> fun da men tal truths,<br />
even a won der fully re fined the ory <strong>of</strong> mat ter,<br />
space, and time, could en com pass all the truths<br />
that mat ter to us; nor do we have good grounds<br />
for think ing that all the ar eas <strong>of</strong> in quiry in<br />
which hu man be ings are in ter ested are<br />
founded upon laws; many <strong>of</strong> the sci ences that<br />
flour ish to day are deeply com mit ted to iden ti -<br />
fy ing par tic u lar mech a nisms that work in par -<br />
tic u lar con texts in par tic u lar sys tems (rang ing<br />
from cells to subduction zones).<br />
The ob vi ous an swer to the ques tion “Which<br />
truths?” is to in voke hu man con cerns, in deed<br />
the hu man con cerns that peo ple have right<br />
now. The aims <strong>of</strong> the sci ences are to find the<br />
cor rect an swers to the ques tions that mat ter to<br />
us, at our par tic u lar mo ment in his tory. Or,<br />
more ex actly, rec og niz ing that cor rect ness is -<br />
n’t al ways quite nec es sary for our needs, the<br />
sci ences aim to an swer the ques tions that con -<br />
cern us by <strong>of</strong> fer ing re sponses that are as close<br />
to the truth as we need them to be. Ei ther way,<br />
the an swer clearly rec og nizes that our con -<br />
cerns are con tin gent and that they may change;<br />
as they do, the aims <strong>of</strong> the sci ences will vary<br />
with them.<br />
I en dorse this an swer, and I’ll try to il lus -<br />
trate and mo ti vate it with an anal ogy. Con sider<br />
the prac tice <strong>of</strong> draw ing maps <strong>of</strong> var i ous re -<br />
gions <strong>of</strong> the world. Maps are ap pro pri ately<br />
held to stan dards <strong>of</strong> ac cu racy; there is an an a -<br />
logue here <strong>of</strong> the no tion <strong>of</strong> truth that fig ures in<br />
the sci en tific case. No body should doubt the<br />
fact that car tog ra phy made prog ress when<br />
maps <strong>of</strong> the globe came to in clude con ti nents<br />
and is lands that had not pre vi ously been rep re -<br />
sented, and, in more sub tle ways, when the<br />
mar gins <strong>of</strong> bod ies <strong>of</strong> land were drawn on the<br />
ba sis <strong>of</strong> a far wider range <strong>of</strong> mea sure ments. Yet<br />
that is quite con sis tent with rec og niz ing that<br />
maps are con ven tional in many re spects, that<br />
the mapmaker se lects what fea tures are to be<br />
rep re sented, that the scheme <strong>of</strong> pro jec tion will<br />
be cho sen to bring out those spa tial re la tion -<br />
ships that are most per ti nent (at cost to oth ers),<br />
and that lines that mark geo graph ical bound -<br />
aries will be drawn in dif fer ent places de pend -<br />
ing on the uses to which the map is to be put.<br />
The ob jec tiv ity <strong>of</strong> maps is rep re sented in the<br />
fact that the over whelm ing ma jor ity <strong>of</strong> closed<br />
curves will not serve as the coast line <strong>of</strong> a par -<br />
tic u lar is land; the con ven tion al ity is re flected<br />
in the fact that there are still sub tle choices<br />
about what is to count as the coast line.<br />
In the his tory <strong>of</strong> mapmaking, hu man so ci et -<br />
ies, hu man tech nol o gies, and hu man pur poses<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
50
have evolved, with the re sult that the maps<br />
drawn to day are <strong>of</strong> ten di rected at quite dif fer -<br />
ent ends than those pur sued by our pre de ces -<br />
sors. It would be folly to think <strong>of</strong> the aim <strong>of</strong> car -<br />
tog ra phy as that <strong>of</strong> con struct ing some allen<br />
com pass ing map—the ideal at las that would<br />
rep re sent ev ery thing. I take the same point to<br />
hold <strong>of</strong> the sci ences gen er ally. We seek rep re -<br />
sen ta tions <strong>of</strong> na ture that are ad e quate to our<br />
pur poses.<br />
If that is so, then there is an ob vi ous ques -<br />
tion—what is meant by the first per son plu ral<br />
here? To speak glibly <strong>of</strong> “our pur poses” is to<br />
dis guise an ob vi ous fact, the fact that a very<br />
large num ber <strong>of</strong> peo ple have ab so lutely no im -<br />
pact on the ways in which sci en tific pro jects<br />
are de fined or pur sued. The ire that is some -<br />
times di rected against the prac tice <strong>of</strong> sci ence,<br />
the con dem na tions that are heard in the “Sci -<br />
ence Wars,” these are, I think, prod ucts <strong>of</strong> a<br />
sense <strong>of</strong> ex clu sion. Al though the id iom in<br />
which the pro tests are couched is <strong>of</strong> ten meta -<br />
phys i cal or epistemological, con cerned with<br />
the le git i macy <strong>of</strong> the no tion <strong>of</strong> truth or <strong>of</strong> ob -<br />
jec tiv ity, the un der ly ing con cerns are moral,<br />
so cial and po lit i cal. Ten den tious and cloudy<br />
philo soph i cal cri tiques en ter only be cause<br />
those who pro test do not see how to for mu late<br />
their wor ries about val ues in the proper<br />
terms—and that is pre cisely the re sult <strong>of</strong> the<br />
rigid in sis tence on sci ence as a value-free<br />
zone. Once we are clear, how ever, that “the<br />
search for truth” can only be short hand for a<br />
com mit ment to seek ing those kinds <strong>of</strong> truths<br />
that mat ter to a group <strong>of</strong> peo ple liv ing in a par -<br />
tic u lar his tor i cal and so cial con text, then it’s<br />
ob vi ous how to for mu late the rel e vant moral,<br />
so cial, and po lit i cal protest.<br />
The form <strong>of</strong> the com plaint is “We are left<br />
out.” That might oc cur in one <strong>of</strong> two dif fer ent<br />
ways. Per haps there are sim ply sins <strong>of</strong> omis -<br />
sion: the con duct <strong>of</strong> sci en tific re search leaves<br />
out <strong>of</strong> ac count the in ter ests <strong>of</strong> some group <strong>of</strong><br />
peo ple. Or there may be sins <strong>of</strong> com mis sion:<br />
the prac tice <strong>of</strong> re search gen er ates, in the ex ist -<br />
ing so cial and po lit i cal con text, re sults that are<br />
det ri men tal to the in ter ests <strong>of</strong> a group <strong>of</strong> peo -<br />
ple. Once we rec og nize the de pend ence <strong>of</strong> the<br />
aims <strong>of</strong> sci ence on ad ap ta tion to “our” in ter ests<br />
and pur poses, com plaints that some peo ple are<br />
left out or are ad versely af fected ought to be<br />
taken se ri ously.<br />
That does not mean, though, that the com -<br />
plaints have to be judged valid. For it might<br />
turn out that, in a par tic u lar con text, the best<br />
we could do for hu man well-be ing, un der stood<br />
col lec tively, would slight the in ter ests <strong>of</strong> some<br />
group. The sit u a tion is ev i dent in cases <strong>of</strong> some<br />
forms <strong>of</strong> dis ease re search; there are rare ge -<br />
netic con di tions that pro duce dread ful dis rup -<br />
tions <strong>of</strong> de vel op ment, for which the avail able<br />
sci en tific in for ma tion strongly in di cates that<br />
there is lit tle pros pect <strong>of</strong> find ing a way to res -<br />
cue the vic tims; in a world <strong>of</strong> lim ited re -<br />
sources, it would be folly to in vest ef fort in try -<br />
ing to pro vide some al ter na tive su pe rior to<br />
pal lia tive care. It is even pos si ble that we might<br />
tol er ate re search that had an ad verse ef fect on<br />
the in ter ests <strong>of</strong> some group <strong>of</strong> peo ple, if (say)<br />
the ef fect came about be cause the pro vi sion <strong>of</strong><br />
ben e fits to oth ers, hith erto much less for tu nate,<br />
stripped away pro tec tion from com pe ti tion<br />
that had pre vi ously been en joyed.<br />
The proper for mu la tion <strong>of</strong> these com plaints<br />
should thus serve as the oc ca sion for a gen u ine<br />
de bate about the ex tent to which some in di vid -<br />
u als or groups are le git i mately ex cluded. The<br />
de bate will surely prove in con clu sive un less<br />
there is agree ment about the proper aims <strong>of</strong> the<br />
sci ences. We need to probe that easy first-per -<br />
son plu ral, and to de cide what is meant by sug -<br />
gest ing that our sci en tific re search aims to dis -<br />
cover those truths that are most rel e vant to us,<br />
here and now. The prob lem is that <strong>of</strong> how to<br />
un der stand the sci ences as aim ing at some kind<br />
<strong>of</strong> col lec tive good.<br />
At this point, de fend ers <strong>of</strong> au ton omy are<br />
likely to point out that the sci en tific com mu -<br />
nity has a clearer vi sion <strong>of</strong> this col lec tive good<br />
and <strong>of</strong> how it might be at tained. There is an im -<br />
por tant in sight here, but, as I’ll try to ar gue, it<br />
should not in spire us ei ther to re vive the orig i -<br />
nal dec la ra tion <strong>of</strong> in de pend ence or to fash ion a<br />
new one. The im por tant in sight is to rec og nize<br />
the gap be tween peo ple’s wishes and their gen -<br />
u ine in ter ests. It’s a com mon place that all <strong>of</strong> us<br />
are some times in clined to want and to try to<br />
ob tain out comes that would, in some sense, be<br />
bad for us, and, al though this is some times the<br />
re sult <strong>of</strong> weak ness <strong>of</strong> the will, it is <strong>of</strong> ten a mat -<br />
ter <strong>of</strong> our ig no rance. Con fronted with a pro -<br />
posal that sci en tific re search should be di -<br />
rected to ward the in ter ests <strong>of</strong> the larger pub lic,<br />
a cham pion <strong>of</strong> au ton omy may pro pose that that<br />
larger pub lic is in a poor po si tion to make judg -<br />
ments about its own in ter ests, pre cisely be -<br />
cause its ig no rance <strong>of</strong> the pos si bil i ties opened<br />
up by lines <strong>of</strong> re search leads it to over look the<br />
mer its <strong>of</strong> the pro jects that wise sci en tists<br />
(rightly) want to pur sue. Were the mob to have<br />
ON THE AU TON OMY OF THE SCI ENCES<br />
51
its way, many ven tures that bring the most im -<br />
por tant ben e fits to later gen er a tions would n’t<br />
get <strong>of</strong>f the ground. Far better, then, to leave the<br />
de ci sions in the hands <strong>of</strong> the wise sci en tists<br />
and not to for feit sci en tific au ton omy.<br />
Let’s start by ac knowl edg ing what is cor -<br />
rect about this line <strong>of</strong> thought. I don’t doubt<br />
that sci en tists know some things that out sid ers<br />
don’t, and that they are thereby some times in a<br />
po si tion to see con se quences <strong>of</strong> pro posed pro -<br />
jects that those out sid ers would over look.<br />
There’s an asym me try in knowl edge and ex -<br />
per tise here. But that asym me try should n’t be<br />
over blown, for it would be quite wrong for sci -<br />
en tists to think that they know all the things<br />
that are per ti nent to for mu lat ing a wise pol icy<br />
for re search. In the first place, as any one who<br />
has ever heard dif fer ent groups <strong>of</strong> sci en tists de -<br />
bat ing the prom ise <strong>of</strong> their own spe cial fields<br />
will know, even if the sci en tific view is more<br />
far-sighted than that <strong>of</strong> out sid ers, it is typ i cally<br />
my o pic, and each spe cial ist will tend to view<br />
the sci en tific uni verse in the style <strong>of</strong> Saul<br />
Steinberg’s fa mous Manhattan car toon. Sec -<br />
ond, and more im por tantly, even if the sci en -<br />
tific com mu nity col lec tively has a bal anced<br />
view <strong>of</strong> re search pos si bil i ties, this is only one<br />
di men sion <strong>of</strong> the prob lem. It would be in suf -<br />
fer ably ar ro gant to sup pose that some group <strong>of</strong><br />
spe cial ists has com plete in sight into hu man<br />
needs, in clud ing those <strong>of</strong> peo ple in quite dif -<br />
fer ent sit u a tions from the lucky few. The<br />
claims <strong>of</strong> de moc racy and <strong>of</strong> ex per tise should<br />
be bal anced, with in di vid u als <strong>of</strong> all kinds be -<br />
ing the best judges <strong>of</strong> their needs and ex perts<br />
us ing their knowl edge to help meet those<br />
needs.<br />
The de fender <strong>of</strong> sci en tific au ton omy at tacks<br />
the very sim plest ver sion <strong>of</strong> a pro posal to em -<br />
body a wide va ri ety <strong>of</strong> in ter ests in the spec i fi -<br />
ca tion <strong>of</strong> the aims <strong>of</strong> the sci ences. That ver -<br />
sion, “vul gar de moc racy” to give it a name, is<br />
the po lar op po site <strong>of</strong> the au tono mist’s dec la ra -<br />
tion <strong>of</strong> in de pend ence. But the poles don’t ex -<br />
haust the range <strong>of</strong> our op tions. We can bring<br />
the is sues into clearer fo cus by pro ceed ing<br />
more slowly.<br />
Com plaints about ex clu sion, I sug gested,<br />
de serve to be heard. To as sess them we have to<br />
for mu late some ideal <strong>of</strong> the col lec tive good at<br />
which the sci ences aim. The in sight <strong>of</strong> the au -<br />
tono mist’s re ac tion is that that ideal should not<br />
be iden ti fied with the sat is fac tion <strong>of</strong> the raw<br />
wishes and pref er ences <strong>of</strong> as many peo ple as<br />
pos si ble. Thought ful crit ics <strong>of</strong> prac tices <strong>of</strong> ex -<br />
clu sion in the sci ences ought to agree, for they<br />
should rec og nize that peo ple who don’t have a<br />
clear view <strong>of</strong> the sci en tific pos si bil i ties may<br />
not be able to for mu late their real in ter ests.<br />
They may ad mit that they need the help <strong>of</strong> the<br />
sci en tific com mu nity in dis cov er ing what<br />
would be best for them, while de ny ing that de -<br />
ci sions should sim ply be made for them. They<br />
may give their ad mis sion more pre cise form by<br />
out lin ing an ideal for the sci ences.<br />
At any given time, the sci ences ought to<br />
seek the truths that mat ter at that time. The<br />
truths that mat ters at that time are those that<br />
cor rectly an swer the ques tions that mat ter to<br />
the peo ple who ex ist at that time. The ques -<br />
tions that mat ter to those peo ple are the ques -<br />
tions that they would iden tify as worth pur su -<br />
ing at the end <strong>of</strong> an ideal de lib er a tion in which<br />
each <strong>of</strong> them be came aware <strong>of</strong> the po ten tials <strong>of</strong><br />
var i ous lines <strong>of</strong> in quiry, as they are viewed by<br />
the sci en tific com mu nity, in which each re for -<br />
mu lated his or her needs and pref er ences in<br />
light <strong>of</strong> this un der stand ing <strong>of</strong> the range <strong>of</strong> pos -<br />
si bil i ties, in which each ex pressed those re for -<br />
mu lated needs and be came aware <strong>of</strong> the re for -<br />
mu lated needs <strong>of</strong> oth ers, and in which each<br />
was moved by the de sire to at tain a co op er a tive<br />
so lu tion that would be per ceived as fair by all.<br />
If a prac tice <strong>of</strong> sci en tific re search ac tu ally pur -<br />
sues the truths that mat ter in this sense, I’ll say<br />
that it is well-or dered.<br />
Let me im me di ately em pha size, with all the<br />
re sources <strong>of</strong> cap i tals, ital ics, bold, and (if pos -<br />
si ble) technicolor, that this is an IDEAL and<br />
not a pro posal about the gov er nance <strong>of</strong> sci -<br />
ence. To sug gest that re search should be con -<br />
ducted by first con ven ing rep re sen ta tives <strong>of</strong><br />
the hu man pop u la tion, en gag ing in elab o rate<br />
tu tor ing, and then elic it ing a mu tu ally-con -<br />
cerned ex change <strong>of</strong> as pi ra tions would plainly<br />
be ab surd. No doubt, we ought to be in ter ested<br />
in how this ideal might be im ple mented, but<br />
that is a dis tinct ques tion. Re call the pre dic a -<br />
ment to which this ideal is in tended to re spond:<br />
if we are to judge the le git i macy <strong>of</strong> a com plaint<br />
about ex clu sion, we shall need some stan dard<br />
for the proper con duct <strong>of</strong> sci en tific re search;<br />
the ideal <strong>of</strong> well-or dered sci ence is in tended to<br />
serve as that stan dard. More over, if that stan -<br />
dard (or some thing like it) is adopted, we can<br />
rec og nize im por tant ways in which the pres ent<br />
gov er nance <strong>of</strong> sci ence di verges from it: most<br />
no ta bly in the ex clu sion <strong>of</strong> the view points <strong>of</strong><br />
many groups <strong>of</strong> peo ple and in the dom i nant<br />
role <strong>of</strong> af flu ent en tre pre neurs.<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
52
At this point, two ques tions arise: First, is<br />
this the right stan dard? Sec ond, as sum ing that<br />
it is, how should the prac tice <strong>of</strong> the sci ences be<br />
mod i fied to bring us closer to that stan dard?<br />
With re spect to both ques tions, I en vis age con -<br />
cerns from those ded i cated to the au ton omy <strong>of</strong><br />
the sci ences.<br />
We can sharpen dis cus sion <strong>of</strong> the first is sue<br />
by con sid er ing what al ter na tive to the stan dard<br />
<strong>of</strong> well-or dered sci ence the cham pion <strong>of</strong> au -<br />
ton omy might pre fer. The most ob vi ous ri val is<br />
a spec i fi ca tion <strong>of</strong> the ques tions that mat ter that<br />
does n’t men tion the needs and pref er ences <strong>of</strong><br />
peo ple out side the sci en tific com mu nity.<br />
There are two al ter na tives—to avoid re flec tion<br />
on hu man pref er ences al to gether or to for mu -<br />
late the ideal in terms <strong>of</strong> the pref er ences <strong>of</strong> sci -<br />
en tists. The bur den <strong>of</strong> some <strong>of</strong> my ear lier ar gu -<br />
ments was that the idea <strong>of</strong> an agenda that<br />
na ture sets for sci ence is a myth, that one can’t<br />
hope to spec ify the ques tions that mat ter with -<br />
out ref er ence to peo ple to whom they mat ter.<br />
So the first ap proach seems to me to be hope -<br />
less, and we are left with the sec ond.<br />
The dec la ra tion <strong>of</strong> in de pend ence re duces,<br />
then, to the idea that the proper prac tice <strong>of</strong> the<br />
sci ences is to pur sue those truths that sci en tists<br />
col lec tively iden tify as most im por tant, given<br />
their pooled un der stand ing <strong>of</strong> past achieve -<br />
ments and fu ture prom ises. At ear lier stage in<br />
his tory, that might have been a plau si ble<br />
ideal—when King Charles laughed at the<br />
thought that the mem bers <strong>of</strong> the new Royal So -<br />
ci ety were weigh ing the air, nei ther he, nor<br />
any one else, had rea son to be lieve that the re -<br />
searches <strong>of</strong> the learned vir tu osi would be<br />
broadly con se quen tial. What ever our at ti tude<br />
to what goes on in lab o ra to ries, we no lon ger<br />
laugh. We know that what sci en tists work on—<br />
and what they don’t work on—mat ters to ev -<br />
ery one. Hence the pro posal that this is an ideal<br />
for the prac tice <strong>of</strong> the sci ences, and a su pe rior<br />
ideal to that <strong>of</strong> well-or dered sci ence, rests on<br />
the sug ges tion that only the pref er ences and<br />
needs <strong>of</strong> some peo ple, the sci en tists them -<br />
selves, are worth tak ing se ri ously—a chill ing<br />
ver sion <strong>of</strong> elit ism that re calls those strands in<br />
an cient so cial and po lit i cal thought we find<br />
most puz zling and re pug nant.<br />
The cham pion <strong>of</strong> au ton omy will surely re -<br />
spond that this form <strong>of</strong> elit ism is not what is<br />
meant by the dec la ra tion <strong>of</strong> in de pend ence, that<br />
<strong>of</strong> course the needs <strong>of</strong> out sid ers mat ter, but that<br />
au ton omy is im por tant be cause the sci en tific<br />
com mu nity is the best judge <strong>of</strong> how sci en tific<br />
re search can meet those needs. I agree that this<br />
in ter pre ta tion <strong>of</strong> the dec la ra tion yields a more<br />
plau si ble po si tion, but it is im por tant to rec og -<br />
nize that it tac itly con cedes that the ideal at<br />
which re search aims is not to be char ac ter ized<br />
in any au ton o mous fash ion. In ef fect, the au -<br />
tono mist ac cepts the view that the ideal <strong>of</strong><br />
well-or dered sci ence—or some thing like it,<br />
some thing that in te grates the pref er ences <strong>of</strong><br />
out sid ers with the in formed judg ments <strong>of</strong><br />
mem bers <strong>of</strong> the sci en tific com mu nity—is<br />
quite ap pro pri ate, but that the best way to work<br />
to ward this ideal is to rely on the judg ments <strong>of</strong><br />
the sci en tific com mu nity. I’ll pres ent this ver -<br />
sion <strong>of</strong> the dec la ra tion <strong>of</strong> in de pend ence ex plic -<br />
itly: We can best ap prox i mate the ideal <strong>of</strong> wellor<br />
dered sci ence by ar rang ing for the course <strong>of</strong><br />
sci en tific in quiry to be de ter mined by the au -<br />
ton o mous judg ments <strong>of</strong> mem bers <strong>of</strong> the sci en -<br />
tific com mu nity.<br />
I have no doubt that, if the only al ter na tive<br />
were vul gar de moc racy, we would be well-ad -<br />
vised to ac cept the dec la ra tion, so un der stood.<br />
But there are many imag in able ways in which<br />
the for mu la tion <strong>of</strong> the re search agenda could<br />
re spond to the per spec tives <strong>of</strong> a broad range <strong>of</strong><br />
peo ple whose views had been in formed by the<br />
ex perts’ un der stand ing <strong>of</strong> ac com plish ments<br />
and po ten tial. To con clude that any <strong>of</strong> these<br />
imag in able ri vals will prove in fe rior to the<br />
coun sel <strong>of</strong> the sci en tific guard ians is to per -<br />
form a breath tak ing in fer ence. More bluntly, it<br />
is to leap dog mat i cally to a com fort able con -<br />
clu sion. We have ab so lutely no ba sis for adopt -<br />
ing the dec la ra tion <strong>of</strong> in de pend ence in the cur -<br />
rent form, and, if we’re se ri ous about the ideal<br />
<strong>of</strong> well-or dered sci ence, a more so ber re ac tion<br />
would be to ac knowl edge our ig no rance about<br />
how better to achieve it and to ex plore some<br />
pos si bil i ties.<br />
Once again, I en vis age an au tono mist’s pro -<br />
test. “We al ready know,” he sug gests, “that di -<br />
rected sci en tific re search goes badly; that it has<br />
been won der fully fruit ful in the past for bril -<br />
liant sci en tists to ex plore their hunches, that<br />
un an tic i pated ben e fits come from in qui ries<br />
into ap par ently im prac ti cal ques tions, and that<br />
the course <strong>of</strong> sci ence is quite un pre dict able.”<br />
The first point to note is the arm chair—or ex<br />
cathedra—qual ity <strong>of</strong> these ar gu ments. Our au -<br />
tono mist has a few bits <strong>of</strong> an ec dotal ev i dence,<br />
he has read a book on Lysenkoism, a bi og ra phy<br />
<strong>of</strong> Ein stein, and so forth. In fact, we don’t<br />
know very much about the ways in which sci -<br />
en tific re search re sponds to di rec tion to ward<br />
ON THE AU TON OMY OF THE SCI ENCES<br />
53
par tic u lar ques tions, and the con fi dence <strong>of</strong> au -<br />
tono mists typ i cally rests on their mak ing the<br />
sorts <strong>of</strong> judg ments that are de nounced in any<br />
ba sic course on meth od ol ogy—sketchy his to -<br />
ries are as sem bled with out any at ten tion to<br />
sam ple or to the ex is tence <strong>of</strong> proper com par i -<br />
sons. Al though the lit er a ture in the so ci ol ogy<br />
<strong>of</strong> sci en tific knowl edge <strong>of</strong> ten re veals in ter est -<br />
ing things, it will not de liver a sta tis ti cal ba sis<br />
from which we can pro ject the likely ef fects <strong>of</strong><br />
at tempts to plan dif fer ent kinds <strong>of</strong> re search.<br />
But a more fun da men tal point to no tice is that,<br />
in so far as gen u ine knowl edge about so cial di -<br />
rec tion <strong>of</strong> in quiry, suc cess <strong>of</strong> bril liant in di vid -<br />
u als, or fruits <strong>of</strong> re search into pure top ics can<br />
be ac quired, that knowl edge could and should<br />
be em ployed to fur ther the dem o cratic pro cess<br />
<strong>of</strong> de ci sion. It is em i nently com pat i ble with in -<br />
te grat ing the views <strong>of</strong> a broader pub lic into de -<br />
ci sions about sci en tific re search to de mand<br />
that the de lib er a tions bear in mind the track re -<br />
cord <strong>of</strong> var i ous so cial sys tems <strong>of</strong> or ga niz ing<br />
inquiry.<br />
The last part <strong>of</strong> the re ply I have put in the au -<br />
tono mist’s mouth de mands a slightly dif fer ent<br />
re sponse. What ex actly fol lows from the fact<br />
that we can not fore see the course <strong>of</strong> sci ence?<br />
That no type <strong>of</strong> de ci sion we can now make<br />
about ques tions that mat ter is pref er a ble to any<br />
other? If so, that would un der mine the au tono -<br />
mist’s con fi dence that the wise judg ment <strong>of</strong><br />
sci en tists is su pe rior; we might just as well toss<br />
coins, or read tea leaves. Of course, to draw out<br />
that ex treme im pli ca tion re minds us that, al -<br />
though we can’t make fine-grained pre dic tions<br />
about what re search will bring, we aren’t com -<br />
pletely clue less ei ther. We know, for ex am ple,<br />
that needs are more likely to be met if more ef -<br />
fort is ex pended in cer tain lines <strong>of</strong> re search<br />
rather than in oth ers; no body thinks that step -<br />
ping up re search into mech a nisms <strong>of</strong> pro tein<br />
syn the sis is likely to help solve the prob lem <strong>of</strong><br />
global warm ing—it might but the prob a bil ity<br />
is n’t high. The sit u a tion we face with re spect to<br />
sci ence is much like that we en coun ter, in di -<br />
vid u ally and col lec tively, in many ar eas <strong>of</strong> life.<br />
We can only make the rough est <strong>of</strong> judg ments,<br />
but we try to weigh the goals we have, think<br />
about avail able strat e gies in light <strong>of</strong> those<br />
rough judg ments, and forge ahead. Work ing in<br />
con cert, the sci en tific com mu nity and the<br />
broader pub lic ought to be able to achieve<br />
some thing sim i lar.<br />
I con clude that we ought not to ac cept the<br />
dec la ra tion <strong>of</strong> in de pend ence in any <strong>of</strong> its ver -<br />
sions. As it bears on the ideal for sci en tific re -<br />
search, it should be re jected in fa vor <strong>of</strong> the<br />
stan dard <strong>of</strong> well-or dered sci ence (or some -<br />
thing sim i lar). As it bears on strat e gies for<br />
work ing to ward that stan dard, we should ap -<br />
pre ci ate that we have no rea sons to ac cept it,<br />
and that we would be far better served by an ex -<br />
plo ra tion <strong>of</strong> pos si ble ways <strong>of</strong> or ga niz ing and<br />
di rect ing in quiry.<br />
I am aware, how ever, that the ar gu ment I’ve<br />
<strong>of</strong> fered is ab stract, and I’ll close with a spe cific<br />
in stance, de signed to bring out a tragic con se -<br />
quence <strong>of</strong> the in sis tence on the au ton omy <strong>of</strong><br />
the sci ences. Dur ing the time spent read ing<br />
this es say, nearly 700 peo ple will have died<br />
from in fec tious dis eases that are al most en -<br />
tirely con fined to or fa tal in those ar eas <strong>of</strong> the<br />
world that do not en gage in large amounts <strong>of</strong><br />
sci en tific re search. The to tal fig ures for death<br />
from dis ease in any given year are about 40<br />
mil lion, and ma laria, tu ber cu lo sis, re spi ra tory<br />
in fec tions, and diarrheal dis eases ac count for<br />
about a quar ter <strong>of</strong> those. If re search on a dis -<br />
ease obeyed a “fair share” prin ci ple—in which<br />
the amount <strong>of</strong> fund ing as signed was in pro por -<br />
tion to its share <strong>of</strong> the to tal dis ease bur den—<br />
then the dis eases I have men tioned would be<br />
given be tween twenty and one hun dred times<br />
as much at ten tion than they cur rently get. (A<br />
pass ing note: it does n’t make much dif fer ence<br />
whether the fair share is com puted by look ing<br />
at the pro por tion <strong>of</strong> deaths or by some more in -<br />
clu sive mea sure <strong>of</strong> suf fer ing, such as DALYs<br />
[dis abil ity ad justed life years]; when eco -<br />
nomic con se quences are taken into ac count,<br />
the skew ing <strong>of</strong> re search re sources away from<br />
non-af flu ent-world dis eases is even more pro -<br />
nounced.) Now there are many oc ca sions on<br />
which it’s quite rea son able to de part from the<br />
fair share prin ci ple. Some prob lems may be<br />
judged, cor rectly, to hold out the prom ise <strong>of</strong><br />
more ef fi cient, quicker, more ex ten sive so lu -<br />
tions (and so forth), and it might there fore be<br />
rea son able to in vest more in them than the fair<br />
share prin ci ple would rec om mend. But those<br />
kinds <strong>of</strong> de vi a tions don’t ap ply in the cases un -<br />
der con sid er ation. One very ob vi ous con se -<br />
quence <strong>of</strong> our in creas ing knowl edge <strong>of</strong> mo lec -<br />
u lar ge net ics is the abil ity to se quence,<br />
quickly, the genomes <strong>of</strong> patho gens, and to<br />
com bine that knowl edge with bi o log i cal un -<br />
der stand ing <strong>of</strong> im mune re sponses to coat pro -<br />
teins, known char ac ter is tics <strong>of</strong> hosts and lifecy<br />
cles, and de tails <strong>of</strong> eco log i cal con di tions to<br />
de vise vac cines or meth ods <strong>of</strong> dis rupt ing the<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
54
trans mis sion <strong>of</strong> the dis ease. In fact, I’m<br />
tempted to say that there are as many op tions<br />
for these forms <strong>of</strong> re search as for the dis eases,<br />
the af flu ent-world dis eases, that at tract the<br />
lion’s share <strong>of</strong> our re search re sources (Flory<br />
and Kitcher, 2004).<br />
I claim that this rep re sents a clear ex am ple<br />
<strong>of</strong> a de par ture from well-or dered sci ence. The<br />
cel e brated 10/90 gap (in which 90 per cent <strong>of</strong><br />
the world’s bio med i cal re search re sources are<br />
di rected to ward the prob lems ex pe ri enced by<br />
the most af flu ent 10 per cent <strong>of</strong> the pop u la tion)<br />
is not what an ideal dis cus sion <strong>of</strong> in formed<br />
deliberators, ded i cated to find ing a dis tri bu -<br />
tion that could broadly be ac cepted as fair,<br />
would en dorse. So why are things as they are?<br />
In part be cause <strong>of</strong> the in sis tence on the au ton -<br />
omy <strong>of</strong> the sci ences. In part, also, be cause<br />
when so cial pres sures im pinge, they do so in<br />
an un even fash ion, fa vor ing the in ter ests <strong>of</strong> af -<br />
Flory, James, and Philip Kitcher. (2004) “Global Health<br />
and the Sci en tific Re search Agenda,” Phi los o phy and<br />
Pub lic Af fairs 32: 36–65.<br />
REFERENCES<br />
flu ent so ci et ies and <strong>of</strong> af flu ent groups within<br />
them. More over, in so far as the au ton omy <strong>of</strong><br />
the sci ences is cur rently threat ened by so cial<br />
ar range ments, the pres sures are en tirely in the<br />
wrong di rec tion. In stead <strong>of</strong> an open ing <strong>of</strong> in -<br />
quiry to the in formed pref er ences <strong>of</strong> a broader<br />
pop u la tion, mar ket forces in creas ingly have an<br />
im pact on the kinds <strong>of</strong> sci ence that are pur -<br />
sued. Be hind those mar ket forces we find an<br />
ex traor di narily un even dis tri bu tion <strong>of</strong> re -<br />
sources, and pref er ences that are largely un in -<br />
formed by the gen u ine pos si bil i ties.<br />
Sci ence mat ters to all <strong>of</strong> us, and our con tin -<br />
ued ex plo ra tions should re flect that fact. In<br />
con se quence, we need to go be yond dec la ra -<br />
tions <strong>of</strong> in de pend ence and to re sist the im mer -<br />
sion <strong>of</strong> in quiry into the cur rent cap i tal ist mar -<br />
ket place. The idea <strong>of</strong> the au ton omy <strong>of</strong> the<br />
sci ences is an un for tu nate hang-up from our<br />
past.<br />
ON THE AU TON OMY OF THE SCI ENCES<br />
55
FROM FRON TIER TO TER ROR ISM<br />
TOWARD AN INTERDISCIPLINARY ASSESSMENT<br />
OF SCIENCE EDUCATION POLICY MAKING<br />
Juan Lucena<br />
I’m proud <strong>of</strong> you. We are de pend ing on you<br />
to de velop the tools we need to lift the dark<br />
threat <strong>of</strong> ter ror ism for our na tion—and for<br />
that mat ter, the world. All <strong>of</strong> us here to day,<br />
whether we’re sci en tists or en gi neers or<br />
elected <strong>of</strong> fi cials, share a great call ing. It’s an<br />
honor to par tic i pate in a no ble cause that’s<br />
larger than our selves.<br />
Pres i dent George W. Bush<br />
“Anti-Ter ror ism Tech nol ogy Key to Home land Se cu -<br />
rity,” speech de liv ered to sci en tists and en gi neers at the<br />
Argonne Na tional Lab o ra tory on July 2002<br />
Pres i dent Bush’s call for sci en tists and en -<br />
gi neers to save the na tion from ter ror ism was<br />
not the only one, nor even the first. Just four<br />
months af ter Sep tem ber 11, 2001, Rita<br />
Colwell, Di rec tor <strong>of</strong> the Na tional Sci ence<br />
Foun da tion (NSF), de liv ered a speech en ti tled<br />
“Sci ence as Pa tri o tism” at the an nual meet ing<br />
<strong>of</strong> the Uni ver si ties Re search As so ci a tion. In<br />
her words,<br />
Ev ery dis cus sion, whether it is about air line<br />
safety, emerg ing dis eases, fail ure <strong>of</strong> com mu ni -<br />
ca tion links, bioterrorism di rected at our food<br />
and drink ing wa ter, as sess ment <strong>of</strong> dam aged in -<br />
fra struc ture, the mind/body re sponse trauma, or<br />
a myr iad <strong>of</strong> other con cerns, de pends on our sci -<br />
en tific and tech ni cal knowl edge. . . . If the sci -<br />
ence com mu nity can be hands-on to in spire<br />
young peo ple to a fu ture in sci ence, we would<br />
be per form ing one <strong>of</strong> the most en dur ing acts <strong>of</strong><br />
pa tri o tism for the na tion. (Colwell, 2002)<br />
Shortly af ter Colwell, the Na tional Re -<br />
search Coun cil (NRC) Com mit tee on Sci ence<br />
and Tech nol ogy for Coun ter ing Ter ror ism is -<br />
sued Mak ing the Na tion Safer: The Role <strong>of</strong> Sci -<br />
ence and Tech nol ogy in Coun ter ing Ter ror ism,<br />
ar gu ing that<br />
Amer ica’s his tor i cal strength in sci ence and en -<br />
gi neer ing is per haps its most crit i cal as set in<br />
coun ter ing ter ror ism with out de grad ing our<br />
qual ity <strong>of</strong> life. . . . The na tion’s abil ity to per -<br />
form the needed short- and long-term re search<br />
and de vel op ment rests fun da men tally on a<br />
strong sci en tific and en gi neer ing workforce.<br />
Here there is cause for con cern, as the num ber<br />
<strong>of</strong> Amer i can stu dents in ter ested in sci ence and<br />
en gi neer ing ca reers is de clin ing. (Com mit tee<br />
on Sci ence and Tech nol ogy for Coun ter ing Ter -<br />
ror ism, 2002, 23)<br />
Al most im me di ately pro gram man ag ers at the<br />
NSF Di rec tor ate for Math e mat i cal and Phys i -<br />
cal Sci ences (MPS) is sued a so lic i ta tion ti tled<br />
Ap proaches to Com bat Ter ror ism (ACT): Op -<br />
por tu ni ties in Ba sic Re search in the Math e -<br />
mat i cal and Phys i cal Sci ences with the Po ten -<br />
tial to Con trib ute to Na tional Se cu rity, with an<br />
ex pected ini tial fund ing <strong>of</strong> $3.5 mil lion. By<br />
June 2003, NSF had funded $20 mil lion worth<br />
<strong>of</strong> ex plor atory re search and ed u ca tion pro -<br />
grams deal ing with ter ror ism.<br />
His tory and The ory<br />
The im age <strong>of</strong> the United States un der the<br />
threat <strong>of</strong> ter ror ism has al lowed the Pres i dent,<br />
the NSF Di rec tor, and oth ers to is sue calls for<br />
sci en tists and en gi neers to save the na tion. Sci -<br />
en tists and en gi neers have re sponded by cre at -<br />
ing pro grams to se cure fed eral funds for ed u -<br />
ca tion and re search, with many col leges and<br />
uni ver si ties de vel op ing ac tiv i ties to train stu -<br />
dents for jobs in home land de fense (Barlett,<br />
2003). Stu dents in turn have en rolled in the rel -<br />
e vant sci ence and en gi neer ing courses. This<br />
en tire pro cess, from the emer gence <strong>of</strong> im ages<br />
<strong>of</strong> the na tion un der threat, to the cre ation <strong>of</strong> a<br />
dis course about sav ing the na tion with sci ence<br />
and tech nol ogy and the de vel op ment <strong>of</strong> fed er -<br />
ally-funded pro grams to ed u cate sci en tists and<br />
en gi neers, con sti tutes policymaking to cre ate<br />
sci en tists and en gi neers.<br />
But this pro cess and its ide ol ogy, that sci -<br />
ence ed u ca tion is nec es sary to na tional<br />
strength, are not new. All that has changed in<br />
re cent rhet o ric is the im age <strong>of</strong> the na tion un der<br />
ter ror ist threat, the par tic u lar ac tors is su ing the<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY SUPPLMENT 2004<br />
56
calls, the con tent <strong>of</strong> their dis course, and the<br />
spe cific char ac ter is tics de sired in sci en tists<br />
and en gi neers. The policymaking pro cess—<br />
from the emer gence <strong>of</strong> an im age and its as so ci -<br />
ated dis course to the strug gle <strong>of</strong> ac tors for bud -<br />
get al lo ca tions and the cre ation <strong>of</strong> pro grams—<br />
has re mained strik ingly con sis tent for at least<br />
the last half cen tury. In deed, the ide ol ogy has<br />
roots in the jus ti fi ca tion <strong>of</strong> mod ern sci ence as a<br />
strug gle against alien forces that can be traced<br />
back to such early mod ern fig ures as Fran cis<br />
Ba con and René Des cartes.<br />
Since the end <strong>of</strong> World War II, United States<br />
sci en tists and en gi neers have re peat edly been<br />
called to save the coun try from an ex ter nal<br />
threat. In the 1960s the calls, pro grams, and<br />
mon ies were mo bi lized for the cre ation <strong>of</strong> a<br />
cadre <strong>of</strong> elite sci en tists to save the na tion from<br />
the threat <strong>of</strong> com mu nism, es pe cially af ter the<br />
USSR launched Sput nik in 1957. In the 1970s<br />
the calls were for sci en tists and en gi neers who<br />
could solve en vi ron men tal prob lems. In the<br />
1980s, large num bers <strong>of</strong> en gi neers were asked<br />
to ad dress com pet i tive eco nomic chal lenges<br />
from Ja pan. Since the early 1990s sci en tists<br />
and en gi neers have been en cour aged to re -<br />
search and solve prob lems re lated to an in -<br />
creas ingly com pet i tive global econ omy. Now<br />
pa tri otic sci en tists and en gi neers are be ing<br />
asked to de velop the knowl edge and in fra -<br />
struc ture to keep Amer ica safe from ter ror ism.<br />
Harvey Averch (1985) has noted that<br />
policymakers re sort to a di verse range <strong>of</strong> rhe -<br />
tor i cal strat e gies to jus tify fed er ally-funded<br />
pro grams. They ap pro pri ate met a phors, in for -<br />
ma tion, mod els, wit nesses, co ali tion build ing,<br />
and more, in or der to se cure fed eral funds. Pol -<br />
icy mak ing is not just about money, but also<br />
about de fin ing prob lems in ways that can only<br />
be un der stood by plac ing the rel e vant rhe tor i -<br />
cal strat e gies in their his tor i cal and cul tural<br />
con texts. It is his tory that re veals how di verse<br />
strat e gies, in or der to gain le git i macy, have re -<br />
peat edly ap pealed to some im age <strong>of</strong> the na tion<br />
un der threat.<br />
But his tory alone is not enough. To un der -<br />
stand this his tory re quires the ory: cul tural the -<br />
ory to ex plain how im ages <strong>of</strong> the na tion chal -<br />
lenge the ac tors in volved in policymaking; a<br />
the ory <strong>of</strong> governmentality to il lu mi nate the<br />
mak ing <strong>of</strong> sci en tists and en gi neers as a prob -<br />
lem for the na tion-state; dis course anal y sis to<br />
ex plore why cer tain things can be said, how<br />
they are said, and who is au tho rized to say<br />
them; and fi nally a the ory <strong>of</strong> so cial con struc -<br />
tion to ex plore the gen eral pro cesses through<br />
which sci en tific and en gi neer ing re ports, mod -<br />
els, sta tis tics, and more are de vel oped. In most<br />
cases de ploy ments <strong>of</strong> these di verse the o ret i cal<br />
frame works take place sep a rately or in iso la -<br />
tion from each other in cul ture stud ies, po lit i -<br />
cal the ory, rhe tor i cal stud ies, and the so cial<br />
sci ences. Here I sketch a more in ter dis ci plin -<br />
ary ef fort in or der to point to ward a broad as -<br />
sess ment <strong>of</strong> the re cent ap peal to a na tion un der<br />
ter ror ist threat, one that takes on par tic u lar sa -<br />
lience in re la tion to a more long-stand ing ap -<br />
peal to sci ence as an ex ten sion <strong>of</strong> the Amer i can<br />
frontier.<br />
A Cul tural Im age <strong>of</strong> the Na tion<br />
In light <strong>of</strong> the in creased mo bil ity <strong>of</strong> peo -<br />
ples, ideas, cus toms, and be liefs cul ture the o -<br />
rists have ques tioned the ad e quacy <strong>of</strong> tra di -<br />
tional mod els <strong>of</strong> cul ture that em pha size how<br />
mem bers <strong>of</strong> a bounded com mu nity share a<br />
com mon set <strong>of</strong> val ues, be liefs, norms, and be -<br />
hav iors. George Marcus (1999) calls for a new<br />
way to talk about the re la tion ship be tween cul -<br />
ture and in di vid u als (Marcus, 1999), and Gary<br />
Downey(1998 and 1999) has pro posed a con -<br />
cept <strong>of</strong> cul ture in which in di vid u als are chal -<br />
lenged by im ages that cre ate ex pec ta tions<br />
about how they are sup posed to act or be have.<br />
Dom i nant im ages cre ate ex pec ta tions about<br />
how in di vid u als in a par tic u lar lo ca tion are<br />
sup posed to act or be have. In this new con cept<br />
<strong>of</strong> cul ture, the im age re mains the same over a<br />
pe riod <strong>of</strong> time, while in di vid ual or group re ac -<br />
tions to the im age dif fer. When chal lenged by<br />
the same im age, in di vid u als or groups re sist,<br />
ac com mo date, ac cept, or ex pe ri ence am bi gu -<br />
ity in dif fer ent ways.<br />
Con sider the sit u a tion post Sep tem ber 11,<br />
2001: a dom i nant im age emerged <strong>of</strong> the United<br />
States threat ened by ir ra tio nal evil ter ror ists.<br />
All Amer i cans are now chal lenged by this im -<br />
age. Some re sponded by en list ing in the armed<br />
forces, oth ers en rolled in ac a demic pro grams<br />
deal ing with in ter na tional or home land se cu -<br />
rity. Still oth ers en gaged in pa tri otic dis plays,<br />
while some crit i cized or re sisted gov ern men tal<br />
ac tions. Thus al though in di vid ual ex pe ri ences<br />
dif fer, dif fer ences are uni fied in that to which<br />
they re spond.<br />
Pres i dent Bush and NSF Di rec tor Rita<br />
Colwell re acted sim i larly to the new im age by<br />
call ing sci en tists and en gi neers to cre ate more<br />
tech nol ogy use ful to the na tion. Other con tri -<br />
SCIENCE EDUCATION POLICY MAKING<br />
57
u tors to the policymaking pro cess en rolled<br />
them selves in this re ac tion, as did the sci en tists<br />
and en gi neers in the NRC and NSF ad vi sory<br />
com mit tees. Still oth ers have re sisted such a<br />
re sponse and ar gued in stead that en list ing sci -<br />
en tists and en gi neers in the war against ter ror -<br />
ism could be coun ter-pro duc tive to sci en tific<br />
cre ativ ity and tech no log i cal in no va tion.<br />
Scientists, Engineers, and the Nation State<br />
Ac cord ing to Michel Foucault, the cen tral<br />
prob lem <strong>of</strong> gov er nance since the nine teenth<br />
cen tury has been na tion-state pop u la tion man -<br />
age ment. This prob lem led gov ern ments to im -<br />
ple ment tech niques for con fig ur ing in di vid u -<br />
als into cat e go ries fa cil i tat ing con trol. For<br />
Foucault, these tech niques “were never more<br />
im por tant or more val o rized than at the mo -<br />
ment when it be came im por tant to man age a<br />
pop u la tion: the man ag ing <strong>of</strong> a pop u la tion not<br />
only con cerns the col lec tive mass <strong>of</strong> phe nom -<br />
ena, the level <strong>of</strong> its ag gre gate ef fects, it also im -<br />
plies the man age ment <strong>of</strong> pop u la tion in its<br />
depths and de tails” (Foucault, 1991b, 102).<br />
Fol low ers <strong>of</strong> Foucault ar gue that these “tech -<br />
nol o gies <strong>of</strong> gov ern ment” have be come mech a -<br />
nisms for the “objectification <strong>of</strong> in di vid u als<br />
through which au thor i ties <strong>of</strong> var i ous sorts have<br />
sought to shape, nor mal ize and<br />
instrumentalize the con duct, thought, de ci -<br />
sions and as pi ra tions <strong>of</strong> oth ers in or der to<br />
achieve the ob jec tives they con sider de sir able”<br />
(Miller and Rose, 1993, 82). Foucault him self<br />
re ferred to the co or di nated en sem ble <strong>of</strong> these<br />
tech nol o gies <strong>of</strong> gov ern ment as<br />
“governmentality.”<br />
The study <strong>of</strong> governmentality has be come a<br />
par tic u lar ap proach “marked by a de sire to an -<br />
a lyze con tem po rary po lit i cal ra tio nal i ties as<br />
tech ni cal em bodi ments <strong>of</strong> men tal i ties for the<br />
gov ern ment <strong>of</strong> con duct” (Miller and Rose,<br />
1993, 76). Such anal y ses fo cus on new ways to<br />
ex plain the ex er cise <strong>of</strong> po lit i cal power in ad -<br />
vanced lib eral de moc ra cies by means <strong>of</strong> tech -<br />
nol o gies <strong>of</strong> gov ern ment that even tu ally lead to<br />
the “shap ing <strong>of</strong> the pri vate self.” Ul ti mately,<br />
these tech nol o gies <strong>of</strong> gov ern ment are in tended<br />
to bring so cial and eco nomic or der into con -<br />
tem po rary gov ern ment by serv ing both ends <strong>of</strong><br />
a spec trum <strong>of</strong> po lit i cal ac tiv ity: po lit i cal econ -<br />
omy and so cial se cu rity (Gordon, 1991).<br />
With re gard to sci ence and tech nol ogy, po -<br />
lit i cal econ omy is served through the ef fi cient<br />
al lo ca tion <strong>of</strong> pop u la tion in the dif fer ent sec tors<br />
<strong>of</strong> the econ omy, as by count ing, iden ti fy ing,<br />
and pre dict ing the num ber <strong>of</strong> en gi neers needed<br />
in key in dus tries or sci en tists in ar eas <strong>of</strong> stra te -<br />
gic im por tance for na tional se cu rity. State se -<br />
cu rity, in its turn, is served through the cre ation<br />
<strong>of</strong> self-reg u lated cit i zens who will in te grate<br />
them selves into the sci en tific and en gi neer ing<br />
workforce.<br />
<strong>Policy</strong>making as Dis course<br />
Sit u at ing power and knowl edge that un der -<br />
lie the de ploy ment <strong>of</strong> tech nol o gies <strong>of</strong> gov ern -<br />
ment re quires an at ten tion to the lan guage <strong>of</strong><br />
sup ply and de mand workforce mod els, sup -<br />
ply-side mod els such as the pipe line, and<br />
more. As Pe ter Miller and Nikolas Rose (1993)<br />
have ar gued, governmentality “has a dis cur -<br />
sive char ac ter: to an a lyze the con cep tu al iza -<br />
tions, ex pla na tions and cal cu la tions that in -<br />
habit the gov ern men tal field re quires an<br />
at ten tion to lan guage” (78–79). Thus it is nec -<br />
es sary to ap pre ci ate the lan guage <strong>of</strong> gov ern -<br />
ment <strong>of</strong> fi cials, rep re sen ta tives <strong>of</strong> in dus try, ad -<br />
vo cates <strong>of</strong> underrepresented groups in sci ence<br />
and en gi neer ing, and oth ers as they strug gle to<br />
de fine na tional prob lems and their so lu tions.<br />
As Miller and Rose fur ther sug gest, a par -<br />
tic u lar pol icy dis course also takes place in a<br />
larger field through which it is le git i mated. As<br />
sci ence pol icy lan guage res o nates with the im -<br />
age <strong>of</strong> a na tion un der threat, it ac quires a le git i -<br />
macy that al lows policymakers to de fine prob -<br />
lems and so lu tions in terms <strong>of</strong> sci en tists and<br />
en gi neers. Miller and Rose do not pro vide<br />
clear in di ca tions <strong>of</strong> where the rel e vant dis -<br />
course is lo cated or how to ac cess it. But a clue<br />
may be taken from Foucault’s writ ings on pol i -<br />
tics and the study <strong>of</strong> dis course, in which he<br />
points to ward “ar chae ol ogy” as a method and<br />
the “ar chive” as the site in which it is ap plied.<br />
In study ing dis course, he writes, that he is<br />
not do ing ex e ge sis, but an ar chae ol ogy, that is to<br />
say, . . . the de scrip tion <strong>of</strong> an ar chive. By this<br />
word, I do not mean the mass <strong>of</strong> texts gath ered<br />
to gether at a given pe riod [but] the set <strong>of</strong> rules<br />
which at a given pe riod and for a given so ci ety<br />
de fine . . . the lim its and forms <strong>of</strong> the sayable.<br />
(Foucault, [1968]1991), 58)<br />
We can thus ex pect the lan guage <strong>of</strong> pol icy<br />
mak ing to be lo cated in the ar chive <strong>of</strong> <strong>of</strong> fi cial<br />
state ments, ad hoc re ports, and writ ten against<br />
the back ground <strong>of</strong> a time-spe cific na tional im -<br />
age.<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
58
In nu mer ous re ports call ing for sci en tists<br />
and en gi neers to solve many <strong>of</strong> Amer ica’s<br />
prob lems, one can eas ily dis cern a par tic u lar<br />
dis course or set <strong>of</strong> rules that lend le git i macy to<br />
ev ery thing NSF ad min is tra tors and<br />
policymakers say, pro pose, and do with re gard<br />
to ed u cat ing and train ing sci en tists and en gi -<br />
neers in the U.S. For ex am ple, in the 1960s we<br />
find a dis course <strong>of</strong> “sci en tific ex per tise” to<br />
deal with the chal lenges posed by an im age <strong>of</strong><br />
the na tion un der threat by So viet sci ence. In<br />
the 1970s there emerged a new dis course <strong>of</strong><br />
“al ter na tive sci ence and tech nol ogy” to deal<br />
with the chal lenges <strong>of</strong> so cial and en vi ron men -<br />
tal prob lems. In the 1980s, un der the im age <strong>of</strong><br />
Amer ica threat ened by tech no log i cal com pe ti -<br />
tion, “tech nol ogy for eco nomic com pet i tive -<br />
ness” emerged as a dis course. In the 1990s,<br />
“flex i ble technoscience for global com pe ti -<br />
tion” took cen ter stage. To day we wit ness the<br />
prom i nence <strong>of</strong> a dis course <strong>of</strong> “pa tri otic sci -<br />
ence and tech nol ogy” to deal with the chal -<br />
lenges posed a na tion un der the threat <strong>of</strong> ter ror -<br />
ism.<br />
In each case, these dis courses have tended<br />
to de fine the lim its <strong>of</strong> the sayable and the pro -<br />
gram <strong>of</strong> ap pro pri a tion for ed u cat ing and train -<br />
ing sci en tists and en gi neers. As much as<br />
money and pol i tics, im ages and dis course have<br />
shaped the ac tions <strong>of</strong> gov ern ment to ed u cate<br />
sci en tists and en gi neers in par tic u lar ways.<br />
The Con struc tion <strong>of</strong> Knowl edge<br />
about Scientists and Engineers<br />
Lo cat ing the ex act or i gin or end <strong>of</strong> a dis -<br />
course is not that im por tant. What is more im -<br />
por tant in an a lyz ing dis course, as Foucault ar -<br />
gues, “is the law <strong>of</strong> ex is tence <strong>of</strong> state ments,<br />
that which ren dered them pos si ble—them and<br />
none other in their place; the con di tions <strong>of</strong><br />
their sin gu lar emer gence; the cor re la tion with<br />
other pre vi ous or si mul ta neous events, dis cur -<br />
sive or oth er wise” (Foucault, 1991a, 59–60).<br />
Thus it is <strong>of</strong> ten use ful to an a lyze state ments<br />
made in the me dia in or der to see how a dis -<br />
course trav els across dif fer ent ar eas <strong>of</strong> na tional<br />
life, from pub lic into <strong>of</strong> fi cial do mains and vice<br />
versa. It is es pe cially use ful to note the “law <strong>of</strong><br />
ex is tence” <strong>of</strong> <strong>of</strong> fi cial state ments about the<br />
needs for sci en tists and en gi neers: Who is per -<br />
mit ted or able to pro nounce these state ments?<br />
Who is ex cluded al to gether from mak ing state -<br />
ments? Which con cepts <strong>of</strong> na tion are ac cepted<br />
as valid and which are not?<br />
The o rists fol low ing Foucault have given<br />
hints as to what might con sti tute a state ment,<br />
for ex am ple, about pop u la tion man age ment,<br />
but they do not ex plain how these be come ac -<br />
cepted as <strong>of</strong> fi cial knowl edge through which<br />
the pop u la tion is ac tu ally man aged. As Miller<br />
and Rose note,<br />
dis course re quires at ten tion to par tic u lar tech -<br />
ni cal de vices <strong>of</strong> writ ing, list ing, num ber ing, and<br />
com put ing that ren der a realm into a know able,<br />
cal cu la ble and ad min is tra ble ob ject. “Know -<br />
ing” an ob ject in such a way is more than a<br />
purely spec u la tive ac tiv ity: it re quires the in -<br />
ven tion <strong>of</strong> pro ce dures <strong>of</strong> no ta tion, ways <strong>of</strong> col -<br />
lect ing and pre sent ing sta tis tics. . . . It is through<br />
such pro ce dures <strong>of</strong> in scrip tion that the di verse<br />
do mains <strong>of</strong> “governmentality” are made up,<br />
that ob jects such as the econ omy, the en ter prise,<br />
the so cial field and the fam ily [in clud ing sci -<br />
ence and tech nol ogy] are ren dered in a par tic u -<br />
lar con cep tual form and made ame na ble to in -<br />
ter ven tion and reg u la tion. (Miller an Rose,<br />
1993, 79)<br />
How ever, we should not as sume that state -<br />
ments con tain ing sim i lar “pro ce dures <strong>of</strong> in -<br />
scrip tion” (e.g., ta bles, sta tis tics, graphs, mod -<br />
els, etc.) have the same level <strong>of</strong> ac cep tance to<br />
leg is la tors and policymakers. Ac tu ally, most<br />
state ments about sci en tists and en gi neers dur -<br />
ing the 1980s con tained sound sta tis tics, ta -<br />
bles, and graphs to sup port their ar gu ments.<br />
But not all were ac cepted by Con gress as <strong>of</strong> fi -<br />
cial knowl edge to in flu ence pol icy, even when<br />
the state ments were aligned with the dom i nant<br />
im age <strong>of</strong> the na tion un der the par tic u lar threat<br />
<strong>of</strong> that pe riod. The ques tions re gard ing who<br />
writes such state ments, who en dorses them,<br />
what kinds <strong>of</strong> net works <strong>of</strong> eco nomic and po lit -<br />
i cal power sup port or at tack them, have sig nif i -<br />
cant rel e vance to whether or not they be come<br />
<strong>of</strong> fi cially ac cepted knowl edge.<br />
Of fi cial knowl edge about sci en tists and en -<br />
gi neers emerges from a pro cess <strong>of</strong> so cial con -<br />
struc tion in which in di vid u als and groups with<br />
dif fer ent in ter ests about how sci en tists and en -<br />
gi neers are to be ed u cated and trained com pete<br />
and ne go ti ate. Be sides align ment with the<br />
dom i nant im age <strong>of</strong> the na tion and the emer gent<br />
dis course, the suc cess <strong>of</strong> state ments in be com -<br />
ing <strong>of</strong> fi cial knowl edge de pends to a large ex -<br />
tent on the how well the ac tors mak ing the<br />
state ments de ploy their al lies and re sources.<br />
No where is this more ev i dent that in pol icy<br />
SCIENCE EDUCATION POLICY MAKING<br />
59
mak ing. In ter est groups such as uni ver si ties<br />
and in dus try, and fed eral agen cies such as<br />
NSF, de ploy al lies (congresspersons, lob by -<br />
ists, ex pert wit nesses) and re sources (sta tis tics,<br />
re ports, vi sual met a phors) to le git i mate claims<br />
about na tional prob lems and their pos si ble so -<br />
lu tions.<br />
But more than the re sult <strong>of</strong> ne go ti a tion or<br />
the ap pro pri ate de ploy ment <strong>of</strong> al lies and re -<br />
sources, <strong>of</strong> fi cial knowl edge is the re sult <strong>of</strong><br />
power strug gles for the con trol <strong>of</strong> per cep tion.<br />
Groups and in di vid u als strug gle to de fine na -<br />
tional re al ity, first, by align ing them selves<br />
with a dom i nant im age <strong>of</strong> the na tion and ap -<br />
pro pri at ing its emerg ing dis course, and, sec -<br />
ond, by de fin ing the prob lems and so lu tions in<br />
their own terms. Suc cess ful groups and ac tors<br />
in this pro cess even tu ally shape pro grams,<br />
bud gets, and the mean ing <strong>of</strong> how we un der -<br />
stand the terms “sci en tist” and “en gi neer.”<br />
As a the ory, so cial constructivism has been<br />
crit i cized for a num ber <strong>of</strong> con cep tual lim i ta -<br />
tions: for its ne glect <strong>of</strong> the power dif fer ences<br />
be tween so cial groups or ac tors who are ac tive<br />
in ne go ti at ing for knowl edge and <strong>of</strong> those si -<br />
lent voices who never make it into the pro cess;<br />
for its ne glect <strong>of</strong> struc tural re la tion ships be -<br />
tween classes, races, and gen ders; and, for its<br />
prob lem atic sug ges tion that knowl edge is no<br />
more than a prod uct <strong>of</strong> the pro cess <strong>of</strong> con struc -<br />
tion and its clo sure as ac tors ap pear to set tled a<br />
con tro versy. But such lim i ta tions are not es -<br />
sen tial to so cial con struc tive anal y sis. With re -<br />
gard to sci ence pol icy rhet o ric, what so cial<br />
constructivism points out is that it takes more<br />
than ad dress ing na tional prob lems in terms <strong>of</strong><br />
a dom i nant threat im age for that rhet o ric to be -<br />
come in flu en tial.<br />
The power <strong>of</strong> state ments to in flu ence pol icy<br />
also de pends on who makes the state ments,<br />
and the lim its <strong>of</strong> what is sayable. Groups and<br />
ac tors guar an tee their par tic i pa tion in<br />
policymaking by po si tion ing them selves rel a -<br />
tive to eco nomic and po lit i cal power. In the<br />
1960s, for ex am ple, the sci en tific elite ex -<br />
cluded the work ing class and ra cial mi nor i ties<br />
from its policymaking ac tiv i ties. And, even af -<br />
ter a field <strong>of</strong> par tic i pants has been es tab lished,<br />
those who par tic i pate are not nec es sar ily<br />
equal. In the 1980s, when ad vo cates for<br />
women and mi nor i ties helped cre ate knowl -<br />
edge about sci en tists and en gi neers, they did<br />
not oc cupy the same po si tion <strong>of</strong> power and in -<br />
flu ence as the Vice Pres i dent <strong>of</strong> IBM, who later<br />
be came the chair man <strong>of</strong> the Na tional Sci ence<br />
Board. Like wise, for ac tors and groups with<br />
dif fer ent lev els <strong>of</strong> power, pol icy out comes<br />
have dif fer ent im pli ca tions.<br />
The National <strong>Science</strong> Foundation<br />
No where is the re la tion ship be tween im -<br />
ages <strong>of</strong> the na tion and policymaking for sci en -<br />
tists and en gi neers more ev i dent than in the<br />
pro grams <strong>of</strong> the Di rec tor ate for Ed u ca tion and<br />
Hu man Re sources (EHR) at NSF. The NSF has<br />
emerged as the lead ing voice in the United<br />
States on sci ence and en gi neer ing is sues, es pe -<br />
cially in re la tion to ed u ca tion. Given the<br />
claims about the in creas ing im por tance <strong>of</strong> sci -<br />
en tists and en gi neers to ful fill na tional mis -<br />
sions, un der stand ing the NSF role is it self in -<br />
creas ingly im por tant for any ef fort to as sess<br />
sci ence and tech nol ogy pol icy.<br />
As a source <strong>of</strong> cer ti fied knowl edge about<br />
U.S. sci en tists and en gi neers, NSF has gone<br />
from play ing a re ac tive role to be ing the lead -<br />
ing voice that informs the gov ern ment about<br />
pro spec tive needs. Dur ing the 1950s, for the<br />
first ten years af ter its cre ation as a ve hi cle for<br />
con tin u ing and de mil i ta riz ing the mas sive<br />
sup port for sci ence that had de vel oped dur ing<br />
World War II, NSF rarely made pub lic state -<br />
ments about the na tional state <strong>of</strong> sci ence and<br />
tech nol ogy in gen eral. Even af ter Sput nik in<br />
1957, head lines de scrib ing a na tional cri sis in<br />
sci ence and ed u ca tion rarely re lied on knowl -<br />
edge cre ated at NSF.<br />
By 2000, how ever, NSF had be come the<br />
ma jor source <strong>of</strong> knowl edge about sci en tists<br />
and en gi neers. “The New Global Workforce:<br />
High Tech Skills All Over the Map”<br />
(Engardio, 1994), “Short age <strong>of</strong> Sci en tists Ap -<br />
proaches a Cri sis. . .” (Milbank, 1990), and<br />
“Wanted: 675,000 Fu ture Sci en tists and En gi -<br />
neers” (Holden, 1989), are just few <strong>of</strong> the na -<br />
tional head lines that re lied pri mar ily on<br />
knowl edge pro duced at NSF about na tional<br />
needs for sci en tists and en gi neers. In con trast<br />
with its pre vi ous, more pas sive role, NSF now<br />
takes the lead in in form ing the na tion about<br />
how to ed u cate and train its sci en tists and en gi -<br />
neers to fit spe cific na tional needs.<br />
In the early 1960s, NSF be gan gath er ing in -<br />
for ma tion about the num bers and char ac ter is -<br />
tics <strong>of</strong> sci en tists and en gi neers through the Sci -<br />
en tific Man power Pro gram and its two<br />
el e ments, Man power Stud ies and the Na tional<br />
Reg is ter. Even tu ally, these pro grams would in -<br />
form the now widely read and cited Sci ence<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
60
and En gi neer ing In di ca tors which the Na tional<br />
Sci ence Board (NSB) sub mits to Con gress and<br />
the Pres i dent in its cur rent for mat ev ery two<br />
years since 1972.<br />
The vi sion for the NSF orig i nated with<br />
Vannevar Bush’s re port, Sci ence: The End less<br />
Fron tier (Bush, [1945] 1960). Re quested by<br />
Pres i dent Roo se velt in 1944 and pub lished as a<br />
blue print for post war re search pol icy un der<br />
Pres i dent Tru man, this study em bod ies the<br />
per spec tive <strong>of</strong> the sci en tific elite and in dus try<br />
in the United States on the fed eral gov ern ment<br />
role in sup port ing sci en tific re search. The re -<br />
port called for a fed eral agency, which was to<br />
be called the Na tional Re search Foun da tion, to<br />
sup port ba sic sci en tific re search.<br />
Ac cord ing to Bush’s orig i nal vi sion, gov -<br />
ern ment sup port was to be “free from po lit i cal<br />
in flu ence, [and] free from the in flu ence <strong>of</strong><br />
pres sure groups” (Bush, [1945] 1960, 51).<br />
Bush ar gued that ba sic re search would pro vide<br />
the na tion with fun da men tal sci en tific knowl -<br />
edge. Ba sic sci en tific knowl edge, not in tended<br />
to pro duce im me di ate prac ti cal re sults, would<br />
nev er the less even tu ally ben e fit na tional in dus -<br />
try, in the form <strong>of</strong> “new prod ucts and pro -<br />
cesses,” as well as “more jobs, higher wages,<br />
[and] shorter hours” (18). Em brac ing an elit ist<br />
con cep tion <strong>of</strong> who was to carry out this re -<br />
search, the Bush re port pro posed the “re newal<br />
<strong>of</strong> our sci en tific tal ent” by means <strong>of</strong> schol ar -<br />
ships and fel low ships based on merit. This<br />
meant that only the best and bright est could en -<br />
sure the health and growth <strong>of</strong> ba sic re search.<br />
Be tween 1945 and 1950, the leg is la tive pro -<br />
cess that ul ti mately re sulted in the NSF Act <strong>of</strong><br />
1950 was marked by a strug gle be tween sci en -<br />
tific elit ism, led by Bush, and pop u lism, led by<br />
Sen a tor Harley Kilgore (Dem., WVa). The<br />
Bush-led sci en tific elite ad vo cated a sci ence<br />
pol icy that gave sci en tists max i mum au ton -<br />
omy in their gov ern ment-funded re search ef -<br />
forts. Kilgore and his sup port ers ad vo cated a<br />
New Deal agenda for sci ence in which the pub -<br />
lic would ex er cise more con trol over fed eral<br />
re search (Kleinman, 1995). At the end <strong>of</strong> this<br />
de bate, Bush’s vi sion for a ba sic re search<br />
agenda pre vailed. As Dan iel Kleinman sum -<br />
ma rizes the out come,<br />
sci en tists’ war work had fur ther en hanced their<br />
sym bolic cap i tal and Bush’s and his col leagues’<br />
so cial cap i tal. Bush’s in ti mate re la tion ship with<br />
Pres i dent Roo se velt pro vided the op por tu nity<br />
and in sti tu tional lo ca tion from which elite sci -<br />
en tists and their busi ness al lies could con trib ute<br />
sub stan tially to de fin ing the terms <strong>of</strong> de bate and<br />
later in flu ence the fur ther course <strong>of</strong> de bate. (99)<br />
Such a sum mary nev er the less ig nores a cru -<br />
cial as pect <strong>of</strong> the de bate, that <strong>of</strong> the na tional<br />
im age ap pealed to by Bush. Since its in cep -<br />
tion, as the his to rian Fred er ick Jack son Turner<br />
ar gued in 1893, the char ac ter <strong>of</strong> the United<br />
States and many <strong>of</strong> its po lit i cal fea tures were<br />
de fined by the pres ence <strong>of</strong> a fron tier. The early<br />
found ers saw the pres ence <strong>of</strong> an open fron tier<br />
as en abling them to es tab lish a new state, freed<br />
from the hob bling lim i ta tions and cor rup tions<br />
<strong>of</strong> Eu ro pean tra di tions. The ideal fig ures <strong>of</strong><br />
Amer i can lit er a ture, such as the heroes <strong>of</strong><br />
James Fenimore Coo per’s nov els, were men<br />
and women <strong>of</strong> the fron tier. The Civil War was<br />
in part fought over whether the west ern fron -<br />
tier was to be con tam i nated by slav ery. What<br />
Bush did was to har ness this vi sion <strong>of</strong> the na -<br />
tion as a com mu nity de fined by the fron tier<br />
and tie it to sci ence. Sci en tists were pre sented<br />
as peo ple <strong>of</strong> a new fron tier, one that would<br />
never close. In Bush’s words:<br />
It has been ba sic United States pol icy that Gov -<br />
ern ment should fos ter the open ing <strong>of</strong> new fron -<br />
tiers. It opened the seas to clip per ships and fur -<br />
nished land for pi o neers. Al though these<br />
fron tiers have more or less dis ap peared, the<br />
fron tier <strong>of</strong> sci ence re mains. It is in keep ing with<br />
the Amer i can tra di tion—one which has made<br />
the United States great—that new fron tiers<br />
shall be made ac ces si ble for de vel op ment by all<br />
Amer i cans. (Bush, [1945] 1960, 6)<br />
Be fore the be gin ning <strong>of</strong> the Cold War, Bush<br />
ap pealed not to the threat <strong>of</strong> com mu nism to<br />
mar shal con tin u ing post-World War II na tionstate<br />
sup port for sci ence and en gi neer ing, but<br />
to the pos i tive tra di tion <strong>of</strong> the open fron tier and<br />
the United States as in ti mately tied to such an<br />
im age.<br />
Signed into law by Pres i dent Tru man on<br />
May 10, 1950, the NSF Act au tho rized and di -<br />
rected the new Foun da tion to “pro mote the<br />
prog ress <strong>of</strong> sci ence, to ad vance the na tional<br />
health, pros per ity and wel fare, to se cure the<br />
na tional de fense, and [to ful fill] other pur -<br />
poses” (Pub lic Law 81-507). Al though Con -<br />
gress did not in tend for NSF to be a mis sionori<br />
ented agency, such as the De part ment <strong>of</strong><br />
Ag ri cul ture or the Na tional Aero nau tics and<br />
Space Agency (NASA), the au tho riz ing leg is -<br />
la tion im plic itly de fined a na tional mis sion.<br />
SCIENCE EDUCATION POLICY MAKING<br />
61
Con gress, NSF <strong>of</strong> fi cials, and in ter est groups<br />
have used this idea through out its 50-year his -<br />
tory to suc cess fully re de fine its re search, ed u -<br />
ca tion, and hu man-re source pro grams ac cord -<br />
ing to emerg ing na tional needs. In the early<br />
1990s, for ex am ple, con gres sio nal com mit tees<br />
in vited groups to dis cuss how “new op por tu ni -<br />
ties and chal lenges [which] have been cre ated<br />
by the end <strong>of</strong> the Cold War, the rise <strong>of</strong> mul ti lat -<br />
eral eco nomic com pe ti tion from abroad, and<br />
the emer gence <strong>of</strong> global en vi ron men tal prob -<br />
lems” might re di rect the na tional mis sion <strong>of</strong><br />
NSF (Subcommitte on Sci ence, 1993).<br />
The leg is la tive pro cess alone, how ever, is<br />
in suf fi cient to shape the NSF na tional mis sion<br />
when new na tional needs emerge. Within a<br />
cul tural space de fined by an im age <strong>of</strong> the na -<br />
tion un der threat, and the lim its <strong>of</strong> what is<br />
sayable framed by the emer gent dis course,<br />
groups com pete to cap ture prob lems <strong>of</strong> pub lic<br />
at ten tion. As new im ages <strong>of</strong> the na tion ap pear<br />
on the pub lic ho ri zon, dif fer ent groups strug -<br />
gle to de fine the mean ing <strong>of</strong> such terms as “na -<br />
tional health,” “na tional pros per ity and wel -<br />
fare,” and “na tional de fense,” and pro pose<br />
so lu tions for NSF to tackle. These strug gles<br />
have been par tic u larly vis i ble within the ed u -<br />
ca tion di rec tor ate.<br />
Since the 1960s, NSF has be come the most<br />
im por tant fed eral agency in charge <strong>of</strong> de vel op -<br />
ing and pro mot ing sci ence and en gi neer ing ed -<br />
u ca tion. From the launch ing <strong>of</strong> Sput nik to the<br />
pres ent, NSF has used two pro grams—the Na -<br />
tional Reg is ter and Man power Stud ies and the<br />
EHR Di rec tor ate—to en gage in de bates re -<br />
gard ing the role <strong>of</strong> sci ence and en gi neer ing ed -<br />
u ca tion for na tional need.<br />
The Na tional Reg is ter pro gram, whose aim<br />
is to “make pos si ble the lo ca tion and iden ti fi -<br />
ca tion <strong>of</strong> in di vid u als with spe cial ized skills<br />
when needed for Gov ern men tal pur poses, in -<br />
clud ing mo bi li za tion,” has served to lo cate and<br />
iden tify sci en tists and en gi neers ac cord ing to<br />
time-spe cific na tional needs. Sim i larly, the<br />
Man power Stud ies ac tiv ity, now the Di vi sion<br />
<strong>of</strong> Sci ence Re source Sta tis tics (SRS), as “the<br />
cen tral pro gram in the fed eral gov ern ment for<br />
the pro vi sion <strong>of</strong> data on the sup ply, de mand,<br />
ed u ca tion, and char ac ter is tics <strong>of</strong> the Na tion’s<br />
sci en tific and tech ni cal per son nel re sources,”<br />
has pro duced pro jec tions for time-spe cific,<br />
sup ply-and-de mand na tional sce nar ios. Since<br />
the 1960s, as new im ages <strong>of</strong> the na tion have<br />
emerged, these pro grams have changed their<br />
names, and even their lo ca tion within NSF, but<br />
not their broad ob jec tives: to lo cate and pro ject<br />
sci en tists and en gi neers ac cord ing to emerg ing<br />
na tional needs. In short, these pro grams have<br />
be come tech nol o gies <strong>of</strong> gov ern ment.<br />
NSF data and pro jec tions have be come the<br />
most le git i mat ing source <strong>of</strong> in for ma tion re -<br />
gard ing the state <strong>of</strong> sci ence and en gi neer ing in<br />
the U.S. As NSF His to rian J. Mer ton Eng land<br />
re ports, al ready by the<br />
late 1950s more and more graphs, charts, and ta -<br />
bles in books and ar ti cles car ried the no ta tion<br />
“Source: Na tional Sci ence Foun da tion,” a des -<br />
ig na tion that was be com ing a stamp <strong>of</strong> au then -<br />
tic ity. How ever shaky NSF’s fig ures on sci en -<br />
tific per son nel ... might be, and they were<br />
largely es ti mates, they were far more ac cu rate<br />
than those avail able be fore and were be com ing<br />
steadily better.” (Eng land, 1982, 254)<br />
Lo cat ing, iden ti fy ing, pro ject ing, and<br />
hence (re)de fin ing pop u la tion cat e go ries <strong>of</strong><br />
sci en tists and en gi neers is only one side <strong>of</strong> the<br />
NSF role in cre at ing sci en tists and en gi neers.<br />
The other side is im ple ment ing sci ence ed u ca -<br />
tion pro grams in or der to pro duce the kinds <strong>of</strong><br />
sci en tists and en gi neers the na tion needs.<br />
Whether in the form <strong>of</strong> Fel low ships, Teacher<br />
Train ing, or Cur ric u lum Im prove ment, these<br />
pro grams have been aimed at the “de vel op -<br />
ment <strong>of</strong> the in di vid ual sci en tist” while en sur -<br />
ing the “produc[tion] <strong>of</strong> ad e quate num bers <strong>of</strong><br />
young sci en tists and en gi neers qual i fied to do<br />
the things our na tional goals re quire”(Com -<br />
mit tee on Sci ence and As tro nau tics, 1960a;<br />
Na tional Sci ence Foun da tion, 1960).<br />
To day pop u lar and ac a demic me dia, ed u ca -<br />
tors, policymakers, and oth ers de pend heavily<br />
on NSF’s eval u a tions <strong>of</strong> the health <strong>of</strong> Amer i -<br />
can sci ence and en gi neer ing, par tic u larly as it<br />
com pares with that <strong>of</strong> other in dus tri al ized<br />
coun tries.<br />
Conclusion: Frontier versus Terror<br />
One out come <strong>of</strong> NSF in for ma tion and pro -<br />
jec tions is that they have guided pol i cies and<br />
sub se quent bud get al lo ca tions to NSF pro -<br />
grams, thereby cre at ing a con flict <strong>of</strong> in ter est.<br />
Through its own pro jec tions, NSF has in -<br />
formed, rec om mended, and shaped the<br />
policymaking pro cess in sci ence and en gi neer -<br />
ing to its own ben e fit. Leg is la tors, NSF <strong>of</strong> fi -<br />
cials, and other in ter ested par ties have been us -<br />
ing NSF pro jec tions dur ing ap pro pri a tion and<br />
au tho ri za tion hear ings for NSF pro grams, le -<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
62
git i miz ing NSF as the source <strong>of</strong> knowl edge<br />
that shapes its own pol i cies.<br />
But more than just a bu reau cracy en deav or -<br />
ing to per pet u ate it self, NSF has emerged as a<br />
unique in sti tu tional so lu tion to the po lit i cal<br />
and eco nomic prob lems sur round ing sci en tific<br />
and tech no log i cal hu man-re source de vel op -<br />
ment. More than any other fed eral agency,<br />
NSF has be come a fed eral in stru ment for al lo -<br />
cat ing peo ple in sci ence and en gi neer ing fields<br />
with out di rect fed eral in ter ven tion or cen tral -<br />
ized pol i cies <strong>of</strong> hu man-re source al lo ca tion,<br />
such as those fol lowed in the for mer USSR,<br />
and in many West ern Eu ro pean de moc ra cies.<br />
Con sti tu tional hur dles and the lack <strong>of</strong> bi par ti -<br />
san sup port for na tional workforce pol i cies<br />
have made <strong>of</strong> NSF an in sti tu tional so lu tion to<br />
com plex con sti tu tional and po lit i cal prob lems<br />
sur round ing sci ence and en gi neer ing per son -<br />
nel: how to re di rect (align) the workforce in<br />
fields that the fed eral gov ern ment con sid ers<br />
im por tant for na tional in ter est with out in ter -<br />
fer ing with state and lo cal au thor ity over ed u -<br />
ca tion, and while safe guard ing the free dom <strong>of</strong><br />
in di vid u als to choose their pro fes sions.<br />
And this ten sion be tween ide als in ed u ca -<br />
tion is re flected in a ten sion be tween na tional<br />
im ages. De spite the re cent ap peal to threats<br />
and ter ror ism, the NSF has con tin ued to ap peal<br />
as well to the im age <strong>of</strong> the fron tier. It funds<br />
“Phys ics Fron tier Cen ters” and ex plores the<br />
“Ocean Fron tier.” And be fore Sep tem ber 11,<br />
2001, NSF Di rec tor Colwell spoke re peat edly<br />
<strong>of</strong> “Un com mon Knowl edge to Com mon<br />
Ground: A New Fron tier for Sci en tific Lit er -<br />
acy” (Colwell, 2001a), “Sci ence as the Fron -<br />
tier and Fron tiers within Sci ence” (Colwell,<br />
2001b), and “Sci ence, Tech nol ogy and Ed u ca -<br />
tion at the Fron tiers” (Colwell, 2001c). De -<br />
spite its post 9/11 de cline, this al ter na tive im -<br />
age as a plat form for jus ti fy ing pol i cies in<br />
sup port <strong>of</strong> ed u cat ing sci en tists and en gi neers<br />
can not be ig nored. In the long run it may ap -<br />
peal to higher ide als and ac tu ally pro vide a<br />
deeper means for ad dress ing ter ror ist threats.<br />
REFERENCES<br />
Averch, Harvey. (1985) A Stra te gic Anal y sis <strong>of</strong> Sci ence<br />
and Tech nol ogy Pol icy. Bal ti more: John Hopkins Uni -<br />
versity Press.<br />
Barlett, Thomas. (2003) “De grees <strong>of</strong> Se cu rity: Col leges<br />
Start Pro grams to Train Stu dents for Jobs in Home land<br />
Defense,” The Chronicle <strong>of</strong> Higher Education 49: A24.<br />
Bush, Vannevar. ([1945] 1960) <strong>Science</strong>—The End less<br />
Fron tier: A Re port to the Pres i dent on a Pro gram for<br />
Post war Sci en tific Re search. Wash ing ton, DC: Na tional<br />
Sci ence Foun da tion.<br />
Colwell, Rita R. (2001a) Un com mon Knowl edge to Com -<br />
mon Ground: A New Fron tier for Sci en tific Lit er acy. Pa -<br />
per pre sented at the Amer i can As so ci a tion for the<br />
Ad vance ment <strong>of</strong> Sci ence, San Fran cisco, Cal i for nia<br />
(Feb ru ary 18).<br />
Colwell, Rita R. (2001b, March 6) Sci ence as the Fron tier<br />
and Fron tiers within Sci ence. Pa per pre sented at the<br />
Howard Uni ver sity Lec ture Se ries On Grad u ate Ed u ca -<br />
tion, Wash ing ton, DC.<br />
Colwell, Rita R. (2001c) Sci ence, Tech nol ogy and Ed u ca -<br />
tion at the Fron tiers. Pa per pre sented at the SUNY-<br />
Stony Brook Mil len nium Tech nol o gies: Con verg ing on<br />
Growth, Stony Brook, New York (March 20).<br />
Colwell, Rita R. (2002) Sci ence as Pa tri o tism. Pa per pre -<br />
sented at the An nual Meet ing <strong>of</strong> the Uni ver si ties Re -<br />
search As so ci a tion, Wash ing ton, DC.<br />
Com mit tee on Sci ence and As tro nau tics. (1960a) A Study<br />
<strong>of</strong> Sci en tific and Tech ni cal Man power: A Pro gram <strong>of</strong><br />
Col lec tion, Tab u la tion, and Anal y sis <strong>of</strong> Data <strong>of</strong> the Na -<br />
tional Sci ence Foun da tion: U.S. House <strong>of</strong> Rep re sen ta -<br />
tives.<br />
Com mit tee on Sci ence and Tech nol ogy for Coun ter ing<br />
Ter ror ism, Na tional Re search Coun cil. (2002) Mak ing<br />
the Na tion Safer: The Role <strong>of</strong> Sci ence and Tech nol ogy in<br />
Coun ter ing Ter ror ism. Wash ing ton, DC: The Na tional<br />
Acad e mies.<br />
Downey, Gary. (1998) The Ma chine in Me: An An thro -<br />
pol o gist Sits Among Com puter En gi neers. New York:<br />
Routledge.<br />
Downey, Gary. (1999) Ped a gogy as a Cul tural Pro ject:<br />
Theory, Intervention, and the Anthropology <strong>of</strong> <strong>Science</strong><br />
and Technology. Pa per pre sented at the Amer i can An -<br />
thro pol ogy As so ci a tion An nual Meet ing.<br />
Engardio, Pete. (1994) “21st Cen tury Cap i tal ism: The<br />
New Global Workforce,” Business Week (18 No vem -<br />
ber).<br />
Eng land, J. Mer ton. (1982) A Pa tron for Pure Sci ence:<br />
The Na tional Sci ence Foun da tion’s For ma tive Years,<br />
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1945–1957. Wash ing ton, DC: Na tional Sci ence Foun -<br />
da tion.<br />
Foucault, Michel. ([1968]1991a) “Pol i tics and the Study<br />
<strong>of</strong> Dis course,” In G. Burchell, C. Gordon, and P. Miller,<br />
eds., The Foucault Ef fect: Stud ies in Governmentality.<br />
Chi cago: Uni ver sity <strong>of</strong> Chi cago Press, 53–72.<br />
Foucault, Michel. (1991b) “Governmentality,” In G.<br />
Burchell, Colin Gordon, and Pe ter Miller, eds., The<br />
Foucault Ef fect: Stud ies in Governmentality. Chicago:<br />
Uni ver sity <strong>of</strong> Chi cago Press, 87–104.<br />
Gordon, Colin. (1991) “Gov ern men tal Ra tio nal ity: An<br />
In tro duc tion,” In G. Burchell, C. Gordon, P. Miller, eds.,<br />
The Foucault Ef fect: Stud ies in Governmentality.<br />
Chicago: Uni ver sity <strong>of</strong> Chi cago Press, 1–51.<br />
Holden, Con stance. (1989) “Wanted: 675,000 Fu ture Sci -<br />
entists and Engineers,” <strong>Science</strong> 244: 1536.<br />
Kleinman, Dan iel. (1995) Pol i tics on the End less Fron -<br />
tier: Post war Re search Pol icy in the United States. Dur -<br />
ham, NC: Duke Uni ver sity Press.<br />
Marcus, George. (1999) Eth nog ra phy through Thick and<br />
Thin. New York: Prince ton Uni ver sity Press.<br />
Milbank, Dana. (1990) “Short age <strong>of</strong> Sci en tists Ap -<br />
proaches a Cri sis As More Stu dents Drop Out <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Field,” Wall Street Jour nal (17 Sep tem ber).<br />
Miller, Pe ter, and Nikolas Rose. (1993) “Gov ern ing Eco -<br />
nomic Life,” In M. Gane and T. John son, eds.,<br />
Foucault’s New Do mains. Lon don: Routledge, 75–105.<br />
Na tional Sci ence Foun da tion. (1960) An nual Re port.<br />
Wash ing ton, DC: Na tional Sci ence Foun da tion.<br />
Subcommitte on Sci ence, Com mit tee on Sci ence, Space,<br />
and Tech nol ogy. (1993) The Mis sion <strong>of</strong> the Na tional<br />
Sci ence Foun da tion: U.S. House <strong>of</strong> Rep re sen ta tives.<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
64
MOD ELS IN PAN THER BI OL OGY AND RADIOBIOLOGY<br />
PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE AS SCIENTIFIC CITIZENSHIP<br />
Kristen Shrader-Frechette<br />
In his au to bi og ra phy, Fran cis Crick (1988,<br />
50–51) tells how, as a be gin ning grad u ate stu -<br />
dent, he was re garded by No bel Prize win ner<br />
and Caven dish Pro fes sor Law rence Bragg.<br />
Bragg thought Crick was “a nui sance who did -<br />
n’t get on with ex per i ments . . . talked too much<br />
and in too crit i cal a man ner [and was] ‘rock ing<br />
the boat.’” Can one make a case for be hav ing<br />
like Crick? And for say ing sci en tists and phi -<br />
los o phers <strong>of</strong> sci ence, al most uni ver sally, have<br />
failed in their du ties to “rock the boat” in the<br />
face <strong>of</strong> sci en tif i cally or eth i cally ques tion able<br />
re search?<br />
An swer ing in the af fir ma tive, this pa per<br />
out lines con tem po rary bi o log i cal case stud ies<br />
(1) on the en dan gered Florida pan ther and (2)<br />
on the In ter na tional Com mis sion on Ra dio log -<br />
i cal Pro tec tion’s 2003 bi o log i cal rec om men -<br />
da tions; (3) traces some flawed ways <strong>of</strong> think -<br />
ing about phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence and eth ics; (4)<br />
sketches an al ter na tive eth ics <strong>of</strong> “sci en tific cit -<br />
i zen ship”; (5) ar gues that all sci en tists and phi -<br />
los o phers <strong>of</strong> sci ence have du ties to be sci en -<br />
tific cit i zens; (6) sug gests ways re search and<br />
ed u ca tion in sci ence and phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence<br />
must be re claimed in the light <strong>of</strong> sci en tific cit i -<br />
zen ship; and (7) <strong>of</strong> fers a brief con clu sion.<br />
The Eth ics <strong>of</strong> Florida Pan ther Stud ies<br />
Con sider the case <strong>of</strong> the Florida pan ther,<br />
Felis concolor coryi. An en dan gered um brella<br />
and key stone spe cies, mon i tored through ra -<br />
dio te lem e try col lars since 1981, the pan ther is<br />
im por tant for the sur vival <strong>of</strong> many other spe -<br />
cies in its hab i tat. East <strong>of</strong> the Mis sis sippi, only<br />
about 75 pan thers, in clud ing only 15–18<br />
breed ing fe males, live only in South Florida,<br />
mostly on pub lic land (Comiskey et al. 2002;<br />
Land et al. 2002; McBride 2001, 2002; Seal et<br />
al. 1989, 62–63, 69, and 106; Kostyack, 2002,<br />
6).<br />
The pan ther is in trou ble be cause the same<br />
poorly planned de vel op ment that dev as tated<br />
the East ern Everglades is now al lowed in the<br />
West ern Everglades. While US tax pay ers are<br />
spend ing $8 bil lion to re store the East ern<br />
Everglades, since 1993 the US Army Corps <strong>of</strong><br />
En gi neers (ACE) and the US Fish and Wild life<br />
Ser vice (FWS) have turned down no per mits<br />
for de vel op ing the pan ther’s only hab i tat, in<br />
West ern-Everglades. Suc cess ful per mit ting<br />
oc curs in part be cause de vel op ers have hired a<br />
bi ol o gist touted as the “fore most ex pert on the<br />
Florida pan ther” (Agripartners, 2001, 3), al -<br />
though his sci ence has been called into ques -<br />
tion (Slack, 2002).<br />
This con ser va tion bi ol o gist and con sul tantto-de<br />
vel op ers, now in charge <strong>of</strong> spe cies-re cov -<br />
ery pro grams else where, has re peat edly de -<br />
fended West ern-Everglades de vel op ment<br />
(Agripartners 2001; NWF, 2001), by us ing at<br />
least six sci en tif i cally and eth i cally ques tion -<br />
able claims. These are that (1) re gard ing pop u -<br />
la tion, the Florida pan ther is healthy, ro bust,<br />
and can sur vive for at least 100 years (Maehr<br />
and Lacy 2002, 972; Maehr, 1997); (2) re gard -<br />
ing ge net ics, there is no cur rent in breed ing de -<br />
pres sion (Maehr and Caddick 1995; see Maehr<br />
et al., 2002a); (3) re gard ing prey, there are too<br />
few deer in its West ern-Everglades hab i tat<br />
(Maehr and Lacy, 2002, 974); (4) re gard ing<br />
mor tal ity, Florida high ways are no big prob -<br />
lem (Maehr, 2001, 1991); (5) re gard ing hab i -<br />
tat, qual ity is de ter mined by amount and qual -<br />
ity <strong>of</strong> for ests (Maehr and Deason, 2002); (6)<br />
re gard ing col o ni za tion, low-in ten sity pri vate<br />
lands in cen tral Florida are de sir able (Maehr et<br />
al. 2002a, 187; Maehr 2001, 3-4; Maehr and<br />
Deason, 2002, 400). As a re sult <strong>of</strong> his claims,<br />
Everglades de struc tion is re peat ing it self.<br />
Marjory Stoneman Douglas (founder <strong>of</strong><br />
“Friends <strong>of</strong> the Everglades”), where are you?<br />
The con sul tant’s first, or healthy-pop u la -<br />
tion claim, is flawed be cause it is based on a<br />
Pop u la tion Vi a bil ity Anal y sis (PVA) that is<br />
nonempirical, pre mised on counterfactual<br />
con di tions, and em ploys er ro ne ous<br />
parameterization. For ex am ple, his PVA as -<br />
sumes that (a) half the pop u la tion is made up <strong>of</strong><br />
reg u larly-breed ing fe males; (b) no hab i tat loss<br />
will oc cur; (c) there is equal ran dom ac cess to<br />
mates; (d) no ge netic ef fects <strong>of</strong> in breed ing oc -<br />
cur in the near term (100 years), and (e) no hu -<br />
man im ped i ments to move ment ex ist, such as<br />
high ways (Maehr et al., 2002b). Yet all five<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY SUPPLEMENT 2004<br />
65
PVA con di tions are false for the Florida pan -<br />
ther (McBride 2002, 2001; Kostyack, 2002, 5).<br />
For in stance, the model as sumes a con stant<br />
mor tal ity rate, but in each <strong>of</strong> the last four years,<br />
six or seven pan thers (al most 10 per cent <strong>of</strong> the<br />
to tal pop u la tion) have been killed on Florida<br />
high ways (Land et al., 2002), a dou bling <strong>of</strong> an -<br />
nual high way deaths since 1999. The<br />
parameterization <strong>of</strong> the PVA model also errs<br />
be cause its es ti mates for ini tial pop u la tion, re -<br />
pro duc tion rates, and kit ten-sur vival rates all<br />
rely ei ther on nonempirical guesses or on ex -<br />
trap o la tions from only a small part <strong>of</strong> the data.<br />
For ex am ple, the 80-per cent sur vival is based<br />
only on sev eral lit ters, is un sub stan ti ated by<br />
field data, and is con tro ver sial (McBride 2001;<br />
Comiskey et al. 2002; Slack, 2002). Such<br />
short com ings can ex plain how the con sul tant<br />
is able to make such op ti mis tic claims for an<br />
en dan gered, iso lated spe cies, with 15–18<br />
breed ing fe males—claims that give it greater<br />
fe cun dity and sur vival than even Eng lish spar -<br />
rows.<br />
His sec ond, or ge net ics, claim is flawed be -<br />
cause the con sul tant him self has done no ge -<br />
net ics test ing, and there has been re peated lab -<br />
o ra tory and field pro<strong>of</strong> <strong>of</strong> in breed ing<br />
de pres sion, given ram pant prob lems like fail -<br />
ure to breed and un de scended tes ti cles<br />
(McBride 2002, 2001, 5 and 9; Comiskey et al.<br />
2002; FPWG 2000, pp.4-5; Land and Lacy<br />
2000; Roelke et al. 1993; O’Brien et al., 1990).<br />
The con sul tant ig nored the con sen sus <strong>of</strong> ex ist -<br />
ing ge netic ev i dence (Land and Lacy 2000;<br />
Roelke et al. 1993; O’Brien et al., 1990);<br />
trimmed the data; used a small sam ple size;<br />
then on the ba sis <strong>of</strong> the small sam ple (like<br />
look ing for an elec tron with a flash light),<br />
claimed his in abil ity to find a sta tis ti cally-sig -<br />
nif i cant dif fer ence as ev i dence <strong>of</strong> no in breed -<br />
ing de pres sion (Maehr and Cox, 1995). He<br />
con fused the ab sence <strong>of</strong> ev i dence, af ter us ing<br />
the wrong test, as ev i dence <strong>of</strong> ab sence.<br />
The con sul tant’s third, or prey, claim is<br />
flawed be cause <strong>of</strong> his us ing a Park-Ser vice<br />
model that grossly un der es ti mates num bers <strong>of</strong><br />
deer be cause it re lies on sur veys that used<br />
early-morn ing, plane over-flights with spot -<br />
ters, a tech nique that yields only 20 per cent to<br />
50 per cent as many deer as us ing spot ters in he -<br />
li cop ters. Bi ol o gists al ready have shown that<br />
Florida-pan ther flights, us ing an in fra red cam -<br />
era, could find twice as many deer as the meth -<br />
ods used by the de vel oper-con sul tant (Ha vens<br />
and Sharp, 1998).<br />
The fourth, or mor tal ity, claim is flawed be -<br />
cause the con sul tant does not de fine, quan ti ta -<br />
tively, what he means in say ing high ways pose<br />
no big threat to pan ther mor tal ity. He re lies on<br />
pre-1999 data, yet be cause <strong>of</strong> all the<br />
Everglades de vel op ment he has jus ti fied, an -<br />
nu ally since 1999 nearly 10 per cent <strong>of</strong> the to tal<br />
pan ther pop u la tion has been killed on Florida<br />
high ways (Land et al., 2002).<br />
The fifth, or hab i tat, claim errs be cause the<br />
con sul tant says the Everglades are too wet for<br />
pan thers, and for est is its only vi tal hab i tat<br />
(Maehr 2001, 1997; Maehr and Lacy, 2002).<br />
But here he cooks his data through a rep re sen -<br />
ta tive ness bias. He looks at only 60 per cent <strong>of</strong><br />
pan thers, those liv ing in semi-for ested ar eas<br />
north <strong>of</strong> I-75 (Comiskey et al., 2002); he ex -<br />
cludes the 40 per cent liv ing south <strong>of</strong> I-75,<br />
where the hab i tat is a mo saic <strong>of</strong> prai ries,<br />
marshes, and tree is lands; then he con cludes<br />
all pan thers pre fer for ests. He also ig nores spa -<br />
tial er rors caused by the fact that each pixel,<br />
gen er ated by pan ther ra dio te lem e try, has an<br />
av er age er ror <strong>of</strong> 224 me ters (Maehr and Cox<br />
1995; see Comiskey et al., 2002). In us ing<br />
these pix els, but in nei ther pro vid ing un cer -<br />
tainty bounds on his pan ther-po si tion val ues<br />
nor in clud ing hab i tat in for ma tion for 224 me -<br />
ters around the te lem e try points, he over es ti -<br />
mates for est im por tance and ig nores the<br />
patchy land scape. Even worse, he uses only<br />
day time te lem e try for this noc tur nal an i mal<br />
(Maehr and Cox, 1995), a tem po ral bias, then<br />
de fines the day time-te lem e try (or rest ing) hab -<br />
i tat as “pre ferred,” and names all other ar eas<br />
“avoided” hab i tat. His highly equiv o cal def i ni -<br />
tion <strong>of</strong> pre ferred hab i tat (as rest ing) thereby as -<br />
sumes that pan thers don’t pre fer breed ing,<br />
den ning, and hunt ing hab i tat (Shrader-<br />
Frechette and Mc Coy, 1993, 213–14). An other<br />
glar ing flaw in the hab i tat claim is his us ing<br />
crude sat el lite data (Maehr, 1997), de pict ing<br />
only for est cover, to al lege that cen tral-Florida<br />
pine for ests are prime pan ther hab i tat. But<br />
what pan thers need is the understory, for<br />
breed ing/den ning/ hunt ing, not the for est per<br />
se. Yet the con sul tant ig nores the fact that<br />
many cen tral-Florida pine for ests have vir tu -<br />
ally no understories. Pan thers use pine for ests<br />
only dur ing the early years af ter burn ing, when<br />
the understory is pres ent (Dick son and Beier<br />
2002, Dees et al., 2001).<br />
The sixth, or col o ni za tion, claim (about pri -<br />
vate lands in cen tral Florida) like wise errs be -<br />
cause <strong>of</strong> the understory prob lem, the tem po ral<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
66
ias <strong>of</strong> day time te lem e try, the spa tial bias <strong>of</strong><br />
us ing only data north <strong>of</strong> I-75, and fail ure to<br />
take ac count <strong>of</strong> pixel un cer tainty and vari abil -<br />
ity—all rep re sen ta tive ness bi ases that cre ate a<br />
log i cal fal lacy <strong>of</strong> com po si tion. More over,<br />
patchy cen tral Florida is use less to the pan ther,<br />
un less there are 200–300 square miles <strong>of</strong> con -<br />
tig u ous lands per pan ther, few roads, and the<br />
re quired understory (McBride 2001, 6–7;<br />
McBride, 2002, 12–13), none <strong>of</strong> which are met<br />
in the Walt Dis ney World area <strong>of</strong> West Florida.<br />
But if not, on what ba sis does the con sul tant<br />
pro pose cen tral-Florida col o ni za tion? He<br />
makes the un tested claim that pan thers can live<br />
solely on patchy pri vate prop erty, co ex ist ing<br />
with “low-in ten sity land-use”(Maehr and<br />
Deason, 2002, 400). But this is a sur pris ing<br />
sci en tific con clu sion. (a) If the pan ther pre fers<br />
the pri vate land and hu man dis tur bance <strong>of</strong> cen -<br />
tral Florida, why did he move out <strong>of</strong> it to the re -<br />
mote pub lic lands <strong>of</strong> the Everglades? (b) Why<br />
is there no ev i dence what so ever <strong>of</strong> re pro duc -<br />
tion on these pri vate lands or <strong>of</strong> breed ing fe -<br />
males be ing there (Kautz and Kawula 2000;<br />
McBride 2002, 12; FPWG, 2000)? How would<br />
one fit the hun dreds <strong>of</strong> square miles <strong>of</strong> con tig u -<br />
ous hab i tat re quired by breed ing pan thers into<br />
the patchy en vi ron ment <strong>of</strong> cen tral Florida? (c)<br />
How would pan thers avoid be ing killed by<br />
hunt ers or their at tack ing live stock and hu -<br />
mans, as in Cal i for nia? (d) What will high way<br />
mor tal ity be on the many greater roads <strong>of</strong> cen -<br />
tral Florida? (e) If he is right about pri vate land<br />
in cen tral Florida, why do pre lim i nary re sults<br />
<strong>of</strong> an on go ing Fish and Wild life Con ser va tion<br />
Com mis sion (FFWCC) sur vey <strong>of</strong> po ten tial<br />
pan ther hab i tat in cen tral Florida (McBride,<br />
2002), eval u at ing tract size, prox im ity and<br />
con nec tiv ity <strong>of</strong> tracts, prey base, hu man ac tiv -<br />
ity, and high way den sity, fail to sup port his<br />
view? Why do vir tu ally all ex ist ing Florida<br />
pan thers (7/8) live on pub lic land (Slack, 2002,<br />
24)? (f) If his rec om mended “pri vate co op er a -<br />
tion” among cen tral-Florida pri vate land own -<br />
ers, with out gov ern ment reg u la tion, will work<br />
to pro tect the pan ther (Maehr, 2001, 3), why<br />
did n’t it work in the past?<br />
Al though these six claims re veal the con -<br />
sul tant’s flawed pan ther sci ence, why has he<br />
dom i nated pan ther-re cov ery and West ern-<br />
Everglades pol icy? One rea son is that peer re -<br />
view ers <strong>of</strong> jour nals like Wild life So ci ety Bul le -<br />
tin and Con ser va tion Bi ol ogy (where the con -<br />
sul tant pub lished) did not ex pose his flawed<br />
sci ence, prob a bly be cause there are so few<br />
pan ther ex perts east <strong>of</strong> the Mis sis sippi. Also<br />
the con sul tant’s ar ti cles mis led re view ers. He<br />
never ad mits, for ex am ple, us ing only day time<br />
te lem e try; one has to know the orig i nal<br />
FFWCC data source (Slack, 2002), where this<br />
fact is re vealed. Like wise, he never ad mits us -<br />
ing only pan ther data north <strong>of</strong> I-75. In stead,<br />
one has to ex am ine the num bers and data<br />
points in his ar ti cles, then com pare them to the<br />
orig i nal data set, pub lished by the state (e.g.,<br />
Land et al., 2002), to see what he omit ted.<br />
Thus, a first eth i cal prob lem is the bi ol o gist’s<br />
mis lead ing claims and omis sions about the na -<br />
ture <strong>of</strong> his data, meth ods, and in ter pre ta tions.<br />
An other eth i cal er ror is his not tak ing ac count<br />
<strong>of</strong> the eth i cal con se quences <strong>of</strong> his flawed sci -<br />
ence, like his crude “for est” def i ni tion <strong>of</strong> pan -<br />
ther hab i tat: let ting fi nan ciers dredge, fill, and<br />
de velop West ern Everglades, what ever is not<br />
forest.<br />
Of course, it may be ac ci den tal that the six<br />
er ro ne ous claims (about pan ther pop u la tion,<br />
ge net ics, and so on) all sup port de vel op ing<br />
West ern Everglades and pro mot ing pri vate<br />
lands in Cen tral Florida as pan ther hab i tat.<br />
Even if they are ran dom sci en tific er rors, the<br />
con sul tant has a third eth i cal prob lem, con flict<br />
<strong>of</strong> in ter est. Af ter work ing on pan ther mon i tor -<br />
ing on the pay roll <strong>of</strong> the FFWCC, and while<br />
us ing its data, and while cur rently lead ing en -<br />
dan gered-spe cies re cov ery pro grams in Ken -<br />
tucky, as a ten ured UK fac ulty mem ber, this<br />
con sul tant con tin ues to col lect large sums <strong>of</strong><br />
money, tes ti fy ing on be half <strong>of</strong> de vel op ing the<br />
very hab i tat he was paid to pro tect. Landon<br />
Com pa nies/Agripartners paid him a re tainer <strong>of</strong><br />
$4,500 per month, $54,000 per year, and he<br />
pro vided sworn ex pert opin ion, de scrib ing his<br />
op ti mis tic PVA re sults and his for est-cen tered<br />
eval u a tion <strong>of</strong> pan ther hab i tat. He ar gued that<br />
be cause the pan ther was so healthy, his cli ent’s<br />
Everglades de vel op ment would do no dam age<br />
(Maehr, 2001, 1 and 6).<br />
In the Daniels de vel op ment case (Corps<br />
Per mit No. 199130802), the pan ther lost more<br />
than 800 acres <strong>of</strong> pri or ity hab i tat in West ern<br />
Everglades, while a quar ter <strong>of</strong> a mil lion dol lars<br />
was paid to con sul tants, the chief one be ing<br />
this con ser va tion bi ol o gist, for per mit tes ti -<br />
mony. The US FWS wanted com pen sa tion for<br />
loss <strong>of</strong> one third <strong>of</strong> this prime pan ther hab i tat,<br />
but the con sul tant’s tes ti mony, based on his<br />
frac tional val u a tion <strong>of</strong> for est patches, ex clud -<br />
ing all other landcovers, en abled no com pen -<br />
sa tion what so ever to be paid for loss <strong>of</strong> Florida<br />
SCIENTIFIC CITIZENSHIP<br />
67
pan ther hab i tat, but only wetlands-mit i ga tion<br />
for 94 acres (NWF 2002; Maehr 2001, 1 and 6;<br />
Thoemke and Payton 2001; Slack, 2001). He<br />
like wise tes ti fied for suc cess ful de vel op ment<br />
pro jects <strong>of</strong> Wilkison and As so ci ates in Na ples,<br />
Florida (Thoemke and Payton, 2001, 1); for<br />
de vel op ers <strong>of</strong> the new Florida Gulf Coast Uni -<br />
ver sity; and for golf-course McMansions like<br />
“The Hab i tat” de vel op ment in Lee County. In<br />
Feb ru ary 2003, when Florida Rock In dus tries<br />
re ceived min ing per mits on more than 6,000<br />
acres <strong>of</strong> prime Everglades pan ther hab i tat<br />
(Slack, 2002, 8), he used his nar row, day timete<br />
lem e try def i ni tion <strong>of</strong> pan ther hab i tat to ar gue<br />
the de vel oper should pay for pan ther mit i ga -<br />
tion for only the 66 acres <strong>of</strong> for ested wetlands,<br />
less than one per cent <strong>of</strong> the to tal im pacted<br />
(Slack 2002, 10; Kostyack, 2002 ). What<br />
would a court say if some one took away 1,000<br />
acres from a farmer, then em ployed te lem e try<br />
data from only the time the farmer was sleep -<br />
ing in his house, then said the farmer had to be<br />
com pen sated, for his farm land loss, only for<br />
the small area in which he ac tu ally slept?<br />
Of course, some one may claim that the for -<br />
est-hab i tat def i ni tion is just an hon est sci en -<br />
tific mis take. But if so, why did the con sul tant<br />
eval u ate the same land in con sis tently? When<br />
he as sessed cur rent pan ther hab i tat, sought by<br />
“dredge-and fill” Everglades-de vel op ers, he<br />
in con sis tently as signed no value what so ever to<br />
ag ri cul tural lands used by the pan ther for hunt -<br />
ing prey, so that the de vel op ers could get it. But<br />
when he as sessed pro posed ag ri cul tural lands,<br />
to be used for mit i ga tion <strong>of</strong> hab i tat loss, he as -<br />
signed them pos i tive value as pan ther hab i tat<br />
(NWF et al. 2001, 62–63; Kostyack 2002;<br />
Thoemke and Payton, 2001). This sug gests an<br />
eth i cal lapse, twist ing the truth for those who<br />
pay him.<br />
He also mis rep re sents his work for de vel op -<br />
ers and mis rep re sents his af fil i a tions as purely<br />
ac a demic in pub li ca tions and in his pan ther ad -<br />
vi sory work. In 1998, the con sul tant tes ti fied<br />
on be half <strong>of</strong> Everglades de vel op ers; less than<br />
three years later, he signed an af fi da vit stat ing<br />
that he had not tes ti fied for any de vel op ers in<br />
the “pre ced ing 4 years” (Thoemke and Payton,<br />
2001, 2). Was it a mis rep re sen ta tion when he<br />
tes ti fied—on be half <strong>of</strong> an Everglades-de vel -<br />
oper pay ing him $54,000 per year—that “the<br />
im pact <strong>of</strong> hu man ac tiv i ties on pan ther hab i tat<br />
and be hav ior is un cer tain” (Agripartners 2001,<br />
4 and 6; Maehr, 2001, 1)? Or when he said no<br />
stud ies show pan thers are “averse to hu man ac -<br />
tiv ity” (Maehr, 2001, 7 and 4)?<br />
A sixth eth i cal prob lem is that the con sul -<br />
tant ap pears to use sci en tific terms so as to mis -<br />
lead. He re peat edly de scribes hab i tat used only<br />
for rest ing, north <strong>of</strong> I-75, as “pre ferred pan ther<br />
hab i tat” when he should have said “pre ferred<br />
as rest ing hab i tat.” And why should he say<br />
pan thers are able to “col o nize” cen tral Florida<br />
(Maehr et al., 2002a, 187), when he knows<br />
breed ing fe males have never been doc u mented<br />
there since mon i tor ing be gan in 1981? Why<br />
would he char ac ter ize West ern Everglades in -<br />
cor rectly, as a pan ther-pop u la tion “sink,” “the<br />
land <strong>of</strong> the liv ing dead” (Maehr, 1997), al -<br />
though many pan thers live and breed there?<br />
But the bi ol o gist-con sul tant gets away with<br />
these eth i cal and sci en tific prob lems, in part,<br />
be cause sci en tists, phi los o phers <strong>of</strong> sci ence,<br />
peer re view ers, state, and fed eral <strong>of</strong> fi cials do<br />
not speak out. In stead <strong>of</strong> set ting the sci en tific<br />
re cord straight, the state agency in charge <strong>of</strong><br />
pan ther mon i tor ing chose him as lead au thor<br />
on sev eral <strong>of</strong> its pub li ca tions, but with out dis -<br />
clos ing his con flicts <strong>of</strong> in ter ests. In 2001, when<br />
the Na tional Wild life Fed er a tion (Thoemke<br />
and Payton, 2001) blew the whis tle on his con -<br />
flicts <strong>of</strong> in ter est and re quested their dis clo sure,<br />
the US FWS Su per vi sor (Slack, 2001) re -<br />
sponded that no dis clo sure was nec es sary.<br />
The Eth ics <strong>of</strong> the ICRP Eco log i cal Risk<br />
Recommendations<br />
Just as “fol low ing the money” seems to ac -<br />
count for eth i cally and sci en tif i cally flawed<br />
pan ther re search, it also ex plains the flawed bi -<br />
o log i cal rec om men da tions is sued in 2003 by<br />
the In ter na tional Com mis sion on Ra dio log i cal<br />
Pro tec tion. The ICRP, re spon si ble for rec om -<br />
mend ing global ra di a tion-pol lu tion<br />
protections stan dards (which are then adopted<br />
by in di vid ual na tions), is sued its first-ever en -<br />
vi ron men tal-pro tec tion rec om men da tions<br />
(ICRP, 2003). Be fore 2003, there were no ra -<br />
dio log i cal pro tec tion stan dards for hu mans.<br />
De spite the need for en vi ron men tal pro tec -<br />
tion against radionuclides, the ICRP sci en tific<br />
rec om men da tions are flawed. (1) They omit all<br />
ra dio log i cal pro tec tion <strong>of</strong> the abiotic en vi ron -<br />
ment, such as air and wa ter. (2) They take an<br />
in com plete, reductionist ap proach to eco log i -<br />
cal risk as sess ment by ig nor ing all eco sys temlevel<br />
struc tures and func tions and in stead ad -<br />
dress ing risks only to a few ref er ence spe cies.<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
68
(3) They fo cus only on mod eled, not mea -<br />
sured, doses to these ref er ence or gan isms. (4)<br />
They de fine “ref er ence spe cies” in terms <strong>of</strong> no<br />
op er a tional sci en tific cri te ria but in stead char -<br />
ac ter ize them prag mat i cally as those spe cies<br />
cho sen be cause the an a lysts know the most<br />
about them. (5) They make no rec om men da -<br />
tions to op ti mize ra dio log i cal pro tec tion <strong>of</strong> the<br />
en vi ron ment and keep ex po sure ALARA (as<br />
low as rea son ably achiev able), al though op ti -<br />
mi za tion and ALARA are part <strong>of</strong> ICRP norms<br />
for pro tec tion <strong>of</strong> hu mans (ICRP, 1991).<br />
In omit ting abiotic pro tec tion, the ICRP<br />
errs be cause it ig nores what is most eas ily, re li -<br />
ably, and em pir i cally mea sured, air and wa ter,<br />
and what is the “early-warn ing sig nal” for high<br />
spe cies doses. The omis sion <strong>of</strong> eco sys temlevel<br />
risks is prob lem atic be cause state-<strong>of</strong>-theart<br />
eco log i cal risk as sess ment (ERA) in cludes<br />
two dif fer ent lev els <strong>of</strong> meth ods, the tox i co log i -<br />
cal and the sys tems level. And the re quire ment<br />
<strong>of</strong> mod eled, not mea sured doses to ref er ences<br />
spe cies is sci en tif i cally flawed be cause model<br />
re sults would be al most to tally de pend ent on<br />
ex trap o la tions cho sen by the mod eler. There<br />
are no em pir i cal checks and bal ances; no rep li -<br />
ca tion <strong>of</strong> re sults; and no es cape from sub jec -<br />
tive, nonempirical mod els be cause es ti mates<br />
will be only those the mod eler judges “likely”<br />
(ICRP, 2003, par. 119), not those based on ex -<br />
plicit con fi dence lev els, with sta tis ti cally mea -<br />
sur able un cer tainty bounds.<br />
Fourth, the ICRP’s bas ing all its en vi ron -<br />
men tal protections on doses to some ar bi trarily<br />
cho sen “ref er ence spe cies” is sci en tif i cally in -<br />
de fen si ble be cause the ICRP gives no sci en -<br />
tific def i ni tion <strong>of</strong> “ref er ence spe cies”; they are<br />
sim ply those about which mod el ers have the<br />
most in for ma tion. In us ing ref er ence spe cies,<br />
the ICRP ar gu ably sanc tions sci ence that<br />
amounts to the drunk look ing for his watch un -<br />
der the street light. Why does the drunk look<br />
for his watch un der the street light? Not be -<br />
cause he lost his watch there, but be cause that<br />
is the only place he can see. Why does the<br />
ICRP sanc tion use <strong>of</strong> ref er ence spe cies? Not<br />
be cause they are spe cies that are im por tant for<br />
ra di a tion pro tec tion, but be cause they are spe -<br />
cies about which we know some thing. The<br />
“ref er ence spe cies” con cept also is sci en tif i -<br />
cally flawed be cause it has no con nec tion<br />
what so ever to “sen ti nel,” “av er age,” “key -<br />
stone,” “fo cal,” “um brella,” or “most sen si -<br />
tive” spe cies. Given no re li able bi o log i cal sur -<br />
vey <strong>of</strong> all ma jor flora and fauna, given no<br />
con trolled radiobiological ex per i ments on dif -<br />
fer ent spe cies with vastly dif fer ent<br />
radiosensitivities, given space-and-time<br />
bound ing prob lems such as mi gra tion, and<br />
given ra di a tion-dose val ues in the lit er a ture<br />
rang ing over or ders <strong>of</strong> mag ni tude, there is no<br />
way syn er gis tic, cu mu la tive, and in di rect ef -<br />
fects can be com bined into a re li able es ti mate<br />
<strong>of</strong> dose (Moeller, 1997, 28).<br />
Ob vi ously the ICRP rec om men da tions are<br />
sci en tif i cally flawed, but is there also an eth ics<br />
prob lem? There is a rep re sen ta tive ness bias,<br />
be cause all mem bers <strong>of</strong> the com mit tee were<br />
cho sen, not by bi ol o gists, but by those re spon -<br />
si ble for ra di a tion pro tec tion; be cause vir tu -<br />
ally all mem bers <strong>of</strong> the com mit tee had done re -<br />
search only on tox i co log i cal, not eco sys tem,<br />
ERA; and be cause vir tu ally all mem bers had<br />
al ready writ ten ar ti cles, usu ally for their nu -<br />
clear-in dus try em ploy ers, in sup port <strong>of</strong> mod -<br />
eled, rather than mea sured dose. There also<br />
were vi o la tions <strong>of</strong> pro ce dural jus tice, be cause<br />
the pro-nu clear chair <strong>of</strong> the com mit tee, from<br />
Swe den, al lowed no votes from the five com -<br />
mit tee-mem ber sci en tists (one each from Can -<br />
ada, Nor way, Rus sia, the UK, and the US). I<br />
was the US mem ber.<br />
When the US mem ber re quested bas ing all<br />
rec om men da tions on the best sci ence avail -<br />
able, from top ref er eed jour nals, the chair in -<br />
stead de fended us ing mainly nonrefereed<br />
“gray” lit er a ture. And when the US com mit tee<br />
mem ber asked the com mit tee to re quire un cer -<br />
tainty anal y sis <strong>of</strong> es ti mated doses, the chair<br />
sim ply re moved (from the re port) the writ ten<br />
ad mis sion that no un cer tainty anal y sis was<br />
nec es sary. Al though the ICRP said mem bers<br />
<strong>of</strong> the sci en tific com mu nity would be able to<br />
com ment openly on the re port, it never put the<br />
doc u ment through peer-re view. It asked for<br />
com ments on the draft, posted on the ICRP<br />
website, but sci en tists’ com ments were nei ther<br />
pub lished nor posted on the website, and only<br />
the com mit tee chair had ac cess to them. When<br />
the US mem ber tried to force sci en tific ex -<br />
change on the draft, by pub lish ing anal y ses <strong>of</strong><br />
it in sci en tific jour nals, the chair claimed pub -<br />
lic com ments on a mere draft re port were in ap -<br />
pro pri ate. But there was no other ve hi cle <strong>of</strong><br />
com mu ni ca tion. Be sides, why would some one<br />
com ment only on the fi nal re port, since it<br />
could not be eas ily changed? Prior to adopt ing<br />
the re port, the US mem ber called for a vote on<br />
the doc u ment, and both the chair and the ICRP<br />
told her the ICRP did not vote. The draft doc u -<br />
SCIENTIFIC CITIZENSHIP<br />
69
ment, in es sen tially the same form, was pub -<br />
lished in 2003, one month af ter the al leged<br />
com ment pe riod ended. It was pub lished in a<br />
de lib er ately mis lead ing way, list ing all com -<br />
mit tee names, but with out ac knowl edg ing that<br />
not all mem bers had ap proved it.<br />
Apart from these prob lems <strong>of</strong> eth i cal pro ce -<br />
dure, sci en tists and phi los o phers <strong>of</strong> sci ence<br />
also are re spon si ble for the con se quences <strong>of</strong><br />
flawed ICRP sci ence. What will hap pen when<br />
en vi ron men tal protections rely merely on<br />
mod els, not mea sure ments? On gray lit er a ture,<br />
not the best sci en tific jour nals? On a largely<br />
nontransparent mon i tor ing sys tem con trolled<br />
mainly by those who use and pr<strong>of</strong>it from nu -<br />
clear pol lu tion (Shrader-Frechette, 1996)? US<br />
nu clear weap ons cleanup will cost a tril lion<br />
dol lars, the same as many Vietnams; hun dreds<br />
<strong>of</strong> re ac tors must be ex pen sively de com mis -<br />
sioned through out the world; and mil lions <strong>of</strong><br />
nu clear work ers and atomic vet er ans are<br />
loudly de mand ing com pen sa tion. It will be<br />
cheaper for gov ern ment and in dus try to ad -<br />
dress these prob lems, if they have con trol <strong>of</strong> a<br />
nonempirical, nontransparent, par tial set <strong>of</strong><br />
radiobiological norms.<br />
Both the pan ther and the ICRP cases sug -<br />
gest that to un der stand flawed sci ence and eth -<br />
ics, one <strong>of</strong> ten can “fol low the money.” They<br />
also sug gest that, as phi los o phers and as sci en -<br />
tists, we can not al ways rely on in ter na tional<br />
agen cies, fed eral agen cies, state agen cies, peer<br />
re view ers, or fel low sci en tists, ei ther to do<br />
good sci ence or to use sci ence in eth i cal ways.<br />
We our selves must help take on these du ties.<br />
How Not to Think about Phi los o phy <strong>of</strong><br />
Sci ence and Eth ics<br />
At least one rea son for the eth i cally and sci -<br />
en tif i cally flawed ICRP rec om men da tions and<br />
pan ther re search may be that too much con -<br />
tem po rary phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence is di vorced<br />
from eth ics. Al though in the ory, the la bel “phi -<br />
los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence” sug gests broad philo soph -<br />
i cal in qui ries into sci ence, in prac tice the la bel<br />
is taken to mean only “epis te mol ogy <strong>of</strong> sci -<br />
ence.” And even when phi los o phers <strong>of</strong> sci ence<br />
do en gage eth i cal is sues, that eth ics amounts to<br />
re ar rang ing deck chairs on the Ti tanic. One<br />
wrong-headed ap proach, in di vid u al ism, is no<br />
better for sci ences such as ecol ogy than it is for<br />
eth ics. What most sci en tists and phi los o phers<br />
<strong>of</strong> sci ence em pha size (when they give their<br />
grad stu dents and post-docs the re quired NIH<br />
or NSF course in re search eth ics) is in di vid u al -<br />
is tic bioethics: In di vid u als should not fal sify<br />
data. Nor claim au thor ship when in ap pro pri -<br />
ate, and so on, all <strong>of</strong> which is cor rect. But by<br />
fix at ing on the per sonal is sues that are nec es -<br />
sary, they ig nore in sti tu tional is sues that are re -<br />
quired for good sci ence. Fo cus ing on the in di -<br />
vid ual trees they ig nore in sti tu tional for est <strong>of</strong><br />
ethics.<br />
What are some <strong>of</strong> these in sti tu tional is sues?<br />
Ac cord ing to a Jan u ary 2001 ed i to rial in Na -<br />
ture, one is sue is whether the uni ver sity-in dus -<br />
trial com plex is “out <strong>of</strong> con trol” (Na than and<br />
Weatherall, 2002, 1368), as typ i fied by the<br />
Novartis deal with Berke ley and the Hoecht<br />
deal with Har vard, both <strong>of</strong> which give pat ent<br />
rights to in dus try do nors for work they have<br />
not funded (see Shrader-Frechette, 1994). An -<br />
other is sue is pre vent ing sit u a tions like he ma -<br />
tol o gist Nancy Olivieri’s be ing sued for breach<br />
<strong>of</strong> con tract, af ter she en tered into a re search<br />
con tract with a drug com pany, then blew the<br />
whis tle on dam ag ing side-ef fects <strong>of</strong> com pany<br />
med i ca tion, side-ef fects that the com pany<br />
tried to keep quiet (Drazen, 2002, 1362). Still<br />
an other is sue is why phi los o phers and sci en -<br />
tists nei ther keep in formed nor speak up when<br />
pol i ti cians sec ond-guess sci en tific con clu -<br />
sions, for po lit i cal rea sons, as when the Bush<br />
ad min is tra tion re cently dis banded doz ens <strong>of</strong><br />
fed eral sci en tific ad vi sory com mit tees that<br />
came to sci en tific con clu sions dif fer ent from<br />
his own (or dif fer ent from his do nors).<br />
Af ter years <strong>of</strong> study, one fed eral sci en tific<br />
com mit tee con cluded the pub lic is at risk from<br />
the ge netic-test ing in dus try and worked with<br />
FDA to de velop reg u la tions for the in dus try<br />
that, so far, has been free <strong>of</strong> over sight. But in -<br />
dus try pro tested, so Bush did not re new the<br />
com mit tee’s char ter. In Latin-Americanese, he<br />
“dis ap peared” the com mit tee. Paul Gelsinger,<br />
whose son Jesse died in a Penn syl va nia genether<br />
apy ex per i ment com mented: “money is<br />
run ning the re search show.” An other sci en tific<br />
com mit tee, headed by Tom Burke at Johns<br />
Hopkins, rec om mended tighter con trols on en -<br />
vi ron men tal chem i cals, and Bush told him that<br />
he and fif teen <strong>of</strong> its eigh teen mem bers would<br />
be re placed, and the reg u la tions dropped. They<br />
were re placed, vir tu ally com pletely with<br />
chem i cal-in dus try lob by ists, law yer, con sul -<br />
tants, and CEOs, such as Den nis Paustenbach,<br />
who tried to de fend PG&E against Erin<br />
Brockovitch’s charges that it con tam i nated<br />
Cal i for nia com mu ni ties with chro mium<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
70
(Musil, 2003). Is sci ence for sale to the high est<br />
bid der or cam paign do nor? Is po lit i cal sci ence<br />
re plac ing lab o ra tory science?<br />
By ig nor ing such in sti tu tional is sues <strong>of</strong> sci -<br />
en tific eth ics, the in vis i ble el e phant in the mid -<br />
dle <strong>of</strong> the lab o ra tory, and fo cus ing largely on<br />
in di vid ual and per sonal is sues such as au thor -<br />
ship, phi los o phers and sci en tists fall into the<br />
same in di vid u al is tic pit falls as most med i cal<br />
ethicists. Most jour nals deal ing with bio med i -<br />
cal eth ics ad dress is sues <strong>of</strong> in di vid ual doc torpa<br />
tient re la tion ship, like dis clo sure or in -<br />
formed con sent, when they also should be con -<br />
cerned about why the Health Track ing Act <strong>of</strong><br />
2002 (HR 4061 and S 2054) has not passed,<br />
forc ing gov ern ment to track chronic dis eases<br />
and their pos si ble en vi ron men tal causes. Why<br />
do peo ple fo cus on in di vid ual hu man deaths<br />
from known causes, like the avoid able 30,000<br />
auto deaths each year from drunk driv ers, but<br />
ig nore the same num ber <strong>of</strong> deaths mostly<br />
among chil dren, caused by power-in dus try<br />
particulates (Shaeffer, 2002)?<br />
Minimalism, an other wrong ap proach to<br />
phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence and eth ics, pre sup poses<br />
that, if we do only epis te mol ogy <strong>of</strong> sci ence, we<br />
are ex haust ing the field <strong>of</strong> phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci -<br />
ence. Min i mal ist ap proaches ig nore the eth ics<br />
<strong>of</strong> sci ence and the fact that it ought to be part <strong>of</strong><br />
phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence. Min i mal ists also as -<br />
sume that, if we do not lie, cheat, or steal, we<br />
are eth i cal. They ig nore the fact that we are all<br />
mem bers <strong>of</strong> fa mil ial, na tional, civic, and sci -<br />
en tific com mu ni ties, in whose prob lems and<br />
omis sions, we are all complicit. Many sci en -<br />
tists and phi los o phers <strong>of</strong> sci ence are min i mal -<br />
ists be cause they are com mu nally and<br />
relationally chal lenged. Yet most <strong>of</strong> us would<br />
not say, in re sponse to be ing called at work, af -<br />
ter our child was se ri ously hurt at school, “I’m<br />
too busy to go to the hos pi tal. I’m a sci en tist,<br />
and I don’t have time for those ‘out side’ ac tiv i -<br />
ties. I make my so cial con tri bu tion through my<br />
sci ence.” Just as such an an swer would be ap -<br />
pall ing, in re sponse to our child’s be ing hurt, it<br />
also is ap pall ing in re sponse to things like in ac -<br />
tion on Bush’s roadless rule for na tional for -<br />
ests. It also sounds like the at ti tude <strong>of</strong> the en tire<br />
Prus sian Acad emy <strong>of</strong> Sci ences, when it uni -<br />
ver sally con demned Al bert Ein stein in 1933,<br />
for crit i ciz ing Hit ler’s vi o la tions <strong>of</strong> civil lib er -<br />
ties. Eth ics and phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence do not<br />
al ways dic tate what side one should take, like<br />
Ein stein’s, but they do dic tate that we all have a<br />
moral re spon si bil ity to en gage in what Iris<br />
Marion Young (2000) calls “dem o cratic de lib -<br />
er a tion” about sci ence-re lated is sues. Peo ple<br />
don’t have the right to en joy the ben e fits <strong>of</strong><br />
mem ber ship in the sci en tific or philo soph i cal<br />
com mu nity and, at the same time, to claim the<br />
right to be apo lit i cal when that com mu nity is<br />
mis rep re sented<br />
The Real Prob lem: Lack <strong>of</strong> Sci en tific<br />
Citizenship<br />
But if in di vid u al ism and minimalism don’t<br />
work, what does? I call the al ter na tive phi los o -<br />
phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence, “sci en tific cit i zen ship,” pub lic<br />
cit i zen ship for sci en tists and phi los o phers <strong>of</strong><br />
sci ence. It con sists <strong>of</strong> par tic i pat ing in de lib er a -<br />
tive de moc racy (Young, 2000), in the ways we<br />
learned in eighth-grade civ ics glass: by pub lic<br />
speak ing, pub lic-in ter est re search, re port ing,<br />
sur vey ing, whistle blow ing, fil ing claims un der<br />
the Free dom <strong>of</strong> In for ma tion Act, boy cott ing,<br />
pick et ing, dem on strat ing, su ing, us ing ini tia -<br />
tive and ref er en dum, fund rais ing, or re spond -<br />
ing to one <strong>of</strong> the 2500 draft en vi ron men tal im -<br />
pact as sess ments writ ten each year for pub lic<br />
com ment (Isaacs, 1992). If a fi nan cially<br />
strapped, sin gle par ent like Erin Brockovitch<br />
has the cour age to be a sci en tific cit i zen, then<br />
better ed u cated sci en tists and phi los o phers<br />
ought to be able to do at least as much.<br />
Where were the Erin-Brockovitch bi ol o -<br />
gists when Vice Pres i dent Cheney said en ergy<br />
con ser va tion was a “per sonal vir tue” then tried<br />
to open up Alaska and arc tic wil der ness to oil<br />
and gas drill ing? Af ter Cheney’s com ment, the<br />
coun try’s five top na tional lab o ra to ries re -<br />
leased a re port show ing that en ergy ef fi ciency<br />
pro grams could im me di ately re duce elec tric -<br />
ity de mand by 20 to 47 per cent (Nierenberg,<br />
2001, 13). And where were the Erin-<br />
Brokovitch bi ol o gists when Sen a tors John<br />
McCain and John Kerry pro posed rais ing the<br />
CAFE (cor po rate av er age fuel econ omy) stan -<br />
dards grad u ally over the next 13 years<br />
(Huffington, 2002, 41–42)? Both Dem o cratic<br />
and Re pub li can Congresspeople, ben e fi cia ries<br />
<strong>of</strong> auto and oil-in dus try cam paign do na tions,<br />
voted against better CAFE stan dards, even<br />
though the McCain-Kerry bill would have<br />
saved 2.5 mil lion bar rels <strong>of</strong> oil a day<br />
(Huffington, 2002, 41–42).<br />
Sci en tific cit i zen ship is not blind ad vo cacy.<br />
It is keep ing in formed, shar ing in for ma tion,<br />
re veal ing bias, avoid ing po lit i cal naïveté, tak -<br />
ing part in pub lic de bate, es pe cially in ar eas re -<br />
SCIENTIFIC CITIZENSHIP<br />
71
lated to your own ar eas <strong>of</strong> ex per tise. It would<br />
not be in ap pro pri ate ad vo cacy to re veal the<br />
flawed sci ence used by pan ther sci en tists or<br />
the ICRP radio biologists. In most cases, sci en -<br />
tific cit i zen ship is noth ing more than do ing<br />
good sci ence and act ing as a philo soph i cal<br />
watch dog on those who mis use sci ence, es pe -<br />
cially in pol icy con texts. Most <strong>of</strong> us are crit i cal<br />
<strong>of</strong> the way med i cal doc tors fail to act as watch -<br />
dogs on the pol i cies <strong>of</strong> the AMA. But if so, we<br />
should be crit i cal <strong>of</strong> the way bi ol o gists fail to<br />
act as watch dogs on the mis use <strong>of</strong> bi ol ogy.<br />
What all these de mands for sci en tific cit i zen -<br />
ship en tail is tak ing re spon si bil ity. As Cassius<br />
says to Brutus in Act 1, scene 2 <strong>of</strong> Jul ius<br />
Caesar: “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our<br />
stars/ But in our selves, that we are un der lings.”<br />
Why All Scientists and Philosophers <strong>of</strong><br />
Sci ence Have Du ties to be Sci en tific Cit i -<br />
zens<br />
Why are sci en tists and phi los o phers <strong>of</strong> sci -<br />
ence obliged to play a pro-ac tive role in dem o -<br />
cratic de lib er a tion, as sci en tific cit i zens?<br />
There are at least five rea sons: abil ity, com -<br />
plic ity, con sis tency, pro fes sional codes <strong>of</strong> eth -<br />
ics, and self-in ter est.<br />
Sci en tists and phi los o phers <strong>of</strong> sci ence have<br />
this spe cial duty, first, be cause they are able to<br />
do what very few oth ers can. Spe cial abil i ties<br />
and spe cial knowl edge cre ate spe cial ob li ga -<br />
tions.<br />
Sci en tists and phi los o phers <strong>of</strong> sci ence also<br />
have spe cial du ties be cause they are complicit<br />
in many harms done by sci ence. We all know<br />
about this com plic ity in med i cal con texts.<br />
Most man u fac turer-funded sci en tific stud ies<br />
on pharmaceuticals claim ef fi cacy su pe rior to<br />
other prod ucts, but in at least half the cases, the<br />
sta tis tics are miss ing or in con clu sive, yet peerre<br />
viewed jour nals pub lish them any way<br />
(Rochon et al., 1994). Jour nals did the same in<br />
the pan ther case. One way to com pen sate for<br />
our known and un known fail ures is to make an<br />
ef fort to be have proactively, as sci en tific cit i -<br />
zens.<br />
Third, con sis tency fur ther dic tates du ties to<br />
be sci en tific cit i zens. It is ir ra tio nal to train stu -<br />
dents to do sci ence and phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence<br />
and not to train them to mon i tor the dem o cratic<br />
con di tions nec es sary for good sci ence. To seek<br />
the end, good sci ence, and not pur sue the<br />
means, whistle blow ing and watchdogging,<br />
nec es sary to achieve it, is ir ra tio nal. Na ive<br />
peo ple thought pass ing the1964 Civil Rights<br />
Act would end rac ism, be cause they ig nored<br />
the role we all must play, de facto, to en sure<br />
that the de jure law works. Yet we ig nore the de<br />
facto work nec es sary to re al ize the de jure dic -<br />
tates <strong>of</strong> the Na tional En vi ron men tal Pol icy Act<br />
(NEPA). Pro vid ing com ments on draft as sess -<br />
ments is nec es sary for the de jure NEPA to<br />
work. Our act ing as ad vo cates for good en vi -<br />
ron men tal as sess ment is nec es sary for NEPA<br />
to work.<br />
Fourth, sci en tists have du ties to be sci en -<br />
tific cit i zens be cause their pro fes sional codes<br />
<strong>of</strong> eth ics re quire just that. The code (re vised 22<br />
March 2002) <strong>of</strong> the Amer i can In sti tute <strong>of</strong> Bi o -<br />
log i cal Sci ences (AIBS), for ex am ple, re quires<br />
bi ol o gists to ex pose fraud, pro fes sional mis -<br />
con duct, con flicts <strong>of</strong> in ter est and to pro mote<br />
open ex change, among other things. If par ties<br />
to the ICRP and Florida-pan ther re search had<br />
fol lowed these rules, many prob lems could<br />
have been avoided.<br />
A fi nal rea son for du ties to be have as sci en -<br />
tific spokespersons is self in ter est. If sci en tists<br />
and phi los o phers <strong>of</strong> sci ence do not be have as<br />
sci en tific cit i zens, then peo ple will be less well<br />
ed u cated about sci ence. As a re sult, sci ence<br />
will re ceive less fund ing, and the pro fes sion<br />
will do less well.<br />
Re claim ing Sci en tific Re search and Teach -<br />
ing<br />
If we take sci en tific cit i zen ship se ri ously,<br />
then we shall have to re claim sci en tific and<br />
philo soph i cal re search and teach ing. That rec -<br />
la ma tion will need to start with the rec og ni tion<br />
that al though both sci ence and phi los o phy,<br />
with care, can be ob jec tive, they are also, as<br />
Philip Kitcher put it, un avoid ably so cial. But if<br />
so, sci en tists and phi los o phers <strong>of</strong> sci ence must<br />
learn to prac tice what Kitcher (2001) calls<br />
“well-or dered sci ence,” sci ence sub ject to in -<br />
formed, plu ral is tic, dem o cratic con straints.<br />
Well-or dered sci ence re quires re search ers and<br />
ed u ca tors to look out for ways that vested in -<br />
ter ests tilt the sci en tific play ing field. It is not<br />
level, if the only fac tor as so ci ated with con -<br />
clud ing that pas sive smok ing is not harm ful is<br />
whether an au thor is af fil i ated with the to bacco<br />
in dus try, even when one uses mul ti ple lo gis tic<br />
re gres sion anal y ses con trol ling for ar ti cle<br />
qual ity, peer re view sta tus, topic, year, and so<br />
on (Barnes and Bero, 1998). The play ing field<br />
is not level, if a poorly-paid fed eral em ployee<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
72
is pit ted against util ity-in dus try at tor neys each<br />
<strong>of</strong> whom re cently charged $5,000 per hour, for<br />
at tempts to have the Clean Air Act de clared<br />
un con sti tu tional (Moore, 2002, 58).<br />
One way to help level the play ing field is to<br />
ex pose al leged re search ers who are merely<br />
well-funded “front groups.” The Amer i can<br />
Chem is try Coun cil is not that but an anti-reg u -<br />
la tory group spend ing more than $4 mil lion a<br />
year in lob by ing and sci en tific writ ing. The<br />
Amer i can Crop Pro tec tion As so ci a tion is a<br />
group <strong>of</strong> pes ti cide man u fac tur ers fund ing<br />
writ ing and lob by ing to block EPA’s reg u la tion<br />
<strong>of</strong> pes ti cides. The Global Cli mate Co ali tion,<br />
like the Ad vance ment <strong>of</strong> Sound Sci ence Co ali -<br />
tion, is a front group funded by the oil, au to mo -<br />
bile, chem i cal, and to bacco in dus try to op pose<br />
sign ing the Kyoto Ac cords (Beder, 2002, 237).<br />
The Na tional En dan gered Spe cies Act Re form<br />
Co ali tion is funded by the util ity in dus try to<br />
lobby against the En dan gered Spe cies Act. Re -<br />
spon si ble In dus try for a Sound En vi ron ment is<br />
a pes ti cide-in dus try-funded group writ ing to<br />
dis credit right-to-know pro vi sions in pes ti cide<br />
reg u la tions (Beder, 2002). The For est Pro tec -<br />
tion So ci ety is funded by the log ging in dus try<br />
to pro mote rain forest log ging (Beder, 2002,<br />
31). The Keep Amer ica Beau ti ful group is<br />
funded by the bot tling and plas tics in dus try to<br />
op pose bot tle-de posit leg is la tion (Beder,<br />
2002, 30). The Na tional Wetlands Co ali tion,<br />
funded by the oil and gas in dus try, has a logo<br />
that shows a duck fly ing over a wet land, but it<br />
lob bies and writes in fa vor <strong>of</strong> wetlands oil and<br />
gas drill ing (Beder, 2002, 30). The Amer i can<br />
Coun cil on Sci ence and Health, funded by the<br />
chem i cal, oil, and phar ma ceu ti cal in dus tries,<br />
com mis sions ar ti cles ar gu ing for the nu tri -<br />
tional value <strong>of</strong> fast food, the safety <strong>of</strong> growth<br />
hor mones for cat tle, and the safety <strong>of</strong> sac cha -<br />
rin and pes ti cides (Beder, 2002, 28).<br />
We all know that Dick Cheney met re peat -<br />
edly with en ergy-in dus try <strong>of</strong> fi cials to for mu -<br />
late the ad min is tra tion’s en ergy pol icy, but<br />
many don’t re al ize that he is still be ing paid de -<br />
ferred com pen sa tion by Halliburton. Or that<br />
Steve Griles, coal, gas, and oil in dus try lob by -<br />
ist, as cur rent Dep uty Sec re tary <strong>of</strong> the In te rior,<br />
con tin ues to be paid nearly $300,000 a year by<br />
his for mer lob by ing firm, even though he is<br />
now sup pos edly work ing for ev ery one. Griles<br />
wrote the pro posal al low ing the coal in dus try<br />
to dump min ing waste in streams in stead <strong>of</strong><br />
clean ing it up (Hertsgaard, 2003, 15–16). Gale<br />
Norton, c<strong>of</strong>ounder <strong>of</strong> an anti-reg u la tory chem -<br />
i cal and min ing in dus try lobby group, is now<br />
US Sec re tary <strong>of</strong> the In te rior; Dick Cheney,<br />
Chair <strong>of</strong> Halliburton, an oil-ser vices com pany,<br />
is now US Vice-Pres i dent; James<br />
Connaughton, lob by ist for min ing and chem i -<br />
cals in dus tries, is now Chair <strong>of</strong> the White<br />
House Coun cil on En vi ron men tal Qual ity;<br />
Don Ev ans, CEO <strong>of</strong> an oil and gas com pany, is<br />
now US Sec re tary <strong>of</strong> Com merce; An drew<br />
Card, auto in dus try lob by ist, is now White<br />
House Chief <strong>of</strong> Staff; Ann Veneman, mem ber<br />
<strong>of</strong> the board <strong>of</strong> di rec tors for biotech com pany<br />
Calgene, is now US Sec re tary <strong>of</strong> Ag ri cul ture<br />
(Slat er, 2002, 39). Monsanto lob by ist, Linda<br />
Fisher, is dep uty di rec tor <strong>of</strong> the US EPA. Tim -<br />
ber-in dus try lob by ist, Mark Rey, is US Under -<br />
sec re tary <strong>of</strong> Ag ri cul ture. Coal-in dus try lob by -<br />
ist, Tom Sansonetti, is US As sis tant At tor ney<br />
Gen eral for En vi ron ment and Re sources. Timber-in<br />
dus try and min ing-in dus try law yer,<br />
Rebecca Wat son, is US As sis tant Sec re tary <strong>of</strong><br />
the In te rior. Auto-in dus try lob by ist, Cam den<br />
Toohey, is Spe cial As sis tant for Alaska, US<br />
De part ment <strong>of</strong> the In te rior. GE VP, Fran cis<br />
Blake, is US Dep uty Sec re tary <strong>of</strong> En ergy. En -<br />
ergy-in dus try lob by ist, Deborah Daniels, is<br />
US As sis tant At tor ney Gen eral. Chem i cal-in -<br />
dus try law yer, Jeffrey Holmstead, is US EPA<br />
As sis tant Ad min is tra tor (Slat er, 2002, 41).<br />
All these ap point ments—and Bush’s<br />
“Clear Skies” air-pol lu tion plan that al lows<br />
three times more mer cury emis sions and 50<br />
per cent more sul fur di ox ide emis sions than<br />
cur rent law al lows (Slat er, 2002, 42)—help<br />
show the need for sci en tific cit i zen ship. These<br />
con flicts <strong>of</strong> in ter est may be ex pli ca ble, once<br />
one un der stands that the oil, min ing, tim ber,<br />
chem i cal, and elec tric util ity in dus tries to -<br />
gether gave US Pres i dent Bush $44 mil lion in<br />
his 2000 Pres i den tial cam paign (Hertsgaard,<br />
2003, 15–16). And the ap point ments may ex -<br />
plain why Bush re as signed 40 per cent <strong>of</strong> the<br />
EPA staff that en forces crim i nal vi o la tions <strong>of</strong><br />
en vi ron men tal law to non-en vi ron men tal<br />
work. Or why he an nu ally re fers 80 per cent<br />
fewer crim i nal vi o la tions un der the Toxic Sub -<br />
stances Con trol Act than Clinton did. Or why<br />
EPA ad min is tra tor Chris tie Whit man halved<br />
the num ber <strong>of</strong> Superfund sites sched uled for<br />
cleanup, then shifted the worst costs <strong>of</strong><br />
cleanup from the in dus tries re spon si ble to the<br />
tax pay ers (Slat er, 2002, 43). If only one rel a -<br />
tively small oil com pany, Oc ci den tal, spends<br />
$2 mil lion a year on lob by ing, with 81 per cent<br />
tar geted for the GOP (Ota, 2002), then what<br />
SCIENTIFIC CITIZENSHIP<br />
73
must the to tal amount be for all oil com pa nies,<br />
in deed, all com pa nies?<br />
Ideo log i cal and ig no rant en vi ron men tal ists,<br />
<strong>of</strong> course, also get their sci ence wrong, and Er -<br />
nest Sternglass’ mis use <strong>of</strong> sta tis tics, in ar gu ing<br />
against nu clear power, is a case in point. But<br />
they typ i cally do not have the mil lions <strong>of</strong> dol -<br />
lars to get their flawed mes sages across. That is<br />
why the bias <strong>of</strong> cor po rate groups tends, by<br />
com par i son, to be more mas sive. Would you<br />
like to head the pan ther re cov ery pro ject for<br />
about $22,000 a year, and have Jeb Bush over -<br />
see ing your re ject ing de vel op ers’ per mits?<br />
When BLM Montana di rec tor Mar tha Hahn<br />
re duced cat tle graz ing on some eco log i cally<br />
frag ile fed eral land, and when BLM Desert Di -<br />
rec tor Tim Salt pro tected en dan gered spe cies<br />
on BLM desert lands in Cal i for nia, the Bush<br />
ad min is tra tion re as signed and de moted both.<br />
When man ager <strong>of</strong> Utah’s Escalante Na tional<br />
Mon u ment, Kate Can non, cut back on cat tle<br />
graz ing to pro tect the hab i tat, she was de moted<br />
and re as signed to a dep uty post at Grand Can -<br />
yon. When head <strong>of</strong> the For est Ser vice’s Pa cific<br />
South west Re gion, Brad Powell, ap proved a<br />
plan to limit log ging, graz ing, <strong>of</strong> <strong>of</strong>f-road ve hi -<br />
cle use in the Si erra Ne vada Na tional For est, he<br />
was de moted and re as signed to Missoula,<br />
Montana. When EPA om buds man Rob ert<br />
Mar tin tried to en force the Superfund Law, he<br />
was re as signed and de moted, and is now su ing<br />
(Slat er 2002, 40). When Dr. Rob ert Wat son, an<br />
at mo spheric sci en tist who chaired a pres ti -<br />
gious in ter na tional panel as sess ing cli mate<br />
change, pushed to limit emis sions, the White<br />
House had him re placed, as leader, with an<br />
econ o mist (Slat er 2002, 42). Not to rec og nize<br />
the way po lit i cal sci ence can con trol sci ence,<br />
and phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence, is naive.<br />
Most sci en tists know enough to warn their<br />
stu dents about al leged sci en tific in for ma tion<br />
pub lished by those who do not be lieve in evo -<br />
lu tion. Yet they are less wary <strong>of</strong> other ma te rial,<br />
such as Ecoscam (1994), pub lished by St Mar -<br />
tin’s Press, whose au thor was paid by the cor -<br />
po rate-funded Com pet i tive En ter prise In sti -<br />
tute to write it. The cor po rate-funded Cato<br />
In sti tute, for ex am ple, ex plic itly pays sci en -<br />
tists to dis credit uni ver sity-funded sci en tific<br />
re search that chal lenges the safety <strong>of</strong> food ad -<br />
di tives, en vi ron men tal car cin o gens, pes ti -<br />
cides, paints, and sol vents (Moore, 2002, 58).<br />
More over, <strong>of</strong> the four most-cited think tanks,<br />
which in clude Cato, Her i tage, and Amer i can<br />
En ter prise In sti tute, stu dents need to know that<br />
none is typ i cally iden ti fied as in dus try-sup -<br />
ported, when their “hire ed u ca tion” ar ti cles<br />
ap pear in news pa pers and mag a zines (Moore,<br />
2002, 58). If we would not teach sci ence with -<br />
out a lab or field work, and if we would not<br />
teach phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence with out case stud -<br />
ies, then we ought teach nei ther with out also<br />
teach ing stu dents to pro tect and en cour age<br />
what is nec es sary to have sci ence in a de moc -<br />
racy. Ex pect ing to do good sci ence and phi los -<br />
o phy-<strong>of</strong>-sci ence ed u ca tion, but ig nor ing how<br />
to do sci ence in a de moc racy, is like ex pect ing<br />
to run good ex per i ments, but not feed ing the<br />
lab an i mals.<br />
One way to teach and do re search as sci en -<br />
tific cit i zens is to do more than merely au top -<br />
sies on dead sci en tific the o ries. Phi los o phers<br />
<strong>of</strong> sci ence and sci en tists also can do vivi sec -<br />
tion on ex ist ing the o ries. They can send fed eral<br />
agen cies com ments on one <strong>of</strong> the 2500 draft<br />
im pact as sess ments (EIAs) com pleted each<br />
year, un der NEPA. They can write sci ence-re -<br />
lated op ed pieces for lo cal news pa pers. They<br />
can re view sci ence-re lated books for the pop u -<br />
lar me dia. Along with help ing stu dents read<br />
crit i cally and use only the best ref er eed jour -<br />
nals, sci en tists and phi los o phers who are sci -<br />
en tific cit i zens might:<br />
Make one as sign ment re quir ing as sess ment<br />
<strong>of</strong> some sci ence-re lated leg is la tion be fore<br />
Con gress and have stu dents write<br />
congresspeople about it.<br />
Teach a pro ject-based EIA course where<br />
each stu dent cri tiques a cho sen EIA.<br />
Be gin class with five min utes <strong>of</strong> ex pos ing<br />
sci en tific “hire ed u ca tion,” such as bi ased<br />
think tanks.<br />
Have stu dents turn in syn op ses <strong>of</strong> New York<br />
Times sci ence ar ti cles for each class.<br />
Give stu dents ex tra credit for read ing and<br />
re port ing on non fic tion by sci en tists like Paul<br />
Ehrlich, Rich ard Feynman, or Devra Da vis.<br />
Give stu dents ex tra-credit for work with<br />
nongovernmental or ga ni za tions (NGOs), such<br />
as the Na tional Wild life As so ci a tion.<br />
Use Kath er ine Isaacs’ 1992 Civ ics for De -<br />
moc racy, to show stu dents how to use their sci -<br />
en tific and philo soph i cal ed u ca tion in daily<br />
life.<br />
Conclusion<br />
If we can not count on pol i ti cians, leg is la -<br />
tors, cor po ra tions, NGOs, and courts to<br />
achieve bal ance and ob jec tiv ity in do ing, re -<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
74
port ing, and us ing sci ence, then those who<br />
know sci ence, and phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence, must<br />
do so. Such sci en tific cit i zen ship is dif fi cult<br />
only be cause so few peo ple take it on. Ralph<br />
Nader (“Fore word,” in Isaacs, 1992, vi) de -<br />
fined a real de moc racy as “a so ci ety where less<br />
and less cour age and risk are needed <strong>of</strong> more<br />
and more peo ple to spread jus tice.” An his to -<br />
rian noted that only about sev en teen per cent <strong>of</strong><br />
the co lo nial pop u la tion sup ported the US rev o -<br />
lu tion against the Brit ish; mem bers <strong>of</strong> the mer -<br />
chant and in dus try class did not sup port it, be -<br />
cause they feared a dis rup tion <strong>of</strong> their pr<strong>of</strong> its<br />
(Gromyko and Hellman, 1988). Yet the rev o lu -<br />
tion suc ceeded mainly be cause that sev en teen<br />
per cent were com mit ted. Thomas Jef fer son<br />
did not say it was too dif fi cult when he con trib -<br />
uted all his farm wag ons to the war ef fort, for<br />
haul ing sol diers and sup plies. Rev o lu tion ary<br />
sol diers did not say it was too dif fi cult when<br />
they re ceived no pay, had no uni forms, and<br />
some times had no shoes. In a de moc racy, we<br />
the peo ple are the only ones who can do the<br />
work <strong>of</strong> de moc racy.<br />
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Kautz, Randy, and Rob ert Kawula. (2000) Florida Pan -<br />
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Kitcher, Philip. (2001) Sci ence, Truth, and De moc racy.<br />
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Kostyack, John. (2002) “Let ter to Col o nel James G. May,<br />
US Army Corps <strong>of</strong> En gi neers, Jack son ville, Florida and<br />
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Land, E. Darrell, and Rob ert Lacy. (2000) “Introgression<br />
Level Achieved through Florida Pan ther Ge netic Res to -<br />
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Land, E. Darrell, Mark Cunningham, Roy McBride, Da -<br />
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Maehr, Da vid. (2001) Dec la ra tion <strong>of</strong> Opin ion Re gard ing<br />
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Maehr, Da vid. (1997) The Florida Pan ther. Covelo, CA:<br />
Island Press.<br />
Maehr, Da vid, and Gerard Caddick. (1995) “De mo graph -<br />
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Con ser va tion Bi ol ogy 9: 1295–98.<br />
Maehr, Da vid, and J.A. Cox. (1995) “Land scape Fea tures<br />
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Maehr, Da vid, and Jon a than Deason. (2002) “Wide-rang-<br />
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Maehr, Da vid, and Rob ert Lacy. (2002) “Avoid ing the<br />
Lurk ing Pit falls in Florida Pan ther Re cov ery,” Wildlife<br />
Society Bulletin 30: 971–78.<br />
Maehr, Da vid, E. Darrell Land, Da vid Shindle, Oron<br />
Bass, and Thomas Hoctor. (2002a) “Florida Pan ther<br />
Dispersal and Conservation,” Biological Conservation<br />
106: 187–97.<br />
Maehr, Da vid, Rob ert Lacy, E. Darrell Land, Oron Bass,<br />
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200), 284–311.<br />
McBride, Roy. (2001) “Cur rent Pan ther Dis tri bu tion,<br />
Pop u la tion Trends, and Hab i tat Use Re port <strong>of</strong> Field<br />
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McBride, Roy. (2002) “Florida Pan ther Cur rent Ver i fied<br />
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erra 87: 56–59, 73.<br />
Musil, R. (2003) “Po lit i cal Sci ence on Fed eral Ad vi sory<br />
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Na than, Da vid, and Da vid Weatherall. (2002) “Ac a demic<br />
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Na tional Wild life Fed er a tion (NWF). (2002) Road to<br />
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struc tion <strong>of</strong> the West ern Everglades. Wash ing ton, DC:<br />
Na tional Wild life Fed er a tion.<br />
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Louis Cal dera, et al, De fen dants. (2001) Civil Ac tion<br />
No. 1:00 CV 01031 (JR), later changed to NWF et al,<br />
Plain tiffs, v. Thomas White, et al, De fen dants, 2001,<br />
Case: 00CV01031 (JR). Also, Na tional Wild life Fed er -<br />
a tion (NWF), 1998, Law suit against the Daniels Park -<br />
way ex ten sion; avail able at www.eswr.com/<br />
panthnwreply.pdf<br />
Nierenberg, Danielle. (2001) “US En vi ron men tal Pol -<br />
icy,” World Watch, 12–21.<br />
O’Brien, Ste phen, Mel ody Roelke, N. Yuhki, K. Rich -<br />
ards, W. John son, W. Frank lin, A. An der son, Oron Bass,<br />
Rob ert Belden, and Janice Martenson. (1990) “Ge netic<br />
Introgression within the Florida Pan ther Felis concolor<br />
coryi,” Na tional Geo graph ical Re search 6: 485–94.<br />
Rochon, Paula, Jerry Gurwitz, Rob ert Simms, Paul<br />
Fortin, Da vid Felson, Ken neth Minaker, and Thomas<br />
Chalmers. (1994) “A Study <strong>of</strong> Man u fac turer-sup ported<br />
Tri als <strong>of</strong> Nonsteroidal Anti-in flam ma tory Drugs in the<br />
Treatment <strong>of</strong> Arthritis,” Ar chives <strong>of</strong> In ter nal Med i cine<br />
157: 157–63.<br />
Roelke, Mel ody, Janice Martenson, and Ste phen<br />
O’Brien. (1993) “The Con se quences <strong>of</strong> De mo graphic<br />
Re duc tion and Ge netic De ple tion in the En dan gered<br />
Florida Pan ther: Cur rent Bi ol ogy and Ge netic<br />
Introgression within the Florida Pan ther,” Cur rent Bi ol -<br />
ogy, 340.<br />
Shaeffer, E. (2002) “Power Plants and Pub lic Health,”<br />
Phy si cians for So cial Re spon si bil ity Re ports 34: 3.<br />
Seal, US, and Rob ert Lacy (Con ser va tion Breed ing Spe -<br />
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PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
76
(1989) “Florida Pan ther Vi a bil ity Anal y sis and Spe cies<br />
Sur vival Plan,” Re port to the US Fish and Wild life Ser -<br />
vice, Ap ple Val ley, Min ne sota.<br />
Shrader-Frechette, Kristen, and Earl Mc Coy. (1993)<br />
Method in Ecol ogy. Cam bridge: Cam bridge Uni ver sity<br />
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Shrader-Frechette, Kristen. (1994) Eth ics <strong>of</strong> Sci en tific<br />
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Shrader-Frechette, Kristen. (1996) “Sci ence Ver sus Ed u -<br />
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Slack, Jay (Field Su per vi sor, South Florida Eco log i cal<br />
Ser vices Of fice, US Fish and Wild life Ser vice). (2001)<br />
“Let ter to Kris Thoemke,” Everglades Pro ject Man ager,<br />
Na tional Wild life Fed er a tion, and Nancy Anne Payton,<br />
SW FL Field Rep re sen ta tive, Florida Wild life Fed er a -<br />
tion (June 12).<br />
Slack, Jay (Field Su per vi sor, South Florida Eco log i cal<br />
Ser vices Of fice, Vero Beach, Fl, US Fish and Wild life<br />
Ser vice). (2002) “Let ter to Col o nel James G. May,” US<br />
Army Corps <strong>of</strong> En gi neers, Jack son ville, Florida, Bi o -<br />
log i cal Opin ion for the pro posed Fort Myers Mine # 2 in<br />
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Slat er, Dashka. (2002) “The Big Book <strong>of</strong> Bush,” Si erra<br />
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Thoemke, K (Everglades Pro ject Man ager, Na tional<br />
Wild life Fed er a tion) ad Payton, NA (SW FL Field Rep -<br />
re sen ta tive, Florida Wild life Fed er a tion). (2001) “Let ter<br />
to James J. Slack,” Field Su per vi sor, South Florida Eco -<br />
log i cal Ser vices Of fice, US Fish and Wild life Ser vice<br />
(May 7).<br />
Young, Iris Marion. (2000) Inclusion and De moc racy.<br />
New York: Ox ford Uni ver sity Press.<br />
SCIENTIFIC CITIZENSHIP<br />
77
TOWARD A POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE<br />
Ambrosio Velasco Gómez<br />
Sci ence is com monly con ceived as a sys tem<br />
<strong>of</strong> prop o si tions tested and jus ti fied through<br />
rig or ous meth ods, that seeks to achieve<br />
epistemic val ues such as ob jec tiv ity, co her -<br />
ence, pre ci sion, sys tem ati za tion, gen er al iza -<br />
tion, ex plan a tory and pre dic tive force. Even<br />
less or tho dox au thors, like Thomas Kuhn who<br />
fo cuses not only on sci ence as prod uct but also<br />
as an spe cific kind <strong>of</strong> so cial prac tice, only<br />
takes into ac count epistemic val ues, and leaves<br />
aside moral, so cial and po lit i cal con sid er -<br />
ations. From this point <strong>of</strong> view, sci ence is mor -<br />
ally and po lit i cally neu tral. More re cently<br />
some phi los o phers like Javier Echeverría<br />
(2002) and León Olivé (2000) have pointed<br />
out the rel e vance <strong>of</strong> non- epistemic val ues to<br />
un der stand the de vel op ment <strong>of</strong> sci ence and<br />
tech nol ogy. How ever, from Karl Pop per to<br />
Larry Laudan, most phi los o phers <strong>of</strong> sci ence<br />
con sider that in tro duc ing so cial or po lit i cal<br />
dis cus sions in the con text <strong>of</strong> jus ti fi ca tion <strong>of</strong><br />
sci en tific the o ries rep re sents a se ri ous threat to<br />
the ra tio nal ity <strong>of</strong> sci ence. Those au thors like<br />
Paul Feyerabend and Michel Foucault, who<br />
point out the in trin sic re la tion ship be tween<br />
sci en tific truth and po lit i cal power, are con -<br />
demned as ir ra tio nal postmodernists.<br />
For tu nately dur ing the last de cades the so -<br />
cial, moral and po lit i cal di men sions <strong>of</strong> sci ence<br />
have caught the at ten tion <strong>of</strong> phi los o phers, so -<br />
ci ol o gists and his to ri ans <strong>of</strong> sci ences in the<br />
scope <strong>of</strong> Sci ence and Tech nol ogy Stud ies<br />
(STS) (Fuller, 1993; Pickering, 1992; Mit -<br />
cham, 1995; Ibarra and López Cerezo, 2003).<br />
But this new and in creas ingly in no va tive dis ci -<br />
pline, al though it chal lenges many pre sup po si -<br />
tions <strong>of</strong> stan dard phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence<br />
(mainly log i cal em pir i cism), deals more with<br />
the in ter ac tion <strong>of</strong> sci ence and tech nol ogy in<br />
ap plied con texts (techno sci ence) rather than<br />
with the in trin sic prob lems <strong>of</strong> jus ti fi ca tion <strong>of</strong><br />
sci en tific the o ries.<br />
My main pur pose here is to ar gue that it is<br />
nec es sary to con sider moral and po lit i cal ques -<br />
tions in the core <strong>of</strong> epistemological and meth -<br />
od olog i cal prob lems <strong>of</strong> sci en tific the o ries that<br />
are typ i cally dis cussed in tra di tional phi los o -<br />
phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence. Ac cord ingly, the first part <strong>of</strong><br />
my ar gu ment re lies on two im por tant phi los o -<br />
phers <strong>of</strong> sci ence <strong>of</strong> the be gin ning <strong>of</strong> the twen ti -<br />
eth cen tury: Pi erre Duhem and Otto Neurath.<br />
Both crit i cized the wide spread idea that the ra -<br />
tio nal ity and ob jec tiv ity <strong>of</strong> sci ence is ex clu -<br />
sively based on a rig or ous meth od ol ogy, and<br />
both in tro duced moral, so cial and po lit i cal<br />
con sid er ations to clar ify the na ture <strong>of</strong> sci en -<br />
tific ra tio nal ity. Un for tu nately these im por tant<br />
in sights <strong>of</strong> the found ing fa thers <strong>of</strong> the twen ti -<br />
eth cen tury phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence have not<br />
been re cov ered and ac knowl edged by most <strong>of</strong><br />
their philo soph i cal heirs.<br />
Af ter clar i fy ing some im por tant moral, so -<br />
cial, and po lit i cal as pects <strong>of</strong> sci en tific ra tio nal -<br />
ity, the sec ond part <strong>of</strong> ar gu ment uses the prag -<br />
matic view <strong>of</strong> sci en tific ra tio nal ity to<br />
chal lenge the meth od olog i cal and ex clu sively<br />
epistemic con cept <strong>of</strong> ra tio nal ity that orig i nated<br />
with Plato and be came the dom i nant view in<br />
mod ern phi los o phy through the work <strong>of</strong> René<br />
Des cartes, Fran cis Ba con, and Thomas<br />
Hobbes. I also dis cuss the po lit i cal con se -<br />
quences <strong>of</strong> meth od olog i cal and epistemic ra -<br />
tio nal ity, taken to gether with the wide spread<br />
idea that po lit i cal and even eth i cal de ci sions<br />
must be based on sci en tific knowl edge. I main -<br />
tain that these two the ses are not only false, but<br />
have strong au thor i tar ian im pli ca tions.<br />
Fi nally, the third part <strong>of</strong> my ar gu ment turns<br />
again to Neurath in or der to sug gest a re pub li -<br />
can way <strong>of</strong> re lat ing sci ence and po lit i cal de ci -<br />
sions, so as to pro mote so cial and po lit i cal val -<br />
ues, such as jus tice and de moc racy, along side<br />
epistemic val ues.<br />
Em pir i cal Underdetermination, Good<br />
Sense, and Aux il iary Mo tives<br />
In his book, The End and Struc ture <strong>of</strong> Phys -<br />
i cal The ory (1906), Pi erre Duhem pre sented<br />
one <strong>of</strong> the most im por tant is sues <strong>of</strong> con tem po -<br />
rary phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence: the em pir i cal<br />
underdetermination <strong>of</strong> the o ries. This prob lem<br />
was sub se quently de vel oped Wil lard Van<br />
Orman Quine and is com monly know as the<br />
Duhem–Quine the sis. The cen tral idea is that it<br />
is not only im pos si ble to ver ify the o ries in duc -<br />
tively, but also—and this is the core <strong>of</strong> the is -<br />
sue—that it is not pos si ble to con clu sively fal -<br />
sify or re fute any the ory through de duc tive<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY SUPPLEMENT 2004<br />
78
ar gu ments. This the sis im plies that there is no<br />
method for the ver i fi ca tion or ref u ta tion <strong>of</strong> sci -<br />
en tific the o ries.<br />
Duhem <strong>of</strong> fers two kind <strong>of</strong> ar gu ments to sup -<br />
port his the sis against the pos si bil ity <strong>of</strong> em pir i -<br />
cal ref u ta tion <strong>of</strong> the o ries. The first ar gu ment<br />
ap peals to the the o ret i cal de pend ence <strong>of</strong> ob ser -<br />
va tions, that is, the truth that ev ery ob ser va tion<br />
or ex per i ment pre sup poses the prior ac cep -<br />
tance <strong>of</strong> some in ter pre ta tive the ory. Thus<br />
within the pro cess <strong>of</strong> em pir i cal test ing, when<br />
em pir i cal prop o si tions are shown to con tra dict<br />
a hy poth e sis, it is al ways pos si ble to ar gue that<br />
what is wrong is not the hy poth e sis, but the in -<br />
ter pre ta tion <strong>of</strong> the em pir i cal prop o si tions.<br />
Such an al ter na tive is log i cally valid, and in<br />
prin ci ple it is as rea son able to save the cen tral<br />
hy poth e sis as it is to save the in ter pre ta tive the -<br />
ory on which ob ser va tions de pend.<br />
Al though Pop per ac knowl edge that it is im -<br />
pos si ble strictly to re fute any the o ret i cal hy -<br />
poth e sis, be cause it is al ways pos si ble to ar gue<br />
that ex per i ments or ob ser va tions are not re li -<br />
able, he cuts <strong>of</strong>f this prob lem by is su ing his<br />
cen tral meth od olog i cal rule that we should<br />
never save any hy poth e sis from ref u ta tion<br />
(Pop per, 1980, chap ter 2). This cen tral rule<br />
will iron i cally be called by Imre Lakatos the<br />
“Statutarian Law.”<br />
The sec ond ar gu ment against strict ref u ta -<br />
tions ap peals to the ho lis tic na ture <strong>of</strong> the em -<br />
pir i cal test ing <strong>of</strong> hy poth e sis. This means that<br />
we never em pir i cally test a sin gle iso lated hy -<br />
poth e sis, but must al ways test an in ter con -<br />
nected set <strong>of</strong> hy poth e ses against the ob ser va -<br />
tional sen tences, which in turn, de pend on<br />
other the o ret i cal as sump tions, as al ready men -<br />
tioned.<br />
In sum, the phys i cist can never sub ject an iso -<br />
lated hy poth e sis to ex per i men tal test, but only a<br />
whole group <strong>of</strong> hy poth e ses; when the ex per i -<br />
ment is in dis agree ment with his pre dic tions,<br />
what he learns is that at least one <strong>of</strong> the hy poth e -<br />
ses con sti tut ing this group is un ac cept able and<br />
ought to be mod i fied; but the ex per i ment does<br />
not des ig nate which one should be changed.<br />
(Duhem, 1962, 187)<br />
But the fact that there are no log i cal or meth od -<br />
olog i cal rules that point out un equiv o cally<br />
where the er ror lies does not mean the de ci sion<br />
is ar bi trary and ir ra tio nal. Rather, it means that<br />
sci en tific ra tio nal ity goes be yond the scope <strong>of</strong><br />
logic and meth od ol ogy, and nec es sar ily en ters<br />
in the realm <strong>of</strong> de lib er a tion and prac ti cal rea -<br />
son or phronesis:<br />
No ab so lute prin ci ple di rects this in quiry, which<br />
dif fer ent phys i cists may con duct in very dif fer -<br />
ent ways with out hav ing the right to ac cuse one<br />
an other <strong>of</strong> il log i cal ity. . . . That does not mean<br />
that we can not very prop erly pre fer the work <strong>of</strong><br />
one <strong>of</strong> the two to that <strong>of</strong> the other. Pure logic is<br />
not the only rule for our judg ments; cer tain<br />
opin ions which do not fall un der the ham mer <strong>of</strong><br />
the prin ci ple <strong>of</strong> con tra dic tion are in any case<br />
per fectly un rea son able. These mo tives which<br />
do not pro ceed from logic and yet di rect our<br />
choices, these “rea sons which rea son does not<br />
know” and which speak to the am ple “mind <strong>of</strong><br />
fi nesse” but not to the “geo met ric mind”, con -<br />
sti tute what is ap pro pri ately called good sense.<br />
(Duhem, 1962, 216–17)<br />
Duhem thinks that “good sense” needs to be<br />
con sciously cul ti vated by all sci en tists through<br />
plu ral ist, tol er ant, and wise di a logue with all<br />
mem bers <strong>of</strong> their par tic u lar sci en tific com mu -<br />
ni ties. By vir tue <strong>of</strong> this plu ral and rea son able<br />
di a logue, the good sense will even tu ally<br />
emerge and the con tro versy among sci en tist<br />
will be set tled ra tio nally. This pru den tial view<br />
<strong>of</strong> sci en tific ra tio nal ity was de vel oped again<br />
half a cen tury later by Kuhn in his es say “The<br />
Es sen tial Ten sion” (1977), with out any ref er -<br />
ence to Duhem.<br />
Plu ral ist con tro ver sies and pru den tial de lib -<br />
er a tion based on the “good sense” re quire from<br />
sci en tists some es sen tial moral vir tues that<br />
coun ter the pas sions that make sci en tists too<br />
in dul gent with their own hy poth e ses and rather<br />
se vere with the ri val the o ret i cal sys tems <strong>of</strong> oth -<br />
ers. In this way Duhem does not hes i tate to af -<br />
firm that sci en tific ra tio nal ity de pends in part<br />
on the moral char ac ter <strong>of</strong> the sci en tist:<br />
Since logic does not de ter mine with strict pre ci -<br />
sion the time when an in ad e quate hy poth e sis<br />
should give way to a more fruit ful as sump tion,<br />
and since rec og niz ing this mo ment be longs to<br />
good sense, phys i cists may has ten this judg -<br />
ment and in crease the ra pid ity <strong>of</strong> sci en tific<br />
prog ress by try ing con sciously to make good<br />
sense within them selves more lu cid and more<br />
vig i lant. Now noth ing con trib utes more to en -<br />
tan gle good sense and to dis turb its in sight than<br />
pas sions and in ter ests. There fore, noth ing will<br />
de lay the de ci sion which should de ter mine a<br />
for tu nate re form in a phys i cal the ory more than<br />
A POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE<br />
79
the van ity which makes a phys i cist too in dul -<br />
gent to wards his own sys tem and too se vere to -<br />
wards the sys tem <strong>of</strong> an other. (Duhem, 1962,<br />
218)<br />
A few years later in 1913, Neurath pub -<br />
lished an in sight ful es say, crit i ciz ing the idea<br />
that sci ence is just a the o ret i cal prod uct, jus ti -<br />
fied ex clu sively through log i cal and meth od -<br />
olog i cal pro ce dures. He called this mis taken<br />
con cep tion <strong>of</strong> sci ence “pseudorationalism.”<br />
Who ever ad heres to the be lief that he can ac -<br />
com plish ev ery thing with his in sight, an tic i -<br />
pates in a way that com plete knowl edge <strong>of</strong> the<br />
world that Des cartes puts for ward as a far-<strong>of</strong>f<br />
aim <strong>of</strong> sci en tific de vel op ment. This<br />
pseudorationalism leads partly to self-de cep -<br />
tion, partly to hy poc risy. . . . The<br />
pseudorationalists do to true ra tio nal ism a dis -<br />
ser vice if they pre tend to have ad e quate in sight<br />
ex actly where strict ra tio nal ism ex cludes it on<br />
purely log i cal grounds. (Neurath, 1983a, 7–8)<br />
Ac cord ing to Neurath, the found ing fa ther <strong>of</strong><br />
mod ern pseudorationalism was Des cartes and<br />
the most prom i nent pseudorationalist <strong>of</strong> the<br />
twen ti eth cen tury is Pop per (Neurath, 1983b,<br />
121–31). True ra tio nal ism is con scious <strong>of</strong> the<br />
lim ited scope <strong>of</strong> logic and meth od ol ogy and<br />
rec og nizes the im por tance <strong>of</strong> prac ti cal con sid -<br />
er ations, what he calls “aux il iary mo tives,” to<br />
choose be tween ri val hy poth e ses.<br />
The rea sons that spring from aux il iary mo -<br />
tives are pro vided by val ues, at ti tudes, and be -<br />
liefs <strong>of</strong> the spe cific his tor i cal tra di tions in<br />
which sci en tist are ed u cated. These tra di tions<br />
con sti tute a her i tage that needs to be crit i cally<br />
un der stood by the mem bers <strong>of</strong> a sci en tific<br />
com mu nity. Such a crit i cal un der stand ing <strong>of</strong><br />
sci en tific tra di tions re quires a proper or ga ni za -<br />
tion <strong>of</strong> the sci en tific com mu nity that pro motes<br />
co op er a tive be hav ior <strong>of</strong> its mem bers:<br />
The aux il iary mo tive is well suited to bring<br />
about a kind <strong>of</strong> rap proche ment be tween tra di -<br />
tion and ra tio nal ism. . . . The ap pli ca tion <strong>of</strong> the<br />
aux il iary mo tive needs a prior high de gree <strong>of</strong> or -<br />
ga ni za tion; only if the pro ce dure is more or less<br />
com mon to all, will the col lapse <strong>of</strong> hu man so ci -<br />
ety be pre vented. The tra di tional uni for mity <strong>of</strong><br />
be hav ior has to be re placed by con scious co op -<br />
er a tion; the readi ness <strong>of</strong> a hu man group to co op -<br />
er ate con sciously, de pends es sen tially on the<br />
char ac ter <strong>of</strong> the in di vid u als. (Neurath, 1983a,<br />
10)<br />
Co op er a tive be hav ior among sci en tists re -<br />
quires not only that they share a cer tain sci en -<br />
tific tra di tion, but also that they have in com -<br />
mon so cial val ues and com mit ments that<br />
pro mote the prog ress <strong>of</strong> sci ence, along with a<br />
de sire to im prove the well-be ing <strong>of</strong> the larger<br />
so ci ety. These so cial com mit ments in clude<br />
better stan dards <strong>of</strong> life for the whole so ci ety,<br />
but also eman ci pa tion from un just dom i na tion<br />
and ex ploi ta tion <strong>of</strong> men and women. These so -<br />
cial and po lit i cal com mit ments and val ues are<br />
not some thing ex trin sic to the de ci sions that<br />
sci en tists make in eval u at ing and judg ing sci -<br />
en tific hy poth e sis, but are in trin sic to the sci -<br />
en tific ac tiv ity <strong>of</strong> sci en tists, since these so cial<br />
and po lit i cal val ues and com mit ments con sti -<br />
tute the core <strong>of</strong> the “aux il iary mo tives.”<br />
Thus for Neurath au then tic sci en tific ra tio -<br />
nal ity nec es sar ily in te grates con cep tual, log i -<br />
cal, and meth od olog i cal ques tions with moral,<br />
so cial, and po lit i cal con sid er ations in or der to<br />
make ra tio nal de ci sions in eval u at ing and jus -<br />
ti fy ing sci en tific the o ries. This view <strong>of</strong> sci en -<br />
tific ra tio nal ity is very dif fer ent from the<br />
pseudorationalist con cep tion <strong>of</strong> sci ence that<br />
ne glects any rel e vance for eth i cal, so cial, and<br />
po lit i cal re flec tions in the epistemic dis cus -<br />
sion about sci en tific ra tio nal ity and, at the<br />
same time, im poses epistemic con strains on<br />
the dis cus sion <strong>of</strong> po lit i cal prob lems. In other<br />
words, while true ra tio nal ism ac knowl edges<br />
the lim i ta tion <strong>of</strong> logic and meth od ol ogy in<br />
eval u at ing sci en tific the o ries and it calls for the<br />
con sid er ation <strong>of</strong> eth i cal, so cial, and po lit i cal<br />
val ues, tak ing into ac count the ex ter nal im pli -<br />
ca tions <strong>of</strong> sci en tific the o ries un der eval u a tion,<br />
pseudorationalism is blind to the lim its <strong>of</strong><br />
logic and meth od ol ogy, and con se quently dis -<br />
re gards any rel e vance <strong>of</strong> other val ues and con -<br />
sid er ations that are not strictly the o ret i cal and<br />
epistemological. This pseudo rationalist con -<br />
cep tion <strong>of</strong> sci ence is not only mis taken, but<br />
also rep re sents a se ri ous ten dency to ward po -<br />
lit i cal au thor i tar i an ism.<br />
Pseudorationalism and Political Authoritar<br />
i an ism<br />
The thought <strong>of</strong> Duhem and Neurath thus ar -<br />
gues for a view <strong>of</strong> sci en tific ra tio nal ity that in -<br />
volves moral and po lit i cal at ti tudes and val ues<br />
as well as co op er a tive or ga ni za tion among sci -<br />
en tists and be tween sci en tific com mu ni ties<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
80
and so ci ety at large. This prag matic view op -<br />
poses the pre vail ing con cep tion <strong>of</strong> sci en tific<br />
knowl edge that fo cuses only on epistemic and<br />
meth od olog i cal jus ti fi ca tion. The re ceived<br />
view is fur ther as so ci ated with a long tra di tion<br />
<strong>of</strong> us ing a so cial im age <strong>of</strong> sci en tific knowl edge<br />
to jus tify and le git i mate po lit i cal au thor ity and<br />
or der. From this per spec tive po lit i cal le git i -<br />
macy and jus tice de pend on the ob jec tiv ity and<br />
ra tio nal ity <strong>of</strong> sci en tific knowl edge, un der -<br />
stood as in de pend ent <strong>of</strong> ex ter nal so cial, moral,<br />
and po lit i cal con sid er ations. Such an asym me -<br />
try be tween sci ence, on one hand, and mor als<br />
and pol i tics, on the other, cre ates a hi er ar chy <strong>of</strong><br />
epistemic val ues over eth i cal and po lit i cal val -<br />
ues. The pri or ity <strong>of</strong> epistemic val ues in turn<br />
gives rise to a sci en tific view <strong>of</strong> pol i tics with<br />
au thor i tar ian im pli ca tions in which since sci -<br />
en tific knowl edge is a nec es sary and even suf -<br />
fi cient con di tion to jus tify po lit i cal de ci sions<br />
and le git i mate po lit i cal or der. This view <strong>of</strong> po -<br />
lit i cal le git i macy may be termed “epistemic<br />
au thor i tar i an ism.”<br />
In an tiq uity the clear est ex pres sion <strong>of</strong><br />
epistemic au thor i tar i an ism was Plato’s Re pub -<br />
lic. For Plato the nec es sary and suf fi cient con -<br />
di tion <strong>of</strong> a just po lit i cal or der is that those who<br />
gov ern have knowl edge <strong>of</strong> the na ture and<br />
needs <strong>of</strong> the di verse kinds <strong>of</strong> cit i zens. This is<br />
the rea son why po lit i cal power must be in the<br />
hands <strong>of</strong> phi los o phers, the only ones who pos -<br />
sess a true un der stand ing <strong>of</strong> hu man be ings and<br />
so ci ety, and who there fore are able to make<br />
cor rect po lit i cal de ci sions.<br />
This pla tonic view <strong>of</strong> epistemic au thor i tar i -<br />
an ism has pre vailed for cen tu ries. At the be -<br />
gin ning <strong>of</strong> the mod ern age, for ex am ple, Fran -<br />
cis Ba con still pos tu lated a uto pia based on a<br />
strong con fi dence in nat u ral sci en tific knowl -<br />
edge. In his New Atlantis (1626), the gov ern -<br />
ment <strong>of</strong> the is land is in the hands <strong>of</strong> the nat u ral<br />
phi los o phers <strong>of</strong> Sol o mon’s House. These sci -<br />
en tists are thought to be the only per sons ca pa -<br />
ble <strong>of</strong> mak ing just de ci sions for the well-be ing<br />
<strong>of</strong> all cit i zens, who, in gen eral, are ig no rant,<br />
and for this rea son have no right to par tic i pate<br />
in po lit i cal de ci sions.<br />
But per haps the most bril liant ex pres sion <strong>of</strong><br />
epistemic au thor i tar i an ism is for mu lated by<br />
Thomas Hobbes. His po lit i cal thought is un -<br />
doubt edly one <strong>of</strong> the most in flu en tial the o ries<br />
in mod ern po lit i cal thought, in clud ing the lib -<br />
eral tra di tion. The epistemic au thor i tar i an ism<br />
<strong>of</strong> Hobbes is based on his po lit i cal ex pe ri ence<br />
and on his ad mi ra tion <strong>of</strong> rig or ous meth ods in<br />
ge om e try and ex per i men tal phys ics. Hobbes<br />
was a wit ness <strong>of</strong> the in tense po lit i cal in sta bil ity<br />
<strong>of</strong> sev en teenth cen tury Eng land. He per ceived<br />
that the con stant po lit i cal tur moil was due<br />
mainly to the di verse and con flict ing views <strong>of</strong><br />
au thor ity among roy al ists, re pub li cans, par lia -<br />
men tar i ans, and oth ers. The ideo log i cal dis -<br />
putes among dif fer ent par ties could not be<br />
solved ra tio nally, due to the fact that there was<br />
no way <strong>of</strong> dem on strat ing ra tio nally which<br />
view was true and which false. This epistemic<br />
un cer tainty was the main cause <strong>of</strong> po lit i cal in -<br />
sta bil ity. To over come such a sit u a tion, it was<br />
nec es sary to es tab lish a rig or ous po lit i cal or<br />
civil sci ence based an a con clu sive method to<br />
set tle ideo log i cal and po lit i cal con tro ver sies.<br />
Around 1627, dur ing one <strong>of</strong> his jour neys to<br />
the con ti nent, Hobbes be came ac quainted<br />
with the dem on stra tive meth ods <strong>of</strong> Eu clid ean<br />
ge om e try and the ex per i men tal pro ce dures <strong>of</strong><br />
Gal i lean me chan ics. What most im pressed<br />
him was the fact that in these sci ences there<br />
were no per ma nent con tro ver sies, pre cisely<br />
be cause they had rig or ous meth ods to dem on -<br />
strate the truth <strong>of</strong> one the ory and the fal sity <strong>of</strong><br />
the ri vals. Hobbes at tempted to ex trap o late the<br />
method <strong>of</strong> ge om e try to build up an al most ax i -<br />
om atic the ory <strong>of</strong> the state based on a mech a nis -<br />
tic view <strong>of</strong> hu man ac tion. With such a dem on -<br />
stra tive method Hobbes pro posed to es tab lish<br />
the sci en tific foun da tions <strong>of</strong> a ra tio nal po lit i cal<br />
or der. Po lit i cal le git i macy be comes based in a<br />
sci en tific the ory <strong>of</strong> pol i tics (Skin ner, 1996).<br />
In Oceana (1656) James Har ring ton cor -<br />
rectly sur mised that Hobbesì po lit i cal ra tio nal -<br />
ism im plies an end to re pub li can pol i tics, and<br />
in op po si tion he ap pealed to the ideas <strong>of</strong><br />
Nicolo Machiavelli. More re cently, Mi chael<br />
Oakeshott’s Ra tio nal ism in Pol i tics (1962) fur -<br />
ther crit i cized sci en tific ra tio nal ism in or der to<br />
vin di cate po lit i cal ed u ca tion based on his tor i -<br />
cal and philo soph i cal re flec tion as the au then -<br />
tic way to po lit i cal knowl edge.<br />
Po lit i cal ra tio nal ism, as con ceived by<br />
Hobbes, has also had a per va sive in flu ence on<br />
the lib eral po lit i cal tra di tion, spe cially in the<br />
North Amer i can dem o cratic thought. In the<br />
Fed er al ist Pa pers, for in stance, James Mad i -<br />
son, Al ex an der Ham il ton, and John Jay de -<br />
fended a con cep tion <strong>of</strong> po lit i cal rep re sen ta tion<br />
in which rep re sen ta tives are as sumed to be in -<br />
tel lec tu ally su pe rior to their con stit u en cies,<br />
which al ways have am big u ous, chang ing, and<br />
con tra dic tory views and in ter ests. By vir tue <strong>of</strong><br />
their in tel lec tual su pe ri or ity, rep re sen ta tives<br />
A POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE<br />
81
have a more ob jec tive and co her ent knowl edge<br />
<strong>of</strong> the real in ter ests <strong>of</strong> the peo ple and are there -<br />
fore best able to make cor rect de ci sions for the<br />
com mon good. For Thomas Jef fer son, who<br />
was closer to the re pub li can tra di tion <strong>of</strong><br />
Machiavelli and Har ring ton, this view <strong>of</strong> po lit -<br />
i cal rep re sen ta tion im plied the de mise re pub li -<br />
can life, since it im posed bar ri ers on cit i zen<br />
par tic i pa tion in government.<br />
Thus the eclipse <strong>of</strong> civic vir tue, ac tive cit i -<br />
zen ship, and re pub li can po lit i cal life in mod -<br />
ern lib eral de moc racy can be ex plained in part<br />
as a con se quence <strong>of</strong> sci en tific ra tio nal ism in<br />
pol i tics, which in turn de rives from that mis -<br />
taken view <strong>of</strong> sci ence that Neurath called<br />
“pseudorationalism.” This means that crit i -<br />
cism <strong>of</strong> the pseudorationalist view <strong>of</strong> sci ence is<br />
not only an epistemological is sue but also a po -<br />
lit i cal one, since such crit i cism serves to erode<br />
those as so ci a tions be tween sci en tific knowl -<br />
edge and au thor i tar ian pol i tics that have been<br />
in de pend ently crit i cized by such think ers as<br />
Hans-Georg Gadamer, Jürgen Habermas, and<br />
Paul Feyerabend, among oth ers.<br />
Sci ence and Re pub li can De moc racy<br />
From the per spec tive <strong>of</strong> pseudorational ism<br />
there is no jus ti fi ca tion for the free, plu ral par -<br />
tic i pa tion <strong>of</strong> cit i zens in pol i tics, since they<br />
gen er ally do not pos ses sci en tific ex per tise<br />
req ui site to for ra tio nal de ci sion mak ing.<br />
There are two ways to break this as so ci a tion<br />
be tween pseudorationalism and au thor i tar ian<br />
pol i tics. One is to at tempt to dif fuse sci ence<br />
into the body pol i tic; the other is to re con sider<br />
the char ac ter <strong>of</strong> sci ence.<br />
First, one may pro mote in creased sci en tific<br />
ed u ca tion and com mu ni ca tion <strong>of</strong> sci en tific<br />
knowl edge, so that all cit i zens be come sci en -<br />
tif i cally lit er a ture. This is the strat egy typ i cal<br />
<strong>of</strong> clas si cal pos i tiv ism (e.g., Auguste Comte<br />
and Her bert Spencer), as well as <strong>of</strong> much con -<br />
tem po rary sci ence ed u ca tion. But pos i tiv ism is<br />
still based on a mis taken con cep tion <strong>of</strong> sci en -<br />
tific ra tio nal ity, since it rests on an non crit i cal<br />
con fi dence in sci en tific method.<br />
Sec ond, one may crit i cize<br />
pseudorationalism it self, af ter the al ready con -<br />
sid ered man ner <strong>of</strong> Duhem and Neurath, both<br />
<strong>of</strong> whom ar gue that ra tio nal ity in sci ence rests<br />
not only on log i cal meth ods but also on pru -<br />
den tial de lib er a tion and judg ment (“good<br />
sense” or “aux il iary mo tives”). Au then tic sci -<br />
en tific ra tio nal ity re quires some moral prin ci -<br />
ples and vir tues (fallibilism, tol er ance) as well<br />
as a re pub li can at mo sphere within the sci en -<br />
tific com mu nity.<br />
If ci vil ity and plu ral ism are re quired to<br />
reach epistemic con sen sus in that par a digm <strong>of</strong><br />
ra tio nal knowl edge called sci ence, then surely<br />
it is rea son able to sug gest that the cre ation <strong>of</strong><br />
so cial and po lit i cal knowl edge may re quire<br />
sim i lar con di tions. The pru den tial view <strong>of</strong> sci -<br />
en tific ra tio nal ity as pro posed by Duhem and<br />
Neurath thus chal lenges the epistemic bases <strong>of</strong><br />
po lit i cal au thor i tar i an ism and fos ters a new<br />
kind <strong>of</strong> prac ti cal ra tio nal ism in pol i tics, based<br />
on ex ten sive, free, plu ral ist cit i zen par tic i pa -<br />
tion po lit i cal de ci sion making.<br />
In ad di tion, it is nec es sar ily to con sider how<br />
sci ence and tech nol ogy may con trib ute to a<br />
more just so ci ety and dem o cratic state, es pe -<br />
cially in light <strong>of</strong> the in creas ing de pend ence <strong>of</strong><br />
so cial and po lit i cal life on technoscientific<br />
prog ress. To ex plore how this is sue, I re turn to<br />
Neurath’s view <strong>of</strong> sci ence, es pe cially to his no -<br />
tion <strong>of</strong> aux il iary mo tives. Aux il iary mo tives<br />
re fer mainly to so cial at ti tudes, per cep tions,<br />
and val ues sit u ated in so cially shared his tor i -<br />
cal tra di tions. Neurath thinks that aux il iary<br />
mo tives con sti tute a com mu ni ca tive space<br />
com mon to the sci en tific com mu nity and the<br />
larger so ci ety. For aux il iary mo tives to func -<br />
tion prop erly this pub lic space com mon to sci -<br />
en tists and cit i zens must in clude guide lines for<br />
its own co op er a tive re la tions. That is, sci en -<br />
tists must take into ac count the so cial and pub -<br />
lic char ac ter <strong>of</strong> sci ence for ad dress ing the most<br />
im por tant and gen eral so cial needs, and they<br />
must rec og nize their re spon si bil i ties for the<br />
con se quences <strong>of</strong> sci ence and tech nol ogy. Cit i -<br />
zens, for their part, must be come more con -<br />
scious <strong>of</strong> the so cial need to sup port and fund<br />
the de vel op ment <strong>of</strong> sci en tific re search and<br />
tech no log i cal de vel op ment.<br />
Re cently phi los o phers <strong>of</strong> sci ence such as<br />
Philip Kitcher (2001) and Steve Fuller (2002)<br />
have ex am ined the po lit i cal re la tion ships be -<br />
tween the sci en tific com mu nity and the so cial<br />
com mu nity at large. Both ar gue that there must<br />
be a kind <strong>of</strong> re pub li can ethos and in sti tu tions<br />
that reg u late the re la tions be tween sci ence and<br />
so ci ety, in a sim i lar way to the view sup ported<br />
by Neurath al most one hun dred years ear lier.<br />
Carl Mit cham (2003) has like wise ar gued for<br />
the co-re spon si bil ity <strong>of</strong> sci en tists and non-sci -<br />
en tists in the for mu la tion <strong>of</strong> pro fes sional eth -<br />
ics in sci ence. In deed, the true re pub lic <strong>of</strong> sci -<br />
ence must be ex tended from sci ence to the<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
82
sci ence-so ci ety re la tion ship in or der to mir ror<br />
the dialogical re quire ments <strong>of</strong> sci ence and to<br />
pro mote the ra tio nal and just dis tri bu tion <strong>of</strong> the<br />
ben e fits, both ma te rial and cul tural, to be de -<br />
rived from sci ence and tech nol ogy.<br />
REFERENCES<br />
Duhem, Pi erre. (1962). The Aim and Struc ture <strong>of</strong> Phys i -<br />
cal The ory. New York: Atheneum. First pub lished 1906.<br />
Echeverría, José. (2002) Ciencia y valores. Bar ce lona:<br />
Destino.<br />
Fuller, Steve. (1993) Phi los o phy, Rhet o ric and the End <strong>of</strong><br />
Knowl edge: The Com ing <strong>of</strong> Sci ence and Tech nol ogy<br />
Stud ies. Mad i son: Uni ver sity <strong>of</strong> Wis con sin Press.<br />
Fuller, Steve. (2000) The Gov er nance <strong>of</strong> Sci ence: Ide ol -<br />
ogy and the Fu ture <strong>of</strong> Open So ci ety. Buckingham, U K:<br />
Open Uni ver sity Press.<br />
Ibarra, Andoni, and José An to nio López Cerezo, eds.<br />
(2003) “Stud ies in Sci ence, Tech nol ogy, and So ci ety<br />
(STS): North and South,” spe cial theme is sue, Tech nol -<br />
ogy in So ci ety 25 (April): 149–273. Ear lier and slightly<br />
dif fer ent Span ish ver sion: Desafíos y tensiones actuales<br />
en ciencia, tecnología y sociedad (Ma drid:<br />
Organización de Estados Americanos, Biblioteca<br />
Nueva, 2001).<br />
Kitcher, Philip. (2001) Sci ence, Truth, and De moc racy.<br />
New York: Ox ford Uni ver sity Press.<br />
Kuhn, Thomas. (1977) “The Es sen tial Ten sion: Tra di tion<br />
and In no va tion in Sci en tific Re search,” in The Es sen tial<br />
Ten sion: Se lected Stud ies in Sci en tific Tra di tion and<br />
Change (Chi cago: Uni ver sity <strong>of</strong> Chi cago Press, 1977),<br />
225–39. An es say first pub lished in 1959.<br />
Mit cham, Carl, ed. (1995) So cial and Philo soph i cal Con -<br />
struc tions <strong>of</strong> Tech nol ogy. Green wich: JAI Press.<br />
Mit cham, C. (2003). “Co-Re spon si bil ity for Re search In -<br />
tegrity,” <strong>Science</strong> and Engineering Ethics 9: 273–90.<br />
Neurath, Otto. (1983). Philo soph i cal Pa pers: 1913–<br />
1946. Dordrecht: D. Reidel.<br />
Neurath, Otto. (1983a) “The Last Wan der ers <strong>of</strong> Des cartes<br />
and the Aux il iary Mo tives,” in Neurath (1983), 1–12.<br />
Neurath, Otto. (1983b) “Pseudorationalism <strong>of</strong> Fal si fi ca -<br />
tion,” in Neurath (1983), 121–31.<br />
Oakeshott, Mi chael. (1962) Rationalism in Politics and<br />
Other Es says. New York; Ba sic Books.<br />
Olivé, Leon. (2000) El bien, el mal y la razón: Facetas de<br />
la ciencia y de la tecnología. Mex ico: Paidós, UNAM.<br />
Pickering, An drew, ed. (1992) Sci ence as Prac tice and<br />
Culture. Chicago: Chicago University Press.<br />
Pop per, Karl. (1980) The Logic <strong>of</strong> Sci en tific Dis cov ery.<br />
Lon don: Hutch in son.<br />
Skin ner, Quentin. (1996) Rea son and Rhet o ric in the Phi -<br />
los o phy <strong>of</strong> Thomas Hobbes. Cam bridge: Cam bridge<br />
University Press.<br />
A POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE<br />
83
SCI ENCE POL ICY FOR IN DIA<br />
A MEMO TO THE IN DIAN COUN CIL OF SCI EN TIFIC AND IN DUS TRIAL RE SEARCH<br />
Uday T. Turaga and Rama Mohana Turaga<br />
Af ter re tir ing as chair man and re search di -<br />
rec tor <strong>of</strong> an In dian oil com pany in the mid-<br />
1990s, the dis tin guished sci en tist Pranab<br />
Kumar Mukhopadhyay be came a tech ni cal<br />
con sul tant for the In dian In sti tute <strong>of</strong> Pe tro leum<br />
(IIP). The IIP, one <strong>of</strong> In dia’s pre mier na tional<br />
lab o ra to ries, is sit u ated at the foot hills <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Hi ma la yas, bor der ing the Rajaji Na tional Park<br />
in Dehra Dun. On his vis its to IIP,<br />
Mukhopadhyay would un fail ingly be gin his<br />
day with a morn ing walk through the In sti -<br />
tute’s tea gar dens and the neigh bor ing vil lages.<br />
By the way side <strong>of</strong> a route that he fre quented,<br />
was a small fur nace that a farmer used to make<br />
jaggery from sug ar cane.<br />
Mukhopadhyay, who holds a doc tor ate in<br />
the sci ences and spent the bulk <strong>of</strong> his pro fes -<br />
sional life re search ing hy dro car bon fu els,<br />
com bus tion, and en ergy, in tu itively felt that<br />
the fur nace de sign and ef fi ciency could be im -<br />
proved. Fu eled by ba gasse, waste gen er ated<br />
af ter sug ar cane had been squeezed <strong>of</strong> its juice,<br />
the fur nace had been de signed and built by the<br />
farmer him self. The in quis i tive and thought ful<br />
Mukhopadhyay soon be friended the farmer<br />
and per suaded him to let IIP en gi neers ex am -<br />
ine the fur nace.<br />
Mukhopadhyay also con vinced his good<br />
friend, the di rec tor <strong>of</strong> IIP, to as sign the pro ject<br />
<strong>of</strong> ex am in ing the fur nace and im prov ing its de -<br />
sign to a staff com bus tion en gi neer. Com bus -<br />
tion sci en tists and en gi neers from the IIP were<br />
able to im prove ef fi ciency and de sign such that<br />
jaggery pro duc tion went up by 20%. Al most a<br />
de cade later, the im proved fur nace de sign to<br />
make jaggery and its con se quent ben e fits to lo -<br />
cal farm ers is an achieve ment that IIP lead er -<br />
ship never fails to high light in pre sen ta tions to<br />
vis it ing pol i ti cians and ad min is tra tors.<br />
This story high lights the po ten tial for sci en -<br />
tific re search and de vel op ment (R&D) in de -<br />
vel op ing coun tries like In dia and vin di cates<br />
the be lief that In dia’s first prime min is ter,<br />
Jawaharlal Nehru (1889–1964), had in sci ence<br />
and its transformative ca pa bil i ties. Even so,<br />
the ex am ple also de picts the fail ure <strong>of</strong> In dian<br />
sci ence to show rel e vance to In dian needs. Af -<br />
ter all, it took a vis it ing tech ni cal con sul tant to<br />
spur IIP to ad dress a tech ni cal need in its<br />
neigh bor ing com mu nity <strong>of</strong> thirty years.<br />
The pur suit <strong>of</strong> sci ence for its own sake is no -<br />
ble and cer tainly worth en cour ag ing. At the<br />
same time, a por tion <strong>of</strong> sci en tific and tech no -<br />
log i cal re search must ad dress eco nomic and<br />
so cial prob lems, par tic u larly so for the de vel -<br />
op ing world where there are com pet ing de -<br />
mands for scarce re sources. Lead ing In dian<br />
sci en tific agen cies are acutely aware <strong>of</strong> this<br />
and one <strong>of</strong> them, the Coun cil <strong>of</strong> Sci en tific and<br />
In dus trial Re search (CSIR), has be gun a sys -<br />
temic anal y sis <strong>of</strong> this is sue through an ex pert<br />
com mit tee chaired by the re nowned In dian<br />
econ o mist and pol icy maker, Vijay Kelkar. In<br />
the fall <strong>of</strong> 2003, the au thors were in vited by the<br />
Kelkar Com mit tee to au thor a back ground pa -<br />
per on this sub ject to high light key is sues. This<br />
con tri bu tion is based on that back ground pa -<br />
per.<br />
Back ground: The Coun cil <strong>of</strong> Sci en tific and<br />
Industrial Research<br />
The CSIR was es tab lished in the early<br />
1940s to pro vide the sci en tific and tech no log i -<br />
cal un der pin nings <strong>of</strong> an in dus tri al iz ing na tion.<br />
The CSIR is In dia’s larg est sci en tific es tab lish -<br />
ment and prob a bly the world’s larg est chain <strong>of</strong><br />
pub licly funded re search lab o ra to ries<br />
(Rajagopal et al., 1991). Through its net work<br />
<strong>of</strong> thirty-eight re search lab o ra to ries and in sti -<br />
tutes and eighty field sta tions and ex ten sion<br />
cen ters, CSIR is al most ubiq ui tous in In dia.<br />
Cov er ing a wide spec trum <strong>of</strong> sci ence and tech -<br />
nol ogy, CSIR’s re search lab o ra to ries are clas -<br />
si fied as dis ci pline- and busi ness sec tor-spe -<br />
cific. The Na tional Chem i cal Lab o ra tory<br />
(Pune) and the Na tional Phys i cal Lab o ra tory<br />
(New Delhi) are ex am ples <strong>of</strong> dis ci pline-spe -<br />
cific lab o ra to ries, while the IPP (Dehra Dun)<br />
the Cen tral Leather Re search In sti tute<br />
(Chennai) and the Cen tral Drug Re search In -<br />
sti tute (Lucknow) are ex am ples <strong>of</strong> busi ness<br />
sec tor-spe cific lab o ra to ries.<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY SUPPLEMENT 2004<br />
84
With al most 21,000 em ploy ees, an elab o -<br />
rate man age ment struc ture dom i nates CSIR,<br />
which, al though fed er ally funded, is struc tured<br />
as an au ton o mous and in de pend ent or ga ni za -<br />
tion. CSIR re ports to and is ad vised by what is<br />
called the So ci ety, chaired by In dia’s Prime<br />
Min is ter, with other mem bers usu ally be ing<br />
the min is ters for sci ence and tech nol ogy, fi -<br />
nance, and hu man re sources de vel op ment. The<br />
chief ex ec u tive <strong>of</strong> fi cer <strong>of</strong> CSIR is des ig nated<br />
as di rec tor-gen eral, while di rec tors pre side<br />
over each <strong>of</strong> the con stit u ent lab o ra to ries. The<br />
di rec tor-gen eral and the di rec tors are al most<br />
al ways well known prac tic ing sci en tists and<br />
en gi neers. A Gov ern ing Body and the Ad vi -<br />
sory Board ad vise the di rec tor-gen eral. The di -<br />
rec tor-gen eral pre sides over the Gov ern ing<br />
Body (oc cu pied by mem bers <strong>of</strong> the bu reau -<br />
cracy and In dian sci en tific com mu nity and a<br />
few CSIR lab o ra tory di rec tors), which ap -<br />
proves fis cal, man age ment, and ad min is tra tive<br />
pol i cies. The Ad vi sory Board is com posed <strong>of</strong><br />
em i nent sci en tists, tech nol o gists, and<br />
businesspersons and pro vides in tel lec tual in -<br />
puts to the di rec tor-gen eral. A Man age ment<br />
Coun cil as sists di rec tors <strong>of</strong> the con stit u ent lab -<br />
o ra to ries on ad min is tra tive de ci sions, while<br />
the re search phi los o phy and di rec tion <strong>of</strong> each<br />
con stit u ent lab o ra tory is vetted by a Re search<br />
Ad vi sory Coun cil usu ally headed by a sci en -<br />
tist <strong>of</strong> em i nence in the lab o ra tory’s field <strong>of</strong><br />
expertise.<br />
CSIR em barked on a se ries <strong>of</strong> or ga ni za -<br />
tional and ad min is tra tive re forms through the<br />
1990s to im prove its re search and tech no log i -<br />
cal pro duc tiv ity and rel e vance (Turaga, 2000).<br />
Busi ness In dia, cor po rate In dia’s lead ing and<br />
most re spected busi ness fort nightly, de voted<br />
its June 1999 cover story to the trans for ma tion<br />
<strong>of</strong> CSIR and shift in re search pri or i ties from<br />
“re search for its own sake” to “re search rel e -<br />
vant to the needs <strong>of</strong> eco nomic agents”<br />
(Advani, 1999).<br />
Evaluation <strong>of</strong> CSIR Socio-economic Benefits<br />
Con sis tent with this new com mit ment to<br />
pub lic ac count abil ity, CSIR re cently cre ated a<br />
com mit tee chaired by Dr. Vijay Kelkar to “as -<br />
sess and value the socio-eco nomic-en vi ron -<br />
men tal ben e fits aris ing from CSIR’s R&D out -<br />
comes and sci ence and tech nol ogy ac tiv i ties”<br />
(Coun cil <strong>of</strong> Sci en tific and In dus trial Re search,<br />
2003). It is in this con text that this pa per dis -<br />
cusses the ways in which the eco nomic and<br />
so cial ben e fits <strong>of</strong> CSIR’s re search could be<br />
eval u ated.<br />
Per the terms <strong>of</strong> ref er ence, the Kelkar Com -<br />
mit tee is charged with two tasks. The first is an<br />
anal y sis <strong>of</strong> CSIR’s eco nomic and so cial im -<br />
pact. The sec ond is to iden tify met rics to en -<br />
able eval u a tion <strong>of</strong> a pub licly funded R&D or -<br />
ga ni za tion such as CSIR and, fi nally,<br />
rec om mend mea sures to op ti mize the ef fec -<br />
tive ness <strong>of</strong> pub lic in vest ments. The fo cus <strong>of</strong><br />
our pa per, how ever, is on the first task, i.e., as -<br />
sess ment <strong>of</strong> so cial and eco nomic ben e fits.<br />
In this ar ti cle our aim is to pro vide an over -<br />
view <strong>of</strong> var i ous eco nomic and so cial ben e fits<br />
that the Kelkar Com mit tee might want to con -<br />
sider, in the con text <strong>of</strong> what we know about<br />
CSIR’s ac tiv i ties. We do not dis cuss the met -<br />
rics that could be used to quan tify the ben e fits.<br />
We first out line the eco nomic ben e fits <strong>of</strong><br />
R&D, which are well rec og nized now and on<br />
which a good deal <strong>of</strong> lit er a ture al ready ex ists.<br />
Then we sug gest a few pos si ble so cial ben e fits<br />
that are rel e vant in the con text <strong>of</strong> CSIR’s re -<br />
search port fo lio and make some rec om men da -<br />
tions for the Com mit tee.<br />
Eco nomic Ben e fits <strong>of</strong> CSIR’s Re search<br />
and Development<br />
It is now well un der stood that sci ence and<br />
tech nol ogy are crit i cal in stru ments to im prove<br />
qual ity <strong>of</strong> hu man life, in dus trial com pet i tive -<br />
ness, and eco nomic growth. In fact, the Or ga -<br />
ni za tion for Eco nomic Co op er a tion and De -<br />
vel op ment (OECD) now la bels the emerg ing<br />
eco nomic or der as the “knowl edge-based<br />
econ omy.” Al though such as ser tions re flect<br />
rec og ni tion <strong>of</strong> the in creas ing role played by<br />
knowl edge and tech nol ogy in eco nomic<br />
growth “the ex act re la tion ship be tween pub lic<br />
sup port for sci en tific re search and the level <strong>of</strong><br />
eco nomic per for mance and so cial well-be ing<br />
re mains more a mat ter <strong>of</strong> af fir ma tion, than a<br />
set <strong>of</strong> facts based on mea sure ment and anal y sis<br />
by sci ence pol icy re search ers” (Wolfe and<br />
Salter, 1997).<br />
In a re cent re view <strong>of</strong> lit er a ture on eco nomic<br />
ben e fits <strong>of</strong> pub lic-funded re search, Salter and<br />
Mar tin (2001) iden ti fied six pos si ble ben e fits<br />
from pub licly funded re search. This re view<br />
was pri mar ily based on re search in de vel oped<br />
coun tries. Nev er the less, we think that all these<br />
ben e fits are rel e vant for as sess ment <strong>of</strong> CSIR’s<br />
re search. In the fol low ing sec tions, we use the<br />
SCI ENCE POL ICY FOR INDIA<br />
85
clas si fi ca tion <strong>of</strong> eco nomic ben e fits iden ti fied<br />
by Salter and Mar tin to dis cuss their ap pli ca -<br />
bil ity in CSIR’s con text.<br />
1. In creas ing the Stock <strong>of</strong> Use ful In for ma tion<br />
One can think <strong>of</strong> gov ern ment fund ing for<br />
ba sic re search as ex pand ing the tech no log i cal<br />
op por tu ni ties avail able to so ci ety. In di vid u als<br />
and firms need to ex pend sig nif i cant re sources<br />
to use the in for ma tion gen er ated by pub licly<br />
funded re search in ways that re sult in new<br />
tech nol o gies and prod ucts and hence in -<br />
creased ben e fits. CSIR’s con tri bu tions to ward<br />
ex pand ing the “stock <strong>of</strong> use ful in for ma tion”<br />
that has fa cil i tated tech ni cal and tech no log i cal<br />
de vel op ment ca pa bil i ties <strong>of</strong> In dian in dus try<br />
must be ad dressed. A spe cific ques tion, for ex -<br />
am ple, would be how CSIR has en abled In dian<br />
in dus try to suc cess fully im ple ment and in te -<br />
grate tech nol o gies li censed from abroad.<br />
2. Train ing Skilled Grad u ates<br />
The sup ply <strong>of</strong> new grad u ates, equipped<br />
with train ing, knowl edge, net works, and ex -<br />
per tise, to in dus trial re search ac tiv ity is con -<br />
sid ered one <strong>of</strong> the pri mary ben e fits <strong>of</strong> pub licly<br />
funded re search. CSIR has con crete and wellpub<br />
li cized achieve ments in this area, e.g., the<br />
ex em plary fi nan cial, infrastructural, and in tel -<br />
lec tual sup port that CSIR pro vides to doc toral<br />
stu dents and the ex am i na tion pro cess <strong>of</strong> un im -<br />
peach able in teg rity that CSIR con ducts along<br />
with In dia’s Uni ver sity Grants Com mis sion to<br />
“cer tify” the cal i ber and qual ity <strong>of</strong> col lege and<br />
uni ver sity teach ers. These ef forts have had im -<br />
pli ca tions more pro found and valu able in sus -<br />
tain ing In dia’s in tel lec tual en ter prise than gen -<br />
er ally rec og nized. Re search is a crit i cal<br />
com po nent <strong>of</strong> mod ern higher ed u ca tion and<br />
the in abil ity <strong>of</strong> In dian uni ver si ties to pro vide<br />
for that com po nent has been <strong>of</strong>f set, to a cer tain<br />
ex tent, by CSIR. It is im por tant that stud ies to<br />
quan tify CSIR’s achieve ments in this area be<br />
con ducted.<br />
3. Creating New Scientific Instrumentation and<br />
Meth od ol o gies<br />
Sci en tists <strong>of</strong> ten cre ate new in stru men ta tion,<br />
tech niques, and an a lyt i cal meth ods that even -<br />
tu ally are adopted and used in in dus trial pro -<br />
cesses. Ex am ples <strong>of</strong> CSIR’s tech ni cal and an a -<br />
lyt i cal ser vices to ei ther cer tify in dus trial<br />
prod ucts or eval u ate the ef fi cacy <strong>of</strong> do mes tic<br />
or im ported in dus trial pro cesses and prod ucts<br />
are nu mer ous. Of greater im port are CSIR ser -<br />
vices in pro vid ing ex pert in put on sci en tific<br />
and tech ni cal is sues <strong>of</strong> na tional con cern. Spe -<br />
cific and con tem po rary ex am ples in clude the<br />
ser vices that the CSIR con stit u ent lab o ra tory,<br />
Cen tral Food Tech nol ogy Re search In sti tute,<br />
pro vided to the Joint Par lia men tary Com mit -<br />
tee that in ves ti gated the is sue <strong>of</strong> pes ti cide res i -<br />
due in pop u lar s<strong>of</strong>t drinks sold in In dia. Sim i lar<br />
tech ni cal ad vice was pro vided in the past to<br />
Mashelkar Com mit tee on Auto Fuel Pol icy,<br />
the Ramar Pillai syn thetic re new able fuel con -<br />
tro versy, and the Bhopal gas di sas ter.<br />
4. Forming Networks and Stimulating<br />
New In ter ac tions<br />
Gov ern ment fund ing brings to gether the<br />
pro duc ers <strong>of</strong> knowl edge (sci en tists funded<br />
through gov ern ment) and the con sum ers <strong>of</strong><br />
knowl edge (firms) through in for mal net works<br />
re sult ing in an in creased pool <strong>of</strong> tech no log i cal<br />
op por tu ni ties and re search ac tiv ity rel e vant to<br />
firms. If this ben e fit is nar rowly in ter preted,<br />
one man i fes ta tion would be con sor tia fo cused<br />
on spe cific tech ni cal sub jects, e.g., the Na -<br />
tional Chem i cal Lab o ra tory’s ef fort to or ga -<br />
nize a con sor tium fo cused on fuel cells, on<br />
which there is very lit tle work cur rently un der -<br />
way in In dia. Such an ini tia tive to or ga nize and<br />
im ple ment such a con sor tium strongly high -<br />
lights the pos i tive and cre ative role that CSIR<br />
and its lab o ra to ries are play ing in help ing In -<br />
dian play ers pen e trate new and im por tant<br />
fields <strong>of</strong> re search. An at tempt to iden tify other<br />
sim i lar ex am ples by CSIR lab o ra to ries must<br />
be made.<br />
5. In creas ing the Ca pac ity for Sci en tific and Tech -<br />
no log i cal Prob lem Solv ing<br />
Ba sic re search helps in tech no log i cal prob -<br />
lem solv ing for firms through sup ply <strong>of</strong> skilled<br />
prob lem solv ers as well as by in creas ing the<br />
gen eral pool <strong>of</strong> knowl edge. Firms <strong>of</strong> ten find<br />
ap plied re search rather than ba sic re search<br />
more rel e vant to their tech nol ogy base. How -<br />
ever, this rel e vance var ies by sec tor. Sci encebased<br />
sec tors such as pharmaceuticals use ba -<br />
sic re search more di rectly than en gi neer ingbased<br />
sec tors such as au to mo tive in dus try. One<br />
ex am ple <strong>of</strong> CSIR’s suc cess in pro vid ing a pool<br />
<strong>of</strong> skilled la bor is its emer gence as a des ti na -<br />
tion for outsourced R&D (Turaga, 2003). This<br />
is one form <strong>of</strong> global rec og ni tion <strong>of</strong> CSIR and<br />
thus, the na tion’s im proved sci en tific and tech -<br />
no log i cal prob lem solv ing ca pac ity.<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
86
6. Cre at ing New Firms<br />
It is well known that start-up com pa nies <strong>of</strong> -<br />
ten im ple ment the com mer cial iza tion <strong>of</strong><br />
break through re search. Such or ga ni za tions are<br />
in stru ments for gen er at ing em ploy ment, cre at -<br />
ing eco nomic ac tiv ity, and, <strong>of</strong> course, re duc ing<br />
ab stract re search con cepts to con crete re al ity.<br />
While there are some good ex am ples <strong>of</strong> re -<br />
gional ag glom er a tion <strong>of</strong> new firms clus tered<br />
around re search-in ten sive uni ver si ties, the ev i -<br />
dence for this ben e fit is mixed be cause <strong>of</strong> the<br />
fail ure <strong>of</strong> sev eral such spin-<strong>of</strong>fs as well as the<br />
very low growths reg is tered by many oth ers. A<br />
de tailed anal y sis <strong>of</strong> CSIR’s con tri bu tions in<br />
this area should be con ducted. While suc cess -<br />
ful ex am ples are <strong>of</strong> ten widely pub li cized, a<br />
com plete in ven tory is crit i cal for a mean ing ful<br />
assessment.<br />
So cial Ben e fits <strong>of</strong> R&D:<br />
More Ques tions, Few Ideas<br />
While quan ti fi ca tion <strong>of</strong> eco nomic ben e fits<br />
<strong>of</strong> R&D has re ceived sig nif i cant at ten tion in<br />
the de vel oped world, the same can not be said<br />
for quan ti fy ing the so cial im pact. Here there is<br />
a con spic u ous lack <strong>of</strong> lit er a ture on meth ods,<br />
mod els, or prob lems. A sig nif i cant hin drance<br />
to mea sur ing R&D so cial ben e fits stems from<br />
the dif fi culty <strong>of</strong> de fin ing “so cial ben e fit.”<br />
More <strong>of</strong> ten than not, so cial ben e fits are<br />
linked to eco nomic ben e fits, which ex plains<br />
why there has been so lit tle fo cus on iden ti fy -<br />
ing so cial ben e fits them selves. For ex am ple,<br />
higher qual ity health care could be a so cial<br />
ben e fit <strong>of</strong> sci en tific prog ress. How ever, it is<br />
also known that an in di vid ual’s ac cess to qual -<br />
ity health care typ i cally im proves with growth<br />
in his or her eco nomic sit u a tion. There fore, it<br />
is not clear how the ac cru ing so cial ben e fits <strong>of</strong><br />
sci ence should be eval u ated in de pend ent <strong>of</strong><br />
de riv a tive eco nomic ben e fits.<br />
We ar gue that such quan ti fi ca tion <strong>of</strong> sci en -<br />
tific and tech no log i cal ben e fits only in terms<br />
<strong>of</strong> eco nomic ben e fits is too nar row, es pe cially<br />
in a de vel op ing coun try con text. That most<br />
eco nomic ben e fits re sult in so cial de vel op -<br />
ment is in dis put able, but the val u a tion <strong>of</strong><br />
R&D’s so cial ben e fits as a mere de riv a tive <strong>of</strong><br />
eco nomic ben e fits is an in com plete and shal -<br />
low anal y sis. Nev er the less it re mains very dif -<br />
fi cult to quan tify any kind <strong>of</strong> ef fort, not just sci -<br />
ence and tech nol ogy, in terms <strong>of</strong> so ci etal<br />
ben e fits.<br />
In this sec tion, we out line a few so cial ben e -<br />
fits that the Kelkar Com mit tee might want to<br />
con sider. We do not claim to pres ent an ex -<br />
haus tive list <strong>of</strong> so cial ben e fits, but our aim is to<br />
di rect at ten tion to what we con sider some <strong>of</strong><br />
the more im por tant pos si bil i ties.<br />
Be fore go ing into spe cif ics, we sug gest that<br />
the Com mit tee should con sider get ting an -<br />
swers to some broader ques tions that will set<br />
the stage for a more spe cific as sess ment. Such<br />
ques tions in clude:<br />
● How does CSIR de fine so cially rel e vant<br />
re search?<br />
●What per cent age <strong>of</strong> R&D ex pen di ture is<br />
fo r so cially rel e vant re search?<br />
● What per cent age <strong>of</strong> CSIR out put re sults in<br />
prod ucts?<br />
● How do CSIR’s ac com plish ments in so -<br />
cially rel e vant re search, e.g., low-cost hous -<br />
ing, com pare with the ini tia tives <strong>of</strong> other or ga -<br />
ni za tions?<br />
● What kinds <strong>of</strong> in cen tives ex ist within<br />
CSIR to en cour age so cially rel e vant R&D?<br />
For ex am ple, <strong>of</strong> CSIR’s Bhatnagar, Young Sci -<br />
en tist, and Tech nol ogy De vel op ment awards,<br />
how many have been awarded to sci en tists ac -<br />
tive in so cially rel e vant re search? What have<br />
been the ca reer paths and pro gres sion <strong>of</strong> sci en -<br />
tists pur su ing so cially rel e vant R&D.<br />
1. Ben e fits to Weaker Sec tions <strong>of</strong> So ci ety<br />
One in di ca tor <strong>of</strong> R&D so cial ben e fits con -<br />
cerns con tri bu tions to the eco nom i cally<br />
weaker sec tions <strong>of</strong> so ci ety. Such ben e fits are<br />
par tic u larly im por tant in the con text <strong>of</strong> a coun -<br />
try such as In dia, where mil lions live be low the<br />
pov erty line and can not af ford min i mum ba sic<br />
needs. Ex am ples <strong>of</strong> ef forts fo cused to ward<br />
achiev ing such ob jec tives in clude re search on<br />
ef fec tive and low-cost hous ing and san i ta tion.<br />
CSIR in sti tu tions such as the Cen tral Build ing<br />
Re search In sti tute (CBRI) and the Na tional<br />
En vi ron men tal En gi neer ing Re search In sti tute<br />
(NEERI) have en gaged in sim i lar ac tiv i ties.<br />
2. Informing Indian Society<br />
In the past de cade, CSIR has quickly re -<br />
sponded to global sci en tific de vel op ments. For<br />
ex am ple, soon af ter genomics and<br />
nanotechnology be came glob ally rec og nized<br />
sci en tific chal lenges, CSIR re sponded with<br />
ma jor ini tia tives, e.g., by re nam ing one <strong>of</strong> its<br />
bio chem i cal lab o ra to ries as the In sti tute <strong>of</strong><br />
Genomics and In te gra tive Bi ol ogy and es tab -<br />
lish ing a na tional col lab o ra tive re search ini tia -<br />
SCI ENCE POL ICY FOR IN DIA<br />
87
tive on nanotechnology. Al though these are<br />
im por tant and laud able con tri bu tions that re -<br />
flect CSIR’s sci en tific con scious ness and its<br />
deep com mit ment to po si tion In dia as a stake -<br />
holder in the emerg ing global sci en tific<br />
agenda, there are sev eral other global prob -<br />
lems that re quire im me di ate and equal at ten -<br />
tion. Some ex am ples in clude global cli mate<br />
change, de ple tion <strong>of</strong> strato spheric ozone, and<br />
in tro duc tion <strong>of</strong> ge net i cally mod i fied (GM)<br />
foods.<br />
The Kelkar Com mit tee must ask what re -<br />
search CSIR has gen er ated to help In dia pro -<br />
tect its eco nomic and en vi ron men tal in ter ests<br />
in the face <strong>of</strong> in ter na tional pres sure to com ply<br />
with trea ties such as the Kyoto Pro to col. While<br />
the west ern world is the main con trib u tor <strong>of</strong><br />
green house gas emis sions, the im pact <strong>of</strong><br />
global cli mate change is more likely to be felt<br />
in de vel op ing coun tries such as In dia, in ways<br />
dis pro por tion ate to their con tri bu tions to emis -<br />
sions. In or der to pres ent In dia’s case in in ter -<br />
na tional fo rums cor rectly and force fully, re -<br />
search on un der stand ing the im pacts <strong>of</strong> global<br />
cli mate change on In dian so ci ety is ex tremely<br />
im por tant. Ad di tion ally, the Kelkar Com mit -<br />
tee must ask what re search CSIR is con duct ing<br />
to help equip In dian in dus try to re spond to an<br />
en vi ron ment where car bon di ox ide emis sions<br />
would be sub ject to en vi ron men tal reg u la -<br />
tions.<br />
Along with pre par ing In dia for the fu ture,<br />
the Kelkar Com mit tee must eval u ate CSIR’s<br />
re cord on in form ing In dian so ci ety to help its<br />
cit i zens live a safe, healthy, and mean ing ful<br />
life. The re cent con tro versy about the qual ity<br />
<strong>of</strong> pop u lar s<strong>of</strong>t drinks and co las in In dia is a<br />
good ex am ple. How has CSIR con trib uted to -<br />
ward iden ti fy ing and solv ing such prob lems?<br />
Al though it must be rec og nized that CSIR has<br />
lit tle reg u la tory ju ris dic tion or re spon si bil ity,<br />
it is re spected as one <strong>of</strong> the most ad vanced and<br />
high pro file sci en tific in sti tu tions <strong>of</strong> In dia.<br />
This rep u ta tion along with the pub lic fund ing<br />
it re ceives make it re spon si ble to con trib ute<br />
proactively to sci en tific and health is sues <strong>of</strong><br />
na tional in ter est.<br />
3. Gen er at ing Sci en tific Aware ness<br />
The em i nent sci ence ed u ca tor Carl Sagan<br />
has re port edly cau tioned that “it is sui cidal to<br />
cre ate a so ci ety de pend ent on sci ence and<br />
tech nol ogy in which hardly any body knows<br />
any thing about sci ence and tech nol ogy”<br />
(Sejnowski, 2003). Sci en tific lit er acy in so ci -<br />
ety is con sid ered ben e fi cial for sev eral rea -<br />
sons: it in creases the un der stand ing <strong>of</strong><br />
strengths and lim i ta tions <strong>of</strong> sci ence so that the<br />
pub lic has re al is tic ex pec ta tions about what<br />
sci ence can and can not do; it gen er ates aware -<br />
ness about and in ter est in is sues that af fect so -<br />
ci ety, and hence en ables dem o cratic de ci sion<br />
mak ing in pub lic pol i cies; it pre vents the pub -<br />
lic from be ing prey to dog ma tists; and in gen -<br />
eral it pro motes an in tel lec tual cul ture<br />
(Laugksch, 2000).<br />
Hav ing said this, it is equally im por tant for<br />
sci ence ad min is tra tors and in sti tu tions to cre -<br />
ate im proved aware ness about the lim i ta tions<br />
<strong>of</strong> mod ern sci ence and tech nol ogy. The pas -<br />
sion for their pro fes sion en sures that sci en tists<br />
will pub li cize the ca pa bil i ties and ben e fits <strong>of</strong><br />
sci ence and tech nol ogy. How ever, it is far from<br />
a sure thing that they will do an equally<br />
proactive and qual i fied job in ed u cat ing In dian<br />
so ci ety about the lim i ta tions and down side po -<br />
ten tial <strong>of</strong> new sci ence. Such bal anced sci en -<br />
tific lit er acy, es pe cially on cur rent is sues <strong>of</strong> na -<br />
tional and global im por tance, can not be<br />
fos tered only through class room ed u ca tion.<br />
CSIR, as an in sti tu tion boast ing re search ac tiv -<br />
ity in a wide range <strong>of</strong> sci en tific dis ci plines and<br />
with a pres ence in al most ev ery part <strong>of</strong> In dia,<br />
has great po ten tial to gen er ate, through its vast<br />
com mu nity <strong>of</strong> sci en tists, the right aware ness<br />
and un der stand ing <strong>of</strong> the cur rent sci en tific is -<br />
sues and con tro ver sies.<br />
4. CSIR and Na tional In te gra tion<br />
By 2010, the Eu ro pean Un ion wants to be -<br />
come “the most com pet i tive and dy namic<br />
knowl edge-based econ omy in the world, ca pa -<br />
ble <strong>of</strong> sus tain able eco nomic growth with more<br />
and better jobs and greater so cial co he sion”<br />
(Lis bon Eu ro pean Coun cil Pres i dency Con -<br />
clu sions, 2000 [em pha sis ours]). Lead ers <strong>of</strong><br />
Eu ro pean gov ern ments con sider R&D in sci -<br />
ence and tech nol ogy as a vi tal mech a nism to<br />
achieve these ob jec tives, and agreed at Bar ce -<br />
lona in 2002 to de vote, by 2010, 3% <strong>of</strong> their<br />
Gross Do mes tic Prod uct (GDP) to R&D and to<br />
de velop sci ence pol i cies that fos ter re search<br />
pro grams <strong>of</strong> not pa ro chial but com mon “Eu ro -<br />
pean” in ter est (Papon, 2003). The con fi dence<br />
that the mak ers <strong>of</strong> the Eu ro pean Un ion have<br />
placed on sci ence and tech nol ogy as a pro -<br />
moter <strong>of</strong> “so cial co he sion”—a con cept that the<br />
In di ans know by the phrase, “na tional in te gra -<br />
tion”—is re mark able.<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
88
Na tional in te gra tion, whose rel e vance<br />
never ages in In dia, is nev er the less an old con -<br />
cept for the coun try. It is there fore ironic that<br />
In dia should learn from the faith the Eu ro pean<br />
Un ion has placed in sci ence and tech nol ogy to<br />
achieve in te gra tion and co he sion. Not with -<br />
stand ing the sev eral cre ative means in which<br />
lead ers <strong>of</strong> in de pend ent In dia, par tic u larly<br />
Jawaharlal Nehru, fur thered the idea and im -<br />
por tance <strong>of</strong> na tional in te gra tion, we are un -<br />
aware <strong>of</strong> sci ence and tech nol ogy be ing ex plic -<br />
itly cited as one. Only in re cent years has R. A.<br />
Mashelkar <strong>of</strong> CSIR made a ref er ence—that<br />
too, an in di rect one—to na tional in te gra tion<br />
via sci ence and tech nol ogy when he ar tic u -<br />
lated the con cept <strong>of</strong> “Team In dia” and “Team<br />
CSIR” (Coun cil <strong>of</strong> Sci en tific and In dus trial<br />
Re search, 1999).<br />
In any case, just be cause na tional in te gra -<br />
tion was not ex plic itly ar tic u lated in In dia as a<br />
so cial ben e fit <strong>of</strong> sci ence and tech nol ogy does<br />
not im ply the ab sence <strong>of</strong> such a re la tion ship.<br />
We are, in fact, cer tain that a strong sense <strong>of</strong><br />
na tional in te gra tion was fa cil i tated in a subcon<br />
scious mode by CSIR R&D ac tiv i ties. Af -<br />
ter all, there is no re gion in the coun try where a<br />
CSIR lab does not ex ist. Fur ther, sci ence and<br />
sci en tists by their very na ture seek col lab o ra -<br />
tive work, and one may ex pect inter-lab o ra tory<br />
col lab o ra tions to have fur thered the cause <strong>of</strong><br />
na tional in te gra tion.<br />
Less di rectly, CSIR labs by their very pres -<br />
ence in dif fer ent parts <strong>of</strong> the coun try should<br />
have re sulted in cos mo pol i tan com mu ni ties<br />
pop u lated by highly ed u cated in di vid u als pos -<br />
sess ing a strong sense <strong>of</strong> na tional and so cial re -<br />
spon si bil ity. It is rea son able to ex pect such<br />
cen ters <strong>of</strong> con scious cit i zenry to in flu ence lo -<br />
cal com mu ni ties in co he sive and in clu sive<br />
ways. This, <strong>of</strong> course, might not be a di rect<br />
out come <strong>of</strong> CSIR’s R&D ac tiv i ties but is no<br />
less valu able.<br />
Conclusions<br />
Re search and de vel op ment as a crit i cal in -<br />
stru ment for eco nomic growth is now well in -<br />
grained in eco nomic tra di tion and sig nif i cant<br />
ef fort ex ists on quan ti fy ing R&D’s eco nomic<br />
ben e fits. Con sis tent with this trend, pre vi ous<br />
ef forts (e.g., Abid Hussain Com mit tee,<br />
Mashelkar Com mit tee) to ex am ine CSIR ac -<br />
tiv i ties, while no less im por tant, have fo cused<br />
on im prov ing the or ga ni za tion’s ef fec tive ness<br />
in terms <strong>of</strong> sci en tific out put, eco nomic im pact,<br />
and rel e vance to the mar ket place. In com par i -<br />
son to eco nomic ben e fits, lit tle ef fort, even in<br />
the de vel oped parts <strong>of</strong> the world, has been di -<br />
rected to ward un der stand ing, let alone quan ti -<br />
fy ing, the so cial ben e fits (in de pend ent <strong>of</strong> eco -<br />
nomic ben e fits) <strong>of</strong> sci ence and tech nol ogy. In<br />
this con text, the em pha sis that the Kelkar<br />
Com mit tee’s terms <strong>of</strong> ref er ence place on de ter -<br />
min ing the so cial ef fec tive ness <strong>of</strong> CSIR makes<br />
its con sti tu tion a land mark in the his tory <strong>of</strong><br />
both CSIR and In dian sci ence.<br />
Fur ther, if there is one el e ment <strong>of</strong> the In dian<br />
sci en tific en ter prise that has re ceived un flinch -<br />
ing crit i cism from civil so ci ety, it is the in ad e -<br />
quacy <strong>of</strong> its so cial rel e vance. An ef fort to quan -<br />
tify and for mu late ideas to im prove the so cial<br />
rel e vance and im pact <strong>of</strong> one—al beit large—<br />
quar ter <strong>of</strong> In dia’s sci en tific en ter prise is a huge<br />
step in the right di rec tion.<br />
Equally sig nif i cant is the ex plicit em pha sis<br />
in the terms <strong>of</strong> ref er ence to de vel op ing per for -<br />
mance in di ca tors ap pro pri ate for eval u at ing<br />
pub licly funded R&D or ga ni za tions (such as<br />
CSIR). Im plicit in that em pha sis is the re al iza -<br />
tion <strong>of</strong> CSIR’s re spon si bil ity for di rect ing pre -<br />
cious pub lic re sources for pub lic good. There<br />
are few pub licly funded in sti tu tions in con tem -<br />
po rary In dia that seem to re flect that con cern<br />
and re spon si bil ity through their ac tiv i ties.<br />
Hav ing said that, the au thors strongly be -<br />
lieve that the is sues that the Kelkar Com mit tee<br />
will need to ex am ine are so ex ten sive in<br />
breadth and mo men tous in philo soph i cal im -<br />
port that its re port is only the be gin ning. It is<br />
also im por tant to en sure that this Com mit tee<br />
will not be a sol i tary ef fort but rather a cat a lyst<br />
for a sys temic ef fort to con tin u ally eval u ate re -<br />
search pro grams for so cial ben e fits in CSIR<br />
and even tu ally all In dian sci en tific in sti tu -<br />
tions. In broad philo soph i cal terms, the Kelkar<br />
Com mit tee is an ef fort to fur ther “de moc ra -<br />
tize” sci ence and tech nol ogy by in clud ing so -<br />
cial per for mance in di ca tors. The chal lenges <strong>of</strong><br />
putt ing In dia’s pub lic re sources to good use<br />
will only in crease in the fu ture and a de moc ra -<br />
ti za tion <strong>of</strong> that pro cess in sci ence will stand in<br />
good stead.<br />
REFERENCES<br />
SCI ENCE POL ICY FOR IN DIA<br />
89
Advani, A. H. (1999) “Ed i to rial,” Busi ness In dia (June Rajagopal, N. R., M. A. Qureshi, and B. Singh. (1991)<br />
28-July 11): 1.<br />
The CSIR Saga. New Delhi, In dia: Pub li ca tions and In -<br />
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Coun cil <strong>of</strong> Sci en tific and In dus trial Re search. (1999)<br />
Salter, Am mon J., and Ben R. Mar tin. (2001) “The Eco -<br />
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<strong>of</strong> Sci en tific and In dus trial Re search.<br />
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Coun cil <strong>of</strong> Sci en tific and In dus trial Re search. (2003) Sejnowski, Terrence J. (2003) “Tap into Sci ence 24–7,”<br />
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30).<br />
Turaga, U. (2000) “Dis cov er ies to Div i dends: Trans form -<br />
Laugksch, R. C. (2000) “Sci en tific Lit er acy: A Con cep - ing the Mindset at CSIR,” Chem i cal In no va tion 30 no.<br />
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Turaga, U.T. (2003) “Outsourcing R&D,” Chem i cal En -<br />
Lis bon Eu ro pean Coun cil Pres i dency Con clu sions.<br />
gi neer ing Prog ress 98, no. 9:5.<br />
(2000) Avail able on line: http://europa.eu.int/<br />
Wolfe Da vid A., and Am mon Salter. (1997) “The Socioeco<br />
nomic Im por tance <strong>of</strong> Sci en tific Re search to Can -<br />
european_council/index_en.htm (March).<br />
Papon, P. (2003) “A Chal lenge for the EU,” <strong>Science</strong> 301: ada,” dis cus sion pa per, The Part ner ship Group for Sci -<br />
565.<br />
ence and Engineering, Canada.<br />
AC KNOWL EDG MENTS<br />
This pa per bene fited ex ten sively from the ad vice, time,<br />
wis dom, and en cour age ment <strong>of</strong> Carl Mit cham (Col o -<br />
rado School <strong>of</strong> Mines, Golden, Col o rado), Dan iel<br />
Sarewitz (Cen ter for Sci ence, Pol icy, and Out comes,<br />
Wash ing ton, DC), Barry Bozeman (Geor gia In sti tute <strong>of</strong><br />
Tech nol ogy), and Rob ert Pielke (Uni ver sity <strong>of</strong> Col o -<br />
rado, Boul der). The au thors are grate ful to Vijay Kelkar<br />
(Min is try <strong>of</strong> Fi nance, Gov ern ment <strong>of</strong> In dia) for the in vi -<br />
ta tion (and thus, his con fi dence in the au thors) to con -<br />
trib ute an ad vi sory pa per to help set the agenda <strong>of</strong> the<br />
com mit tee be ing chaired by him.<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
90
SCI ENCE POL ICY IN ITS SO CIAL CON TEXT<br />
Dan iel Sarewitz, Guillermo Foladori, Noela Invernizzi<br />
and Michele S. Garfinkel<br />
Pub lic sup port <strong>of</strong> sci ence is jus ti fied by<br />
three pri mary in stru men tal ra tio nales: sci en -<br />
tific ad vance is nec es sary to cre ate new wealth;<br />
sci en tific ad vance is nec es sary to solve par tic -<br />
u lar so ci etal prob lems; and sci en tific ad vance<br />
pro vides the in for ma tion nec es sary for mak ing<br />
ef fec tive de ci sions. Sig nif i cant and per sis tent<br />
dis par i ties be tween prom ise and performance<br />
accompany each <strong>of</strong> these rationales.<br />
Our ar gu ment is that these dis par i ties in part<br />
re flect sci ence pol icy de ci sions made with out<br />
ad e quate con sid er ation <strong>of</strong> broader so cial con -<br />
texts. To ex plain this point, we pres ent an il lus -<br />
tra tive ex am ple for each ra tio nale. We then dis -<br />
cuss some ap proaches to more ef fec tive<br />
contextualization <strong>of</strong> sci ence pol icy de ci sions.<br />
Such ap proaches could im prove the ca pac ity<br />
<strong>of</strong> sci ence pol icy to achieve de sired so cial out -<br />
comes, and re duce the po ten tial for and mag ni -<br />
tude <strong>of</strong> neg a tive out comes. Fail ing this, they<br />
could at least cre ate more re al is tic ex pec ta -<br />
tions and un der stand ings <strong>of</strong> the roles, and<br />
limits, <strong>of</strong> science in society.<br />
What Sci ence Pol icy Is<br />
Sci ence pol icy is the de ci sion pro cess<br />
through which in di vid u als and in sti tu tions al -<br />
lo cate and or ga nize the in tel lec tual and fis cal<br />
re sources that en able the con duct <strong>of</strong> sci en tific<br />
re search. The prox i mate con se quence <strong>of</strong> sci -<br />
ence pol icy in the U.S. fed eral gov ern ment is<br />
the $118 bil lion that was spent in 2003 on pub -<br />
licly funded re search and de vel op ment (R&D)<br />
en ter prise (AAAS, 2004). On a global ba sis,<br />
gov ern ment sci ence pol icy de ci sions are re -<br />
spon si ble for the al lo ca tion <strong>of</strong> per haps three<br />
times this amount (OECD, 2003). Through<br />
these ex pen di tures, sci ence pol icy de ci sions<br />
are a powerful catalyst for social and economic<br />
change.<br />
Sci ence pol icy in the United States fed eral<br />
gov ern ment is car ried out at many lev els and in<br />
many or ga ni za tions, rang ing from the Of fice<br />
<strong>of</strong> Man age ment and Bud get in the White<br />
House, to man ag ers <strong>of</strong> in di vid ual pro grams in<br />
fed eral agen cies, to mem bers <strong>of</strong> Con gress who<br />
sit on rel e vant com mit tees. Par tic i pants in the<br />
pol icy pro cess in clude not just elected <strong>of</strong> fi cials<br />
and bu reau crats, but sci en tists and a broad<br />
range <strong>of</strong> cit i zen stake holders. There is, there -<br />
fore, no uni fied sci ence pol icy pro cess, but it is<br />
con cep tu ally use ful to think about a sci ence<br />
pol icy as the ag gre gate <strong>of</strong> the decisions that are<br />
made in these many policy venues.<br />
Pub lic fund ing for sci ence is jus ti fied pri -<br />
mar ily on the ba sis <strong>of</strong> an tic i pated and spec i fied<br />
so ci etal ben e fits. The foun da tional case, and<br />
Amer ica’s most im por tant sci ence pol icy doc -<br />
u ment, is Vannevar Bush’s Sci ence—the End -<br />
less Fron tier (1945), which stated, for ex am -<br />
ple, that “ad vances in sci ence will also bring<br />
higher stan dards <strong>of</strong> liv ing, will lead to the pre -<br />
ven tion or cure <strong>of</strong> dis eases, will pro mote con -<br />
ser va tion <strong>of</strong> our lim ited na tional re sources,<br />
and will as sure means <strong>of</strong> defense against<br />
aggression” (9).<br />
Bush’s com pel ling rhet o ric helped set the<br />
stage in sub se quent de cades for the av a lanche<br />
<strong>of</strong> prom ises made on be half <strong>of</strong> pub lic sci ence<br />
by a va ri ety <strong>of</strong> gov ern ment agen cies and sci -<br />
ence ad vo cacy groups. Pro mo tion <strong>of</strong> “ba sic”<br />
re search fo cuses on ex pand ing the res er voir <strong>of</strong><br />
knowl edge as a ba sis for solv ing a broad range<br />
<strong>of</strong> prob lems. “Di rected” ba sic and ap plied re -<br />
search are jus ti fied for their po ten tial to solve<br />
par tic u lar prob lems. But in all cases, it is the<br />
prom ise <strong>of</strong> con crete so cial ben e fits that ra tio -<br />
nal izes the de mand for pub lic sup port <strong>of</strong> sci -<br />
ence, and mo ti vates sci ence pol icy mak ing.<br />
For ex am ple, a May 2004 ad ver tise ment in the<br />
Wash ing ton Post ad vo cat ing more fed eral sup -<br />
port for un di rected, ba sic re search none the less<br />
con nects such re search to spe cific, ben e fi cial<br />
ap pli ca tions: “Re search in Ba sic Sci ence<br />
Brings In no va tions that Im prove our Lives . . .<br />
Like So lar En ergy” (Uni ver sity Re search As -<br />
so ci a tion, Inc., 2004). The un stated as sump -<br />
tion in such as ser tions is that the so ci etal ben e -<br />
fits <strong>of</strong> sci ence are in her ent in the sci ence itself.<br />
Indeed, the idea that social benefit resides in<br />
science is the foundation <strong>of</strong> modern science<br />
policy dogma.<br />
Sci en tific ad vance, how ever, is usu ally ac -<br />
com pa nied by a range <strong>of</strong> so ci etal out comes.<br />
For ex am ple, sci ence-based tech no log i cal in -<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY SUPPLEMENT 2004<br />
91
no va tion, <strong>of</strong> fered as the key to eco nomic<br />
growth in mod ern so ci ety, is also im pli cated in<br />
in creased con cen tra tion <strong>of</strong> global wealth and<br />
grad ual but pro gres sive dis en fran chise ment <strong>of</strong><br />
the man u fac tur ing workforce. In the United<br />
States, a re cent man i fes ta tion <strong>of</strong> this dis en fran -<br />
chise ment is the so-called “job less re cov ery”<br />
where mea sur able out puts have in creased on a<br />
per-worker basis, without concomitant<br />
increases in employment.<br />
This range <strong>of</strong> out comes might be most ap -<br />
par ent in med i cine. Bio med i cal re search is<br />
funded at ro bust and rap idly in creas ing lev els<br />
be cause <strong>of</strong> the ex pec ta tion that it will cure<br />
some dis eases and pre vent oth ers. Mean while,<br />
in fec tious dis eases are re sur gent through out<br />
the world, and the ris ing costs <strong>of</strong> health care in<br />
af flu ent coun tries are fast out strip ping the ca -<br />
pa bil ity <strong>of</strong> so ci ety to pay for them. In the area<br />
<strong>of</strong> the en vi ron ment, bil lions are spent each<br />
year on re search aimed at re duc ing un cer tain -<br />
ties and clar i fy ing po lit i cal op tions for ad -<br />
dress ing the chal lenge <strong>of</strong> global cli mate<br />
change, yet a po lit i cal so lu tion to the prob lem<br />
remains out <strong>of</strong> reach, and climate impacts<br />
continue to mount.<br />
Our point is cer tainly not that sci ence is the<br />
“cause” <strong>of</strong> such com plex and <strong>of</strong> ten par a dox i -<br />
cal out comes, but that sci ence is only one<br />
among many in ter twined causes. His tor i cally,<br />
this com plex and at ten u ated cou pling be tween<br />
the con duct <strong>of</strong> sci ence and the out comes <strong>of</strong> sci -<br />
ence in so ci ety has been the foun da tion <strong>of</strong> a<br />
cen tral claim <strong>of</strong> sci ence pol icy—that nei ther<br />
the course <strong>of</strong> sci ence, which be gins with the<br />
un fet tered ex plo ra tion <strong>of</strong> fun da men tal phe -<br />
nom ena <strong>of</strong> na ture, nor its use by and out comes<br />
in so ci ety, can be pre dicted in de tail and far in<br />
ad vance (e.g., Bush, 1945; Com mit tee on Sci -<br />
ence, En gi neer ing, and Public <strong>Policy</strong>, 1993;<br />
House Committee on <strong>Science</strong>, 1998).<br />
This claim is ac com pa nied by an other,<br />
more sub tle but om ni pres ent one: that ben e fits<br />
flow more or less au to mat i cally and in ev i ta bly<br />
from re search, and are thus in her ent in the pro -<br />
cess <strong>of</strong> knowl edge pro duc tion it self. Un de sir -<br />
able out comes are the con se quences <strong>of</strong> fac tors<br />
ex trin sic to the sci ence. To gether these two<br />
claims jus tify sci ence pol i cies that fo cus on en -<br />
sur ing the health <strong>of</strong> an au ton o mous sci en tific<br />
en ter prise as mea sured by cri te ria in ter nal to<br />
that en ter prise, such as lev els <strong>of</strong> fund ing, pro -<br />
duc tion <strong>of</strong> pa pers, pat ents, Ph.Ds and No bel<br />
prizes, and the op er a tion <strong>of</strong> qual ity con trol<br />
mech a nisms, such as peer re view, that as sure<br />
the health and ef fec tive ness <strong>of</strong>, in Mi chael<br />
Polanyi’s mem o ra ble term, “The Re pub lic <strong>of</strong><br />
Sci ence” (Polanyi, 1962; see also Wein berg,<br />
1963; Panel on Sci en tific Re spon si bil ity,<br />
1992). The in ter nal health <strong>of</strong> the en ter prise<br />
guar an tees the ex ter nal ben e fits to so ci ety. The<br />
met rics <strong>of</strong> health in clude out puts (e.g., pat ents,<br />
pub li ca tions), but not outcomes (Sarewitz,<br />
1996).<br />
Econ o mists <strong>of</strong> sci ence and tech nol ogy have<br />
made mod est strides in eval u at ing the eco -<br />
nomic rate <strong>of</strong> re turn on pub lic in vest ments in<br />
sci ence, which ap par ently are sig nif i cant (e.g.,<br />
Griliches, 1995) but such work in ev i ta bly re in -<br />
forces the ten dency to ward un der stand ing sci -<br />
ence only in terms <strong>of</strong> its ben e fits. Anal y sis and<br />
tools that seek to un der stand and as sess the<br />
con nec tions be tween sci ence pol icy de ci sions<br />
and non-eco nomic so cial out comes are vir tu -<br />
ally ab sent from both sci ence pol icy schol ar -<br />
ship and prac tice. Sci ence pol icy dogma ren -<br />
ders such ef forts both im pos si ble (due to the<br />
un pre dict abil ity <strong>of</strong> out comes) and<br />
unnecessary (due to the automatic nature <strong>of</strong><br />
benefits).<br />
If, how ever, the out comes <strong>of</strong> sci ence are de -<br />
ter mined or co-de ter mined by fac tors ex trin sic<br />
to sci ence, then no de fen si ble claim can be<br />
made about pu ta tive ben e fits (or, for that mat -<br />
ter, det ri men tal ef fects) based solely on the at -<br />
trib utes <strong>of</strong> the re search and the in ter nal op er a -<br />
tions <strong>of</strong> the sci ence en ter prise. Sci ence is<br />
al ways ap plied within a broader prob lem con -<br />
text. Put some what dif fer ently, when it co mes<br />
to so cial prob lems, sci ence can not solve any -<br />
thing; sci ence works within a broader set <strong>of</strong> so -<br />
cial, cul tural, po lit i cal, and eco nomic con di -<br />
tions in con trib ut ing to so lu tions and<br />
prob lems. While schol ar ship in the area <strong>of</strong> sci -<br />
ence and tech nol ogy stud ies has doc u mented<br />
from many per spec tives this con tex tual<br />
embeddedness <strong>of</strong> sci ence (e.g., Jasan<strong>of</strong>f et al.,<br />
1995), the ques tion <strong>of</strong> what this embeddedness<br />
im plies for the re la tions be tween sci ence pol -<br />
icy de ci sions and spe cific so cial out comes has<br />
been gen er ally neglected (but see, e.g., Lyall et<br />
al., 2004; and Bozeman and Sarewitz, in<br />
press).<br />
Any claim that sci ence will lead to a par tic -<br />
u lar so cial out come—pos i tive or neg a tive—<br />
should be viewed with sus pi cion. But most sci -<br />
ence pol i cies are jus ti fied solely on the claim<br />
<strong>of</strong> ben e fit, are ad vo cated largely in terms <strong>of</strong> the<br />
re source needs <strong>of</strong> the re search en ter prise, and<br />
are ad vanced with lit tle con sid er ation <strong>of</strong> broad<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
92
so cial con text. Given the com plex link ages be -<br />
tween re search in puts and so cial out comes,<br />
such pol i cies should not be ex pected to ful fill<br />
spe cific prom ises, and should be ex pected to<br />
yield unexpected and contradictory outcomes.<br />
To more fully ex plain our ar gu ment, we<br />
now briefly dis cuss com plex out comes as so ci -<br />
ated with the three pri mary in stru men tal ra tio -<br />
nales <strong>of</strong> sci ence pol icy: cre at ing wealth; solv -<br />
ing so ci etal prob lems; and pro vid ing<br />
in for ma tion for de ci sion mak ing. We fo cus, re -<br />
spec tively, on the ex am ples <strong>of</strong> wealth dis tri bu -<br />
tion, health out comes in de vel op ing nations,<br />
and global climate change.<br />
Sci ence and the Cre ation <strong>of</strong> Wealth:<br />
Innovation and Inequality<br />
If there is a core prem ise for na tional in vest -<br />
ments in sci ence, it is the prom ise <strong>of</strong> widely<br />
dis trib uted eco nomic ben e fit. Wrote Vannevar<br />
Bush:<br />
One <strong>of</strong> our hopes is that af ter [World War II]<br />
there will be full em ploy ment. . . . To cre ate<br />
more jobs we must make new and better and<br />
cheaper prod ucts. We want plenty <strong>of</strong> new, vig -<br />
or ous en ter prises. But new prod ucts and pro -<br />
cesses are not born full-grown. They are<br />
founded on new prin ci ples and new con cep tions<br />
which in turn re sult from ba sic sci en tific re -<br />
search. (1945, 6)<br />
Con sider, for in stance, the case <strong>of</strong><br />
nanoscience and nanotechnology, a new re -<br />
search area that has at tracted hun dreds <strong>of</strong> mil -<br />
lions <strong>of</strong> dol lars in pub lic in vest ment. The de -<br />
vel op ment <strong>of</strong> nanotechnology is sup posed to<br />
al low in dus try to cre ate lim it less sup plies <strong>of</strong><br />
prod ucts with re duced costs, end ing the de -<br />
pend ency on tra di tional raw ma te ri als and lim -<br />
it ing en vi ron men tal im pact. More over,<br />
nanotechnology is con sid ered the core <strong>of</strong> the<br />
next in dus trial rev o lu tion in both the post-in -<br />
dus trial and the in dus tri al iz ing worlds (In ter -<br />
agency Working Group, 1999; Mantel, 2003;<br />
Garcia, 2004).<br />
The idea <strong>of</strong> eco nomic growth as a di rect<br />
con se quence <strong>of</strong> in vest ments in ba sic sci ence<br />
(via tech no log i cal in no va tion based on that<br />
sci ence) be came dom i nant af ter WWII. Dur -<br />
ing the 1980s, how ever, the re la tion ship be -<br />
tween sci ence, in no va tion and eco nomic per -<br />
for mance started to be an a lyzed through more<br />
com plex, non lin ear ap proaches in spired by<br />
econ o mist Jo seph Schumpeter´s the ory <strong>of</strong> in -<br />
no va tion (Dosi et al., 1988; Nel son, 1993; and<br />
Free man and Soete, 1997). From this per spec -<br />
tive, the eco nomic per for mance <strong>of</strong> na tions can<br />
be un der stood in terms <strong>of</strong> na tional “in no va tion<br />
sys tems,” and the cre ation and use <strong>of</strong> new<br />
knowl edge can be rec og nized as the fuel for<br />
such sys tems (Mowery and Rosenberg, 1993;<br />
Odigari and Oto, 1993; Nel son, 2000; Kim,<br />
2001; Gabriele, 2003). These con nec tions jus -<br />
tify a gen eral com mit ment to pub licly funded<br />
sci ence, es pe cially sci ence that, how ever “ba -<br />
sic,” has some po ten tial link to in no va tion and<br />
technology development (House Committee<br />
on <strong>Science</strong>, 1998; and Stokes, 1997).<br />
How ever, the ex pe ri ence <strong>of</strong> the past 30 or<br />
more years shows that the phe nom e non <strong>of</strong> sci -<br />
ence- and tech nol ogy-based eco nomic growth<br />
seems to be ac com pa nied by in creas ing in -<br />
equal ity in dis tri bu tion <strong>of</strong> eco nomic ben e fits<br />
(No ble, 1995; Lesinger, 2002; Arocena and<br />
Senker, 2003; and World Bank, 2004). This in -<br />
equal ity ap pears on nu mer ous fronts, in clud -<br />
ing high un em ploy ment and un der em ploy -<br />
ment rates, per sis tent lev els <strong>of</strong> pov erty, and<br />
soar ing con cen tra tion <strong>of</strong> wealth, each <strong>of</strong> which<br />
are ap par ent both within na tions and be tween<br />
na tions on a global ba sis, even as global wealth<br />
con tin ues to grow (Sen, 1997; Castells, 2000;<br />
US Cen sus, 2000; Wade, 2001; inequality.org,<br />
2003; and ILO, 2004).<br />
The cur rent em ploy ment sit u a tion, for ex -<br />
am ple, stands in strik ing con trast with the<br />
prom ises <strong>of</strong> a better qual ity <strong>of</strong> life that in vest -<br />
ment in sci ence and in no va tion would al low.<br />
The ILO es ti mates 185.9 mil lion un em ployed<br />
world wide in 2003, the high est level ever re -<br />
corded (ILO, 2004, 9). Al though the sit u a tion<br />
is es pe cially bad in less de vel oped coun tries,<br />
all highly in dus tri al ized na tions have ex pe ri -<br />
enced high unemployment rates since the<br />
1970s.<br />
The causes <strong>of</strong> un em ploy ment are com plex<br />
and mul ti fac eted, and cer tainly in clude eco -<br />
nomic slow down and pop u la tion in crease. The<br />
con nec tions be tween un em ploy ment and sci -<br />
ence-and-tech nol ogy-based in no va tion is a<br />
par tic u larly con tro ver sial is sue (Kaplinsky,<br />
1987; Mattoso, 2000; and Hatch and Clinton,<br />
2000), but in creases in pro duc tiv ity brought<br />
about by new tech nol o gies and new pro duc -<br />
tion prac tices is a cen tral at trib ute <strong>of</strong> in no va -<br />
tion and wealth cre ation (Fig ure 1). In the U.S.,<br />
an ob vi ous con se quence in some man u fac tur -<br />
ing sec tors, such as tex tiles, ap parel, and heavy<br />
SCI ENCE POL ICY IN ITS SO CIAL CON TEXT<br />
93
ma chin ery, has been ab so lute re duc tion <strong>of</strong> em -<br />
ploy ment (Hatch and Clinton, 2000). Even<br />
new and dy namic in dus tries such as in for ma -<br />
tion and com mu ni ca tion tech nol ogy, which<br />
had been cre at ing new jobs dur ing the 1980s<br />
and 1990s, are ex pected to de mand fewer jobs<br />
in the first de cade <strong>of</strong> the 2000s, ac cord ing to<br />
U.S. Bu reau <strong>of</strong> La bor Sta tis tics em ploy ment<br />
pro jec tions (BLS, 2004). Sig nif i cant shifts in<br />
the char ac ter <strong>of</strong> em ploy ment is part <strong>of</strong> the<br />
same pro cess, with lower-skilled jobs in the<br />
high-pay ing man u fac tur ing sec tor giv ing way<br />
to lower-pay ing ser vice sec tor jobs (USDOL,<br />
2003; Amer i can Pros pect 2003; and Bellamy<br />
Fos ter et al., 2004). In de vel op ing coun tries<br />
such as those <strong>of</strong> Latin Amer ica, in dus try ef -<br />
forts to adapt to new pro duc tion and com pet i -<br />
tive ness con di tions dur ing the last twenty<br />
years have also had adverse consequences on<br />
employment (Katz, 2001; Delgado Wise and<br />
Invernizzi, 2002; and Invernizzi, 2004).<br />
The global pro lif er a tion <strong>of</strong> sci en tific and<br />
tech no log i cal ca pac ity has not been suf fi cient<br />
to quell the growth <strong>of</strong> eco nomic in equal ity. In -<br />
deed, at the global scale, ris ing con cen tra tion<br />
<strong>of</strong> na tional wealth has been a cen tral el e ment<br />
<strong>of</strong> eco nomic de vel op ment for 300 years, cor re -<br />
lat ing strongly with con cen tra tion <strong>of</strong> tech ni cal<br />
ca pac ity. Be tween 1960 and the end <strong>of</strong> the<br />
1990s, the in come gap be tween the top and<br />
bot tom twenty per cent <strong>of</strong> world pop u la tion<br />
more than dou bled, in creas ing from 30:1 to<br />
74:1 (Leisenger, 2002).<br />
Sci ence and tech nol ogy pol icy are ob vi -<br />
ously not them selves di rectly re spon si ble for<br />
ris ing in equal ity or un em ploy ment—but nei -<br />
ther are they di rectly re spon si ble for eco nomic<br />
growth. Need less to say, pub lic in vest ments in<br />
sci ence and tech nol ogy are jus ti fied on the ba -<br />
sis <strong>of</strong> prom ised growth, not on the ba sis <strong>of</strong> an -<br />
tic i pated fu ture in creases in un em ploy ment<br />
and wealth dis par ity—al though em ploy ers<br />
have <strong>of</strong> ten adopted new tech nol o gies with the<br />
ex plicit in tent <strong>of</strong> re duc ing the num ber <strong>of</strong> their<br />
em ploy ees (e.g., No ble, 1986). Our point is<br />
that while such out comes have been ac com pa -<br />
ny ing the ad vance <strong>of</strong> knowl edge and in no va -<br />
tion, sci ence pol icy de ci sion pro cesses have<br />
con sis tently failed to con sider their im pli ca -<br />
tions. In no va tion pol icy con tin ues to fo cus on<br />
in no va tion per se, con sid er ing it as an in her -<br />
ently and ex clu sively pos i tive con trib u tor to<br />
eco nomic and so cial de vel op ment, and failing<br />
to consider the implications <strong>of</strong> persistent,<br />
adverse social outcomes for policy design.<br />
<strong>Science</strong> and Problem-Solving:<br />
Med i cal Re search and Global Health<br />
The moral cri sis cre ated by in eq ui ta ble ac -<br />
cess to AIDS drugs is per haps the ar che typal<br />
ex am ple <strong>of</strong> how the prom ise <strong>of</strong> sci ence in ter -<br />
acts with the real world to cre ate com plex out -<br />
comes. More than 90 per cent <strong>of</strong> AIDS suf fer ers<br />
world wide can not af ford the life-sav ing treat -<br />
ments avail able to pa tients in af flu ent countries<br />
(UNAIDS/WHO, 2002).<br />
The prob lem partly re flects how R&D ac tiv -<br />
i ties are par ti tioned in so ci ety, with fun da men -<br />
tal re search typ i cally sup ported by pub lic<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
94
funds and ap plied re search and de vel op ment<br />
in creas ingly the re spon si bil ity <strong>of</strong> the pri vate<br />
sec tor (Kettler & Towse, 2001). Be cause cor -<br />
po ra tions must re cover their R&D in vest ments<br />
and re ward their stock hold ers, they fo cus on<br />
prob lems with high po ten tial re turns, charge<br />
what the mar ket will bear for prod ucts, and <strong>of</strong> -<br />
ten pro tect them with pat ents. They also de -<br />
velop prod ucts ap pro pri ate to the healthcare<br />
in fra struc ture <strong>of</strong> high-tech societies (MSF/<br />
DND, 2001).<br />
Ef forts to broaden ac cess to AIDS drugs<br />
have fo cused on <strong>of</strong> fer ing ge neric prod ucts at<br />
re duced prices to poor coun tries, es pe cially in<br />
Af rica (MSF, 2003; and Vedantam, 2004). In<br />
other cases, no ta bly Brazil, in-coun try ge neric<br />
drug pro duc tion in vi o la tion <strong>of</strong> in tel lec tual<br />
prop erty re gimes has been cho sen to in crease<br />
dis tri bu tional eq uity. Un der po lit i cal pres sure,<br />
large phar ma ceu ti cal cor po ra tions have agreed<br />
to lower prices in Third World Coun tries such<br />
as Brazil (Bermudez et al., 2002).<br />
We note, how ever, that these re ac tions<br />
come fif teen years af ter ma jor pub lic re search<br />
in vest ments were first stim u lated by the rapid<br />
in crease in AIDS in ci dence world wide, and<br />
that they are un likely to save the lives <strong>of</strong> most<br />
AIDS suf fer ers in the world to day. Could dif -<br />
fer ent sci ence pol i cies have led to better<br />
outcomes?<br />
Public-private partnerships (PPPs) in biomed<br />
i cal re search have re cently emerged as a<br />
new mech a nism for fund ing sci ence aimed at<br />
the health prob lems <strong>of</strong> de vel op ing coun tries.<br />
PPPs are non-pr<strong>of</strong>it or ga ni za tions whose par -<br />
tic i pants may in clude phar ma ceu ti cal com pa -<br />
nies, na tional and in ter na tional pub lic in sti tu -<br />
tions, char i ta ble foun da tions, and other<br />
nongovernmental or ga ni za tions in ter ested in<br />
global pub lic health. Do na tions from foun da -<br />
tions, gov ern ments, and in ter na tional or ga ni -<br />
za tions sub si dize the sci en tific ca pa bil i ties <strong>of</strong><br />
cor po ra tions to ad dress prob lems that the pri -<br />
vate sec tor would oth er wise ig nore, such as<br />
drugs and vac cines for trop i cal dis eases. PPPs<br />
also al low greater flex i bil ity in pric ing and dis -<br />
tri bu tion pol i cies for re search prod ucts. Over<br />
ninety-one health PPPs are now in op er a tion,<br />
in clud ing the In ter na tional AIDS Vac cine Ini -<br />
tia tive, Roll Back Malaria, and the Global<br />
Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations<br />
(Foladori, 2003a; and 2003b).<br />
PPPs, in other words, are a sci ence pol icy<br />
in no va tion aimed at push ing R&D in di rec -<br />
tions it would not go us ing more con ven tional<br />
pol icy ap proaches. They re spond to a global<br />
con text in which the prom ise <strong>of</strong> bio med i cal<br />
sci ence can only be re deemed by a small per -<br />
cent age <strong>of</strong> peo ple in the world. Yet PPPs only<br />
in ter nal ize one el e ment <strong>of</strong> that con text—lack<br />
<strong>of</strong> mar ket in cen tives in small un der de vel oped<br />
coun tries. Phar ma ceu ti cal cor po ra tions will<br />
not al low large de vel op ing mar kets such as<br />
China, Brazil or In dia to ben e fit from the part -<br />
ner ships. They still re flect an ap proach to sci -<br />
ence and tech nol ogy that treats re search prod -<br />
ucts as the func tional equiv a lent <strong>of</strong> prob lem<br />
so lu tions. They do not ad dress the un der ly ing<br />
causes <strong>of</strong> dis ease in the de vel op ing world, nor<br />
do they nec es sar ily separate themselves from<br />
the interests <strong>of</strong> the pharmaceutical industry.<br />
Even in the case <strong>of</strong> pre ven tive ef forts, such<br />
as R&D on vac cines, PPPs are in ter ested in<br />
new vac cines (e.g., Hep a ti tis B), while con tin -<br />
u ing to ne glect im mu ni za tion against dis eases<br />
for which vac cines have ex isted for years<br />
(LSHTM, et al., 2002; and Hardon, 2001).<br />
This trend is en cour aged be cause PPPs gen er -<br />
ally hold pat ents on the prod ucts they pro duce<br />
and can thus cre ate self-sus tain ing rev e nue by<br />
in vent ing new prod ucts. Sim i larly, par tic i pat -<br />
ing phar ma ceu ti cal com pa nies may gain tax<br />
ben e fits, op por tu ni ties to cre ate and open new<br />
mar kets, in for ma tion and re sults from other<br />
com pa nies col lab o rat ing in the PPP, and ad di -<br />
tional sup port for R&D from the PPP (Kettler<br />
and White, 2003). In to tal, the PPPs and the<br />
col lab o rat ing cor po ra tions ben e fit more from<br />
in vent ing new vac cines than from dis sem i nat -<br />
ing old ones. More over, the use <strong>of</strong> pat ents as an<br />
in cen tive for cor po ra tions to par tic i pate in<br />
PPPs privatizes bio med i cal re search re sults<br />
that are paid for with non-pri vate funds, and<br />
thus may re duce pub lic ac cess to knowl edge<br />
that should ar gu ably be a pub lic good. Even in<br />
cases where PPPs are not seek ing pat ents, they<br />
are still abid ing by in ter na tional pat ent agree -<br />
ments that limit the con di tions un der which<br />
ge neric drugs can be sold in de vel op ing coun -<br />
tries, and thus limit access <strong>of</strong> poor people to<br />
existing treatments. Table 1 summarizes<br />
various arguments for and against PPPs.<br />
The his tor i cal re la tion ship be tween dis ease<br />
and de vel op ment shows that the di rec tion <strong>of</strong><br />
cau sa tion typ i cally runs from eco nomic de vel -<br />
op ment and eq uity to im proved health, and not<br />
the other way around. The de cline <strong>of</strong> most ma -<br />
jor in fec tious dis eases in west ern coun tries co -<br />
in cides with im prove ments in in fra struc ture<br />
and stan dard <strong>of</strong> liv ing. Ef fec tive med i cal in ter -<br />
SCI ENCE POL ICY IN ITS SO CIAL CON TEXT<br />
95
Item<br />
R&D Orientation<br />
Re duce Risk &<br />
Increase Resoures<br />
Sustainability<br />
Argument in Favor <strong>of</strong><br />
PPPs<br />
PPPs could deal with ne glected<br />
diseses for less de vel oped coun -<br />
tries. For the pub lic sec tor it will<br />
be more costly and inefficent too<br />
de velop skills on F&D that phar -<br />
ma ceu ti cal cor po ra tions<br />
(pharma) al ready have.<br />
PPPs could lower the risk <strong>of</strong><br />
R&D. The World Health Or ga ni -<br />
za tion (WHO) needs to in crease<br />
its bud get and PPPs raises<br />
funds.<br />
Concerns Authors<br />
Pharma will only particpate on new<br />
Ev ans, T, 2001<br />
drugs or vac cines that would be<br />
pat ented. Old in fec tious dis eases Hardon, 2001<br />
with out pat ents could reemerge. Orbinski, 2001<br />
Ben e fits will only reach less de vel - Han cock, 1998<br />
oped coun tries with no mar ket.<br />
Pharma will not per mit low prices to<br />
reach im por tant mar kets such as<br />
In dia, brazil, or China. Poor peo ple<br />
from de vel oped coun tries will not be<br />
con sid ered. Pub lic R&"D had<br />
hsitorically benn ca pa ble <strong>of</strong> pro duc -<br />
ing vac cines and new drugs (po lio,<br />
can cer, men in gi tis), or rep li cat ing<br />
oth ers (AIDS).<br />
No body is ac count able for PPPs<br />
Pollock et al, 2002<br />
out comes. Share hold ers do not par -<br />
tic i pate in de ci sions. Some stud ies Kettler & Towse, 2001<br />
show an in crease in costs <strong>of</strong> PPPs.<br />
Lob-Levyt, 2001<br />
There are other ways than phi lan -<br />
thropy to deal with R&D, such as<br />
Orbinski, 2001<br />
tax a tion, pub lic pro duc tion and dis - Walt, 2000<br />
tri bu tion. R&D on drugs and vac -<br />
Han cock, 1998<br />
cines need a long term bud get. It is<br />
Muraskin, 2002<br />
doubt ful if PPPs could be sus tained<br />
by do na tions; still push & pull mech -<br />
a nisms will be needed. The WHO<br />
splits world health pol i cies into sev -<br />
eral PPPs, which raises doubts<br />
about ef fi ciency.<br />
Mutual Confidence Be -<br />
tween U.N. and Cor po -<br />
rations<br />
PPPs rep re sent the way to ad -<br />
dress health prob lems<br />
His tory shows cor po ra tions have<br />
used the U.N. for pri vate in ter ests.<br />
The U.N can not mon i tor cor po rate<br />
re spon si bil ity. There is a hid den<br />
agenda for cor po ra tions: po lit i cal in -<br />
flu ence, set the global pub lic<br />
agenda, en hance le git i macy, pro -<br />
mote im age, mar ket pen e tra tion.<br />
Boseley, 2003<br />
Ollila, 2003<br />
Rich ter, 2003<br />
Dukes, 2002<br />
Yamey, 2002<br />
Buse & Waxman, 2001<br />
Han cock, 1998<br />
Is There an Al ter na tive<br />
to PPPs?<br />
PPPs rep re sent the way to ad -<br />
dress health prob lems<br />
PPPs will only deal with dis eases <strong>of</strong><br />
pharma in ter ests. 1/4 <strong>of</strong> PPPs are<br />
for AIDS and for less de vel oped<br />
coun tries. There are al ter na tives:<br />
pub lic R&D and de liv ery <strong>of</strong> med i -<br />
cine and vac cines.<br />
Ollila, 2003<br />
Rich ter, 2003<br />
Muraskin, 2002<br />
Vakhovskiy, 2001<br />
Han cock, 1998<br />
Ta ble 1<br />
ven tions have usu ally ar rived af ter dis ease in -<br />
ci dences were al ready on the de cline (Dub lin,<br />
1948; McKeown, 1988; and Delarue, 1980).<br />
Con versely, ma jor im prove ments in life ex pec -<br />
tancy in many <strong>of</strong> the poor est coun tries in the<br />
world have not translated into commensurate<br />
increases in standard <strong>of</strong> living.<br />
These com plex re la tions sug gest that PPPs<br />
will nei ther be able to re verse the grow ing pub -<br />
lic health cri sis in many de vel op ing coun tries,<br />
nor cat a lyze eco nomic growth: ex treme in eq -<br />
ui ties in wealth dis tri bu tion in many de vel op -<br />
ing coun tries are likely to keep peo ple mired in<br />
both pov erty and dis ease. This re la tion ship is<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
96
viv idly il lus trated by the work <strong>of</strong> an thro pol o -<br />
gist Pe ter Brown (1987), who tested the hy -<br />
poth e sis that ma laria was block ing eco nomic<br />
de vel op ment on the is land <strong>of</strong> Sar dinia in the<br />
pe riod af ter World War II. He con cluded that<br />
the “macroparasitism” <strong>of</strong> land own ers drained<br />
thirty per cent <strong>of</strong> the pro duc tion ca pac ity from<br />
peas ants in the form <strong>of</strong> rents, while the<br />
“microparasitism” <strong>of</strong> ma laria ac counted for<br />
less than ten per cent re duc tion in their gross<br />
pro duc tion. The ef fects <strong>of</strong> so cial re la tions<br />
were at least three times greater than the effects<br />
<strong>of</strong> the disease.<br />
Fi nally, PPPs re flect a char ity-based model<br />
<strong>of</strong> de vel op ment aid that does not fos ter in -<br />
creased tech no log i cal ca pac ity among de vel -<br />
op ing coun tries. PPPs may suc cess fully de -<br />
velop drugs and vac cines that can save lives.<br />
But they are un likely to ma te ri ally im prove the<br />
lot <strong>of</strong> the poor est na tions. Un der typ i cal con di -<br />
tions suf fered by com mu ni ties in pov erty, even<br />
if a dis ease is elim i nated, a new one is likely to<br />
take its place (Ev ans et al., 1991). Sci ence pol i -<br />
cies de signed with out aware ness <strong>of</strong> this<br />
context are unlikely to fulfill their promise.<br />
Sci ence and De ci sion Mak ing: The Im -<br />
pacts <strong>of</strong> Cli mate Change<br />
Global cli mate change has emerged over<br />
the past sev eral de cades as a gal va niz ing en vi -<br />
ron men tal is sue that pres ents enor mous chal -<br />
lenges for de ci sion mak ers across a va ri ety <strong>of</strong><br />
so ci etal ac tiv i ties rang ing from ag ri cul ture and<br />
en ergy to pub lic health and safety. Given the<br />
com plex i ties and un cer tain ties in volved, de ci -<br />
sion mak ers have turned to sci ence to pro vide<br />
in for ma tion that can guide ef fec tive ac tion, and<br />
most re search has fo cused on un der stand ing<br />
the dy nam ics <strong>of</strong> cli mate be hav ior and char ac -<br />
ter iz ing the causes and fu ture <strong>of</strong> cli mate<br />
change. Pol icy de bate, in turn, has fo cused on<br />
the prob lem <strong>of</strong> mit i gat ing po ten tial hu man dis -<br />
rup tion <strong>of</strong> the climate system, especially<br />
through reduced emissions <strong>of</strong> greenhouse<br />
gases.<br />
The foun da tional sci ence pol icy claim here<br />
is that re search on cli mate will en able better<br />
de ci sions through en hanced un der stand ing <strong>of</strong><br />
cli mate func tion and re duced un cer tainty<br />
about fu ture cli mate be hav ior (e.g., Cli mate<br />
Change Sci ence Pro gram, 2003). The idea, <strong>of</strong><br />
course, is that sci en tific un der stand ing <strong>of</strong> cli -<br />
mate change is the ap pro pri ate ba sis for ef fec -<br />
tive ac tion, be cause ac tion must be rooted, first<br />
and fore most, in a fac tual un der stand ing <strong>of</strong> the<br />
world. This idea is fur ther rooted in the be lief<br />
that such ap pro pri ate ac tion can lead to the<br />
con trol <strong>of</strong> fu ture cli mate be hav ior, and through<br />
such con trol, the re duc tion <strong>of</strong> ad verse cli mate<br />
im pacts on so ci ety. This line <strong>of</strong> ar gu ment has<br />
thus far jus ti fied on the or der <strong>of</strong> twenty bil lion<br />
dol lars <strong>of</strong> re search in the U.S. alone. How ever,<br />
it is fair to say that, be yond the in tense dip lo -<br />
matic and po lit i cal ac tiv ity sur round ing the ne -<br />
go ti a tion <strong>of</strong> the Kyoto Pro to col and re lated<br />
trea ties, lit tle prog ress has been made to ward<br />
re duc ing green house gas emis sions. More im -<br />
por tantly, this path has led to virtually no<br />
progress on reducing the negative impacts <strong>of</strong><br />
climate on society.<br />
For ex am ple, the pros pect <strong>of</strong> cli mate change<br />
stim u lates the con cern that chang ing weather<br />
and cli mate pat terns will re sult in greater dis -<br />
rup tion to so ci ety, es pe cially in the de vel op ing<br />
world (e.g., Mc Car thy et al., 2001). In this con -<br />
text, con sider the cat a strophic con se quences <strong>of</strong><br />
Hur ri cane Mitch in 1999, which in cluded more<br />
than 10,000 deaths in Nic a ra gua and Hon du -<br />
ras, as well as the vir tual de struc tion <strong>of</strong> those<br />
na tions’ econ o mies and a sub se quent chol era<br />
out break (Alvarez et al., 2001). As a weather<br />
phe nom e non, hur ri cane Mitch was not un prec -<br />
e dented. Its dire con se quences grew out <strong>of</strong> the<br />
vul ner a bil ity <strong>of</strong> the im pov er ished so ci et ies that<br />
lay in its path, with their dense pop u la tions,<br />
poor in fra struc ture, un reg u lated de vel op ment,<br />
ram pant en vi ron men tal deg ra da tion, and in ef -<br />
SCI ENCE POL ICY IN ITS SO CIAL CON TEXT<br />
97
fec tive re sponse ca pa bil i ties. No amount <strong>of</strong><br />
un der stand ing <strong>of</strong> the fu ture <strong>of</strong> cli mate be hav -<br />
ior can change those causal fac tors. In deed, the<br />
cur rent state-<strong>of</strong>-the-sci ence sug gests that, in<br />
the com ing de cades, de mo graphic and so cio -<br />
eco nomic changes are likely to be twenty to<br />
sixty times more im por tant in con trib ut ing to<br />
economic losses from hurricanes and<br />
typhoons than climate change (Figure 2; and<br />
Pielke et al., 2000).<br />
Sim i lar ar gu ments ap ply to other an tic i -<br />
pated ar eas <strong>of</strong> cli mate change im pact. For ex -<br />
am ple, cli mate change may in flu ence pat terns<br />
<strong>of</strong> pre cip i ta tion and evap o ra tion, but pop u la -<br />
tion growth and other sources <strong>of</strong> grow ing wa -<br />
ter con sump tion ap pear to be much more sig -<br />
nif i cant driv ers <strong>of</strong> wa ter re source de ple tion<br />
than global warm ing (e.g., Vorosmarty et al.,<br />
2000). In the arena <strong>of</strong> pub lic health, cli mate<br />
change is sug gested as a pos si ble cause for the<br />
spread <strong>of</strong> nor mally trop i cal dis eases into tem -<br />
per ate cli mates. Yet given the well-doc u -<br />
mented so cio eco nomic or i gins <strong>of</strong> most se vere<br />
in fec tious dis eases, not to men tion the fact that<br />
such dis eases al ready af fect mil lions through -<br />
out the world, it seems im plau si ble that re duc -<br />
ing cli mate change could be an ef fi cient path to<br />
con trol ling in fec tious dis ease. Over all, re duc -<br />
ing the hu man in flu ence on cli mate be hav ior is<br />
an ex tremely in di rect way to con front the<br />
many prob lems that are <strong>of</strong> ten at trib uted to cli -<br />
mate change. More over, given the com plex i -<br />
ties <strong>of</strong> both cli mate and so ci ety, it will never be<br />
pos si ble to de ter mine how changes in, say,<br />
greenhouse gas emissions translate, via<br />
changing climate behavior, into beneficial<br />
social impacts.<br />
This is not to ar gue against emis sions re duc -<br />
tions. Cer tainly it would be wise to min i mize<br />
the po ten tial for hu man-in duced changes in<br />
cli mate be hav ior. But the logic that un der lies<br />
cli mate sci ence pol icy as serts a causal chain<br />
that is im plau si ble: from sci en tific un der stand -<br />
ing on cli mate, to ap pro pri ate ac tion (that over -<br />
comes en trenched vested in ter ests) on emis -<br />
sions re duc tion, to ben e fi cial con se quences in<br />
terms <strong>of</strong> con trol ling cli mate im pacts. Mean -<br />
while, since the 1970s, U.S. pub lic and pri vate<br />
in vest ment in en ergy R&D has de clined by al -<br />
most two-thirds, in real dol lars (En ergy Re -<br />
search Agency, 2001). This is an in cred i ble<br />
coun ter point to the bil lions spent on cli mate<br />
change re search, and is prima fa cia ev i dence<br />
for the fail ure, even on its own terms, <strong>of</strong> cli -<br />
mate sci ence pol icy. This fail ure strongly re -<br />
flects the power, and dan ger, <strong>of</strong> a sci ence pol -<br />
icy dogma that as serts that more sci en tific un -<br />
der stand ing must lead to more so ci etal ben e fit,<br />
and thus al lows prob lems rooted in<br />
socioeconomics and politics to be redefined as<br />
agendas for scientific research.<br />
<strong>Toward</strong> a Contextual Foundation<br />
for Sci ence Pol icy<br />
Any claim that a par tic u lar sci en tific re -<br />
search or tech nol ogy de vel op ment pro gram<br />
will lead to a par tic u lar so cial out come re duces<br />
a com plex so cial prob lem to a sci ence pol icy<br />
prob lem. Sci ence and tech nol ogy can not cor -<br />
rectly be thought <strong>of</strong> as the start ing point <strong>of</strong> a<br />
causal chain lead ing to a par tic u lar spec i fied<br />
so cial out come; rather, they must be un der -<br />
stood as el e ments <strong>of</strong> a com plex context from<br />
which outcomes emerge.<br />
If this is cor rect, then con ven tional ra tio -<br />
nales for sci ence pol icy as a pro cess <strong>of</strong> al lo cat -<br />
ing re sources for the cre ation <strong>of</strong> knowl edge<br />
and in no va tion make no sense. Ei ther the claim<br />
that par tic u lar sci ence in vest ments will lead to<br />
par tic u lar so cial ben e fits must be aban doned<br />
as in co her ent, or sci ence pol icy de ci sion mak -<br />
ing in gen eral must be in formed by a much<br />
deeper un der stand ing <strong>of</strong> the con texts within<br />
which so cial prob lems de velop and can be<br />
con fronted. The first al ter na tive is not po lit i -<br />
cally vi a ble be cause to give up on the claim <strong>of</strong><br />
par tic u lar ben e fits would as sur edly un der mine<br />
the claim to the pub lic re sources upon which<br />
sci ence de pends. The sec ond al ter na tive seems<br />
to de mand an an a lyt i cal breadth that real world<br />
pol icy mak ing is un likely to be able to achieve<br />
and from which it is unlikely to be able to<br />
benefit.<br />
A third pos si bil ity would be to ex tend the<br />
no tion <strong>of</strong> sci ence pol icy it self to give equal<br />
weight to the pro cesses <strong>of</strong> knowl edge cre ation<br />
and use. The the o ret i cal ba sis for this<br />
reconceptualization is by now well-es tab -<br />
lished, and rests on two ideas: first, that on go -<br />
ing com mu ni ca tion be tween the pro duc ers and<br />
us ers <strong>of</strong> knowl edge and tech nol ogy can help<br />
cre ate more con cor dance be tween what re -<br />
search pro duces and what us ers need; and sec -<br />
ond, that the out comes <strong>of</strong> new knowl edge or<br />
tech nol ogy strongly re flect the ca pac i ties <strong>of</strong><br />
those who are us ing them. Schol ar ship in the<br />
eco nom ics <strong>of</strong> in no va tion and the so cial dy -<br />
nam ics <strong>of</strong> sci ence has greatly ex panded un der -<br />
stand ing <strong>of</strong> sci en tific re search as a so cially em -<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
98
ed ded pro cess, and <strong>of</strong> the prod ucts <strong>of</strong><br />
re search as there fore coproduced by sci ence<br />
and so ci ety (e.g., Jasan<strong>of</strong>f, 1996; and Wynne,<br />
1991). Case-based stud ies <strong>of</strong> tech no log i cal in -<br />
no va tion show per va sive and con tin ual feed -<br />
backs among knowl edge cre ation, tech no log i -<br />
cal evo lu tion, po lit i cal de ci sion-mak ing, and<br />
the mar ket place (e.g., Leslie, 1993;<br />
Rosenberg, 1994; and Nel son, 2000). Broad -<br />
en ing the con stit u en cies who par tic i pate in sci -<br />
ence pol icy de ci sions has been <strong>of</strong> fered by<br />
schol ars as one way <strong>of</strong> better con nect ing de ci -<br />
sions about re search to de sired out comes (e.g.,<br />
Funtowicz and Ravetz, 1992). Ex am ples from<br />
ar eas <strong>of</strong> re search as di verse as biomedicine,<br />
ag ri cul ture, com puter tech nol o gies, and nat u -<br />
ral haz ards shows that for mal and in for mal<br />
par tic i pa tory pro cesses can in crease mu tual<br />
un der stand ing among sci en tists and the po ten -<br />
tial us ers <strong>of</strong> the prod ucts <strong>of</strong> sci ence, in flu enc -<br />
ing research paths and product development in<br />
ways that better meet user needs (e.g., Epstein,<br />
1996; von Hippel, 1988; Cash, 2000; and<br />
Sarewitz et al., 2000).<br />
De mand ing equal sta tus for knowl edge cre -<br />
ation and knowl edge use in sci ence pol icy<br />
turns the stan dard pol icy dogma on its head in<br />
two re lated ways. First, it rec og nizes that the<br />
tra jec to ries <strong>of</strong> knowl edge cre ation are not<br />
given by na ture it self, or re vealed through un -<br />
fet tered sci en tific in quiry, but rather are a con -<br />
se quence <strong>of</strong> many in flu ences, some in ter nal to,<br />
and oth ers ex ter nal to, the for mal sci en tific re -<br />
search en ter prise (e.g., Kitcher, 2001). Sec -<br />
ond, it lo cates the value and util ity <strong>of</strong> sci en tific<br />
re search in those who can make use <strong>of</strong> its re -<br />
sults, rather than in the results themselves.<br />
These two in sights can be operationalized<br />
in sci ence pol icy by means <strong>of</strong> a fairly sim ple<br />
con cep tual in no va tion. The ca pac ity <strong>of</strong> a<br />
group <strong>of</strong> peo ple or an or ga ni za tion to use<br />
knowl edge ef fec tively to achieve de sired out -<br />
comes can be un der stood as a “so cial tech nol -<br />
ogy,” an es sen tial coun ter part to the “hard” or<br />
“phys i cal” tech nol o gies and for mal ized<br />
knowl edge that are viewed as the stan dard out -<br />
puts <strong>of</strong> re search. So cial tech nol o gies can be<br />
seen as em body ing the “know-how” that in -<br />
cor po rates avail able re sources (in clud ing<br />
phys i cal tech nol o gies) to achieve a goal (Nel -<br />
son and Sampat, 2001), as well as the value<br />
sys tems that in form and guide ac tion (Si mon,<br />
1997). The global erad i ca tion <strong>of</strong> small pox re -<br />
quired both ef fec tive, mass pro duc tion <strong>of</strong><br />
freeze-dried vac cines, and sur veil lance and<br />
con tain ment strat e gies that al lowed out breaks<br />
to be iden ti fied, iso lated, and treated. The for -<br />
mer, phys i cal tech nol ogy was nei ther more nor<br />
less cru cial than the lat ter, so cial tech nol ogy<br />
(Hopkins, 1989). In con sid er ing the three ex -<br />
am ples sketched above, each is char ac ter ized<br />
by a fo cus on phys i cal tech nol o gies, and a rel a -<br />
tive ne glect <strong>of</strong> the so cial tech nol o gies and<br />
value sys tems—the ca pa bil i ties <strong>of</strong> us ers—that<br />
de ter mine if and how the phys i cal tech nol o -<br />
gies will be used. In terms <strong>of</strong> sci en tific and<br />
tech no log i cal out puts, each ex am ple may be—<br />
and com monly is—considered to be a<br />
resounding science policy success. In terms <strong>of</strong><br />
social outcomes, however, each bears scars <strong>of</strong><br />
ongoing failure.<br />
El e vat ing so cial tech nol o gies to the same<br />
level <strong>of</strong> sig nif i cance as phys i cal tech nol o gies<br />
does im pose an ad di tional an a lyt i cal bur den<br />
on sci ence pol icy mak ers: they must un der -<br />
stand not only the in sti tu tions and ac tors who<br />
con duct the re search that they fund, but also<br />
the in sti tu tions and ac tors who might (or might<br />
not) use this in for ma tion. Yet, just as sci ence<br />
pol icy de ci sions help to cre ate new re search<br />
in sti tu tions, fields, and com mu ni ties through<br />
fund ing mech a nisms, so might they more rou -<br />
tinely seek to cre ate the so cial tech nol o gies<br />
that can help turn knowl edge and tech nol ogy<br />
into out comes. This was pre cisely the in tent <strong>of</strong><br />
the Smith-Le ver Act <strong>of</strong> 1914, which cre ated<br />
the co op er a tive ex ten sion ser vice—a so cial<br />
tech nol ogy—to en hance com mu ni ca tion be -<br />
tween farm ers and re search ers. Sev enty-five<br />
years later, man u fac tur ing ex ten sion ser vices<br />
were cre ated by the U.S. gov ern ment to help<br />
en sure that small busi nesses are better linked<br />
to tech no log i cal in no va tors (PL 100–418,<br />
1988). But in gen eral sci ence pol icy de ci sion<br />
mak ing has not been in the busi ness <strong>of</strong> en cour -<br />
ag ing the so cial technologies that help steer<br />
the creation and use <strong>of</strong> knowledge and<br />
physical technology toward desired outcomes.<br />
New eval u a tion pro ce dures must also be de -<br />
vised to test the ca pac ity <strong>of</strong> re search pro grams<br />
to achieve stip u lated out comes. Amaz ingly, no<br />
such pro ce dures are well de vel oped. This ne -<br />
glect is in part an ac knowl edg ment <strong>of</strong> the dif fi -<br />
culty <strong>of</strong> the task, yet so lit tle ef fort has been ap -<br />
plied to this end that it would be pre ma ture to<br />
sug gest use ful tools can not be pro duced. One<br />
pre lim i nary ef fort by Catherine Lyall et al.<br />
(2004) pres ents a model <strong>of</strong> the in ter ac tions be -<br />
tween re search pro duc ers and us ers that asks<br />
sys tem atic, ret ro spec tive ques tions about<br />
SCI ENCE POL ICY IN ITS SO CIAL CON TEXT<br />
99
com mu ni ca tion, end-user needs, up take <strong>of</strong> re -<br />
sults, and gen eral rel e vance <strong>of</strong> re sults, to as sess<br />
ac tual so cial im pacts <strong>of</strong> re search ac tiv i ties.<br />
An other early ef fort, termed Pub lic Value<br />
Map ping (PVM; Bozeman, 2003), would use a<br />
case-based ap proach to as sess, pro spec tively,<br />
the assumptions imbedded in claims about the<br />
outcomes <strong>of</strong> research. PVM asks:<br />
Given a set <strong>of</strong> so cial goals and mis sions, ones in<br />
which sci ence is in tended to play a ma jor role in<br />
bring ing about de sired so cial out comes, are the<br />
strat e gies for link ing and mo bi liz ing in sti tu -<br />
tions, net work ac tors and in di vid u als vi a ble<br />
ones? Is the un der ly ing causal logic <strong>of</strong> pro gram<br />
or mis sion sound? Are the hu man, or ga ni za -<br />
tional, and fi nan cial re sources in place to move<br />
from sci ence and re search to ap pli ca tion to<br />
desired social outcome? (Bozeman, 2003)<br />
If such ques tions can not be an swered, how can<br />
any rea son able claim be made that a re search<br />
in vest ment or pro gram will lead to a par tic u lar<br />
benefit?<br />
The over all point is that it is not ter ri bly dif -<br />
fi cult to con cep tu al ize meth ods for better un -<br />
der stand ing how knowl edge pro duc tion and<br />
phys i cal tech nol o gies re late to knowl edge us -<br />
ers and so cial tech nol o gies, and that such re la -<br />
tions may <strong>of</strong> ten be a strong proxy for so cial<br />
out comes. But such work is in its infancy.<br />
Any ef fort to un der stand the sources <strong>of</strong> fail -<br />
ure in the three sci ence pol icy cases out lined<br />
above would quickly fo cus on the role <strong>of</strong> so -<br />
cially and eco nom i cally dis en fran chised pop -<br />
u la tions. Such pop u la tions are ill-po si tioned to<br />
take ad van tage <strong>of</strong> em ploy ment op por tu ni ties<br />
in the high-tech nol ogy, ultracompetitive mar -<br />
ket place, nor are they able to af ford the prod -<br />
ucts <strong>of</strong> that mar ket place in ad dress ing their<br />
health prob lems, nor is the knowl edge de vel -<br />
oped about cli mate be hav ior able to mit i gate<br />
their vul ner a bil ity to cli mate and weather phe -<br />
nom ena. The req ui site so cial tech nol o gies are<br />
ab sent. We are back to our orig i nal ques tion: If<br />
sci ence is pro moted for its abil ity to cre ate pos -<br />
i tive out comes, yet such out comes are de ter -<br />
mined by fac tors extrinsic to science, on what<br />
basis can the promise <strong>of</strong> benefits be made?<br />
The ques tion now yields a fourth way we<br />
might reconceptualize sci ence pol icy: as one<br />
com po nent in a port fo lio <strong>of</strong> pol icy ap proaches<br />
for con front ing a so cial prob lem. By start ing<br />
with a care ful de lin ea tion <strong>of</strong> the prob lem to be<br />
solved or the out come to be pur sued, a num ber<br />
<strong>of</strong> dif fer ent, al though per haps closely re lated,<br />
pol icy paths might be iden ti fied, one or more<br />
<strong>of</strong> which would be sci en tific re search. By<br />
view ing sci ence along with other ap proaches,<br />
the con tex tual embeddedness <strong>of</strong> sci ence pol -<br />
icy de ci sions would be come more ap par ent.<br />
Re vis it ing the ex am ple <strong>of</strong> the ma laria-blocksde<br />
vel op ment hy poth e sis, pro moted now a days<br />
by the Com mis sion on Mac ro eco nom ics <strong>of</strong> the<br />
World Health Or ga ni za tion, if the de sired out -<br />
come is eco nomic growth, then one pol icy path<br />
would be elim i na tion <strong>of</strong> ma laria, but an other<br />
surely would be re form <strong>of</strong> land ten ure pat terns,<br />
mar kets asym me tries, etc. In com par ing these<br />
two ap proaches, it might be de cided that elim i -<br />
nat ing ma laria is more prac ti ca ble, but it would<br />
also be clear that this would not likely yield the<br />
eco nomic re sult that is prom ised by an<br />
approach to science policy that views the<br />
malaria vaccine itself as an economic<br />
instrument.<br />
When par tic u lar so cial out comes are<br />
sought, sci ence pol icy de ci sions might ap pro -<br />
pri ately be con sid ered along side other types <strong>of</strong><br />
pol icy de ci sions. Trade <strong>of</strong>fs might well be ap -<br />
pro pri ate. The in sti tu tional ob sta cles to such a<br />
pro cess are sig nif i cant, be cause sci ence pol icy<br />
de ci sion mak ing is, by de sign, <strong>of</strong> ten iso lated<br />
within par tic u lar agen cies and or ga ni za tions<br />
<strong>of</strong> gov ern ment. Yet it is not very hard to vi su al -<br />
ize de ci sion tools that could at the very least<br />
cre ate the pos si bil ity <strong>of</strong> a discourse that<br />
contextualizes science policy.<br />
For ex am ple, Garfinkel and oth ers (in re -<br />
view) have de vel oped a pro to type “so ci etal<br />
out comes map for health re search and pol icy”<br />
to il lus trate the var i ous el e ments that con trib -<br />
ute to a par tic u lar de sired health out come.<br />
Such a map al lows stake holders to vi su al ize al -<br />
ter na tive path ways, trade-<strong>of</strong>fs, and op tions<br />
that might be cho sen in pur suit <strong>of</strong> an out come.<br />
In the pro to type map, which con sid ers the is -<br />
sue <strong>of</strong> perinatal health and the de sired out come<br />
<strong>of</strong> healthy ba bies, pol icy paths in clude pro -<br />
grams to im prove nu tri tion for preg nant<br />
women, screen the new born for dis eases, and<br />
con duct re search on the causes <strong>of</strong> birth de fects<br />
(Fig ure 3). All <strong>of</strong> these, <strong>of</strong> course, may be<br />
worth pur su ing, but un der stand ing and com -<br />
par ing what is known about the costs, ben e fits,<br />
track re cord, and po ten tials <strong>of</strong> each can al low<br />
choices to be con sid ered that are not available<br />
in the decontextualized science policy<br />
environment today.<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
100
fig ure 3?<br />
The ide ol ogy <strong>of</strong> sci ence pol icy de rives di -<br />
rectly from an ide ol ogy <strong>of</strong> sci ence it self where<br />
sci en tists are viewed as com pris ing an au ton o -<br />
mous re pub lic whose con duct and gov er nance<br />
is largely an in ter nal mat ter, ap pro pri ately car -<br />
ried out in iso la tion from other so ci etal ac tiv i -<br />
ties. When this ideo log i cal foun da tion is com -<br />
bined with the be lief that ben e fits ac crue<br />
in ev i ta bly and au to mat i cally from the cre ation<br />
<strong>of</strong> knowl edge and in no va tion, a strong case<br />
can be made that sci ence pol icy de ci sions need<br />
not be par tic u larly sen si tive to or aware <strong>of</strong> the<br />
so cial con text within which knowl edge and in -<br />
no va tion are used. But spe cific ex am ples <strong>of</strong> the<br />
fail ure <strong>of</strong> sci ence pol icy de ci sions to achieve<br />
prom ised so cial out comes, as well as a rich<br />
body <strong>of</strong> the o ret i cal and em pir i cal work show -<br />
ing the com plex feed backs among the pro duc -<br />
tion <strong>of</strong> knowl edge and in no va tion, their use,<br />
and so cial out comes, strongly ar gue for a more<br />
con tex tu ally aware sci ence pol icy pro cess than<br />
cur rently op er ates in most set tings. Some tools<br />
and meth ods that can en able this<br />
contextualization are be gin ning to be tested.<br />
And much can be learned from a variety <strong>of</strong> at<br />
least partial successes in such outcomefocused<br />
areas <strong>of</strong> science as agriculture and<br />
public health.<br />
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SCI ENCE POL ICY IN ITS SO CIAL CON TEXT<br />
105
REL E VANT BUT NOT PRE SCRIP TIVE?<br />
SCI ENCE POL ICY MOD ELS WITHIN THE IPCC<br />
Alison Shaw and John Rob in son<br />
Founded by the World Me te o ro log i cal Or -<br />
ga ni za tion (WMO) and the United Na tions En -<br />
vi ron ment Programme (UNEP) in 1988, the<br />
In ter gov ern men tal Panel on Cli mate Change<br />
(IPCC) is en gaged in a unique sci en tific as -<br />
sess ment pro cess. Not only is the IPCC ex plic -<br />
itly tied to the United Na tions Frame work<br />
Con ven tion on Cli mate Change (UNFCCC) as<br />
its pol icy au di ence, but it also in cor po rates po -<br />
lit i cal del e ga tions from the UNFCCC into its<br />
in ter nal as sess ment struc ture. Over the course<br />
<strong>of</strong> pro duc ing three multi-year as sess ment re -<br />
ports be tween 1988 and 2002, the IPCC has<br />
de vel oped sev eral in no va tive ap proaches to<br />
the sci ence-pol icy in ter face, in clud ing the pro -<br />
duc tion <strong>of</strong> a sum mary for policymakers (SPM)<br />
and the use <strong>of</strong> pol icy rel e vant sci en tific ques -<br />
tions (PRSQ) to struc ture the fi nal Syn the sis<br />
Re port in the 2001 as sess ment. These are in -<br />
tended to fa cil i tate in ter ac tion be tween sci -<br />
ence and pol icy com mu ni ties and thus con trib -<br />
ute to sit u at ing the IPCC sci en tific as sess ment<br />
pro cess within an in ter gov ern men tal frame -<br />
work.<br />
How ever, over the past de cade, the sci encepol<br />
icy nexus in ter nal to the IPCC has sparked<br />
sig nif i cant con tro versy and crit i cism with re -<br />
gard to the cred i bil ity <strong>of</strong> IPCC in ter pre ta tions<br />
and prod ucts. The pur pose <strong>of</strong> this pa per is to<br />
ex am ine these two in no va tions with re spect to<br />
the way the in ter ac tion be tween sci ence and<br />
pol icy is man aged, in the ex pec ta tion that such<br />
an anal y sis might shed light on what may be<br />
fruit ful ways to think about the role and sta tus<br />
<strong>of</strong> sci en tific in for ma tion used for pol icy pur -<br />
poses and how the sci en tific and po lit i cal com -<br />
mu ni ties can op er ate to gether to pro duce in -<br />
for ma tion that re mains cred i ble to both<br />
com mu ni ties.<br />
The IPCC as a Sci ence Pol icy Fo rum<br />
The cre ation <strong>of</strong> the In ter gov ern men tal<br />
Panel on Cli mate Change in 1988 con sti tuted a<br />
wa ter shed in the scale and scope <strong>of</strong> in ter na -<br />
tional sci ence as sess ment. Since then, the<br />
IPCC has is sued three As sess ment Re ports<br />
(1991, 1996, and 2001) each con sist ing <strong>of</strong><br />
three vol umes, amount ing to thou sands <strong>of</strong><br />
pages, and in volv ing the par tic i pa tion <strong>of</strong> thou -<br />
sands <strong>of</strong> ex perts around the world as au thors<br />
and re view ers in the as sess ment pro cess. The<br />
three vol umes <strong>of</strong> the 2001 Third As sess ment<br />
Re port, and the Syn the sis Re port, have been<br />
pub lished by Cam bridge Uni ver sity Press, un -<br />
der the ti tle Cli mate Change 2001. (The full<br />
text <strong>of</strong> each re port and the var i ous spe cial re -<br />
ports can be found on the IPCC website at<br />
www.ipcc.ch.) The man date <strong>of</strong> the IPCC has<br />
been to pro duce “pol icy rel e vant” but not “pol -<br />
icy pre scrip tive” as sess ments <strong>of</strong> the sci ence <strong>of</strong><br />
cli mate change, in clud ing phys i cal, tech ni cal,<br />
and so cial sci en tific knowl edge.<br />
The ex is tence and de vel op ment <strong>of</strong> the IPCC<br />
in its three it er a tions since 1988 pro vides a<br />
pow er ful case study <strong>of</strong> the way sci ence has<br />
been used in sup port <strong>of</strong> the pol icy pro cess.<br />
While much work has been con ducted on sub -<br />
stan tive cli mate re search and its use (Schnei -<br />
der, 1989; Shackley and Wynne, 1995, and<br />
1996; Shackley et al., 1998; van der Sluijs et<br />
al., 1998; Sarewitz and Pielke Jr., 2000) lit tle<br />
anal y sis has been done on what con sti tutes<br />
“pol icy rel e vant sci en tific in for ma tion,” the<br />
pro cesses that cre ate it, and the im pli ca tions <strong>of</strong><br />
this over arch ing type <strong>of</strong> man date for un der -<br />
stand ing sci ence in the in ter na tional pol icy<br />
sphere.<br />
The role that sci ence has played in so ci ety<br />
has been in flu en tial and dom i nant in so cial and<br />
in sti tu tional de ci sion-mak ing struc tures<br />
(Gieryn, 1999; Jasan<strong>of</strong>f, 1990, and 1991;<br />
Jasan<strong>of</strong>f and Wynne, 1998), due to the prev a -<br />
lence <strong>of</strong> what might be called a “truth speaks to<br />
power” view <strong>of</strong> the sci ence-pol icy re la tion -<br />
ship. Pub lic is sues re garded as con tro ver sial or<br />
prob lem atic in pol i tics are <strong>of</strong> ten put into what<br />
is per ceived as the ob jec tive and ra tio nal hands<br />
<strong>of</strong> sci en tists and sci en tific in quiry. In deed the<br />
phrase “truth speaks to power” was coined (by<br />
Price, 1965) to in di cate uni di rec tional flow <strong>of</strong><br />
in for ma tion from the au ton o mous sci en tific<br />
com mu nity or “truth” through to the po lit i cal<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY SUPPLEMENT 2004<br />
106
or “power” com mu ni ties. How ever, in sci en -<br />
tific dis putes “a fun da men tal di chot omy [ex -<br />
ists] be tween the po ten tial dis pute res o lu tion<br />
ob jec tives <strong>of</strong> ‘truth’ and ‘jus tice’” (Salter,<br />
1988). Due to the bur den <strong>of</strong> pro<strong>of</strong>, the sci en -<br />
tific canon <strong>of</strong> hy poth e sis test ing rests on the<br />
doc trine <strong>of</strong> “the ory un til proven fact” as a fun -<br />
da men tal com po nent <strong>of</strong> the truth-seek ing pro -<br />
cess. This method makes it dif fi cult for judg -<br />
ments to be based on prin ci ples such as jus tice<br />
or pre cau tion. It is there fore dif fi cult to con -<br />
nect sci ence to the <strong>of</strong> ten strongly nor ma tive<br />
de ci sions re quired in a pol icy context.<br />
More over, the con ven tional view <strong>of</strong> sci ence<br />
un der ly ing this ap proach to the sci ence-pol icy<br />
re la tion ship has it self sub se quently come un -<br />
der crit i cal in ves ti ga tion. Schol ars work ing in<br />
the so cial stud ies <strong>of</strong> sci ence have ex am ined the<br />
ways in which the pro duc tion <strong>of</strong> sci en tific<br />
claims made about the nat u ral world is me di -<br />
ated through so cial re la tions and pro cesses<br />
(Bloor, 1967; Col lins, 1981; Latour and<br />
Woolgar, 1979; Latour, 1987, and 1993;<br />
Knorr-Cetina, 1992; Barnes and Bloor, 1996).<br />
Sim i lar ap proaches have been ap plied to the<br />
IPCC pro cess, in which the sci ence in volved in<br />
the IPCC as sess ments has been crit i cized for<br />
weak nesses in meth od olog i cal rigor and in teg -<br />
rity in sci en tific in ter pre ta tion (Lindzen, 2001;<br />
SEPP). In this work, a sharp dis tinc tion be -<br />
tween sci ence and pol icy has been re placed by<br />
a more nuanced ar gu ment about the mu tual<br />
interpenetration <strong>of</strong> sci en tific and po lit i cal con -<br />
cepts and val ues.<br />
We ex am ine three ap proaches to an a lyz ing<br />
the IPCC sci en tific as sess ment and its con nec -<br />
tion to the pol icy pro cess. Each con trib utes<br />
philo soph i cal in sights into the state <strong>of</strong> the<br />
global sci en tific en ter prise, and the role that<br />
sci ence plays and should play in the pol icy<br />
sphere. Each model there fore has im pli ca tions<br />
for ne go ti at ing the sci ence-pol icy in ter face in<br />
the IPCC. Three ap proaches can be found in<br />
the anal y ses <strong>of</strong> the Sci ence and En vi ron men tal<br />
Pol icy Pro ject or SEPP, Sonja Boehmer-<br />
Christiansen, 1994a and 1994b; and Si mon<br />
Shackley and Brian Wynne, 1995 and 1997.<br />
For a sum mary anal y sis <strong>of</strong> the IPCC struc ture<br />
on which these anal y ses will be de ployed, see<br />
the Ap pen dix.<br />
The Positivist Critique<br />
IPCC at tempts to pro vide “pol icy rel e vant<br />
but not pol icy pre scrip tive sci en tific in for ma -<br />
tion” have steered the IPCC from a tra di tional<br />
“truth speaks to power” con cep tion <strong>of</strong> the sci -<br />
ence-pol icy in ter face to ward an in sti tu tion al -<br />
ized in ter ac tion be tween sci ence and pol icy<br />
com mu ni ties. These prac tices are quite dif fer -<br />
ent from dom i nant posi tiv ist tra di tions with re -<br />
gard to the prac tice, au thor ity, and use <strong>of</strong> sci -<br />
ence and sci en tific in for ma tion. It is not<br />
sur pris ing, then, that the IPCC and par tic i pat -<br />
ing sci en tists have been ac cused <strong>of</strong> per form ing<br />
“bad” or “co-opted” sci ence. An ex am i na tion<br />
<strong>of</strong> one con tro versy be tween posi tiv ist sci en -<br />
tific tra di tions and the sci ence pol icy in no va -<br />
tions <strong>of</strong> the IPCC re veal some <strong>of</strong> the ten sions<br />
in volved in the mod els <strong>of</strong> sci ence used to eval -<br />
u ate a sci en tific as sess ment <strong>of</strong> the IPCC-type.<br />
Ef forts to pre scribe tra di tional val ues <strong>of</strong> ob -<br />
jec tiv ity, ra tio nal ity, and au ton omy or “high<br />
sci ence” to the ac tiv i ties <strong>of</strong> the IPCC as sess -<br />
ment are the fo cus <strong>of</strong> cli mate and at mo spheric<br />
sci en tists or ga nized around the Sci ence and<br />
En vi ron men tal Pol icy Pro ject (SEPP) (di -<br />
rected by the well-known cli mate change<br />
contrarian, Fred Singer) with the goal <strong>of</strong> en sur -<br />
ing the contrarian per spec tive is reg u larly re -<br />
ported. SEPP was cen tral in writ ing and co or -<br />
di nat ing sig na tures for the Leip zig<br />
Dec la ra tion. (For a list <strong>of</strong> SEPP pub li ca tions<br />
see www.sepp.org). The sign ing <strong>of</strong> the Leip zig<br />
Dec la ra tion, which is sim i lar to the Hei del berg<br />
Ap peal <strong>of</strong> the Rio Sum mit (1992), was an ac -<br />
tion taken by a small group <strong>of</strong> cli mate sci en -<br />
tists against the IPCC con sen sus on<br />
anthropogenic-in duced cli mate change, the<br />
Cli mate Treaty, and the Kyoto Pro to col. The<br />
Dec la ra tion and its hun dred sig na to ries came<br />
out <strong>of</strong> the In ter na tional Sym po sium on the<br />
Green house Con tro versy, held in Leip zig,<br />
Ger many, on No vem ber 9–10, 1995, and in<br />
Bonn, Ger many, on No vem ber 10–11, 1997.<br />
The Leip zig Dec la ra tion chal lenges the pri -<br />
mary meth ods <strong>of</strong> ob ser va tion and val i da tion<br />
used in the IPCC, by stat ing:<br />
We be lieve that the dire pre dic tions <strong>of</strong> a fu ture<br />
warm ing have not been val i dated by the his toric<br />
cli mate re cord, which ap pears to be dom i nated<br />
by nat u ral fluc tu a tions, show ing both warm ing<br />
and cool ing. These pre dic tions are based on<br />
noth ing more than the o ret i cal mod els and can -<br />
not be re lied on to con struct far-reach ing pol i -<br />
cies.<br />
Cli mate contrarians have long ar gued that<br />
the the o ret i cal and sim u lated tech niques used<br />
SCIENCE POLICY MODELS<br />
107
to gen er ate pol icy rel e vant in for ma tion do not<br />
con sti tute valid and cred i ble sci en tific in quiry.<br />
Fa mil iar names such as Fred Singer (SEPP)<br />
and Rich ard Lindzen (2001) claim that mod els<br />
used in the IPCC have not been val i dated with<br />
real-world ob ser va tions and are there fore not<br />
ac cu rate sources <strong>of</strong> de scrip tion and pre dic tion<br />
for cli mate change and its causes. Lindzen<br />
(2001) ar gues that the re li ance on in ac cu rate<br />
and un cer tain the o ret i cal mod els for feits op -<br />
por tu ni ties for sci ence to re duce un cer tain ties<br />
and to strengthen sci en tific un der stand ing <strong>of</strong><br />
the global cli mate. In dis cuss ing the use and<br />
im pli ca tions <strong>of</strong> the o ret i cal mod els in the<br />
IPCC, Lindzen (2001) makes a dis tinc tion be -<br />
tween “cor rect” and “pos si ble” in for ma tion.<br />
He charges that IPCC sci en tists have used pre -<br />
dic tive mod els to fo cus on the “pos si ble” ad -<br />
verse sit u a tions in or der for pol icy ac tion to be<br />
taken. More over he states that this use <strong>of</strong> pre -<br />
dic tive mod els “ef fec tively de prives so ci ety <strong>of</strong><br />
sci ence’s ca pac ity to solve prob lems and an -<br />
swer ques tions” (Lindzen, 2001, 2).<br />
The contrarian con cern with the IPCC is<br />
two-fold. First, the contrarians be lieve it is<br />
nec es sary to pa trol the bound aries be tween<br />
sci ence and pol icy in or der to en sure that the<br />
IPCC’s re quire ment for pol icy rel e vance does<br />
not con tra vene the cri te ria <strong>of</strong> sci en tific cor rect -<br />
ness and ro bust ness. They ar gue, for ex am ple,<br />
that the sig nif i cance <strong>of</strong> un der ly ing un cer tain -<br />
ties have not been suf fi ciently rep re sented in<br />
the sum mary for policymakers (SPM) and sug -<br />
gest that this gives in for ma tion greater au thor -<br />
ity in the user com mu nity. This leads to the<br />
contrarians’ sec ond con cern about the sig nif i -<br />
cant ex po sure and at ten tion IPCC prod ucts<br />
and par tic u larly the work ing group SPM’s<br />
have within the in ter na tional pol icy au di ence.<br />
SEPP’s com ment “we de tect here a se ri ous<br />
mis use <strong>of</strong> sci ence and <strong>of</strong> sci en tists for po lit i cal<br />
pur poses” speaks to the per ceived pres sures<br />
ex erted on sci en tists in a sci en tific as sess ment<br />
in tended to de rive pol icy rel e vant in for ma tion.<br />
Within the IPCC the in ter gov ern men tal au di -<br />
ence seeks in for ma tion and rec om men da tions<br />
from sci ence and sci en tists. It is feared that by<br />
mak ing the re la tion ship be tween sci en tist and<br />
policymaker closer, a sense <strong>of</strong> pol icy ur gency<br />
around cli mate change may lead to the pre ma -<br />
ture use <strong>of</strong> in suf fi cient and in ap pro pri ately<br />
val i dated in for ma tion. The contrarians ar gue<br />
that sci en tific con sen sus in the IPCC cre ates a<br />
ve neer <strong>of</strong> sci en tific ro bust ness even where sig -<br />
nif i cant un cer tain ties ex ist (see Camp bell,<br />
1985, and Wynne, 1992, for dis cus sions about<br />
un cer tainty in ar eas <strong>of</strong> sci en tific controversy).<br />
SEPP and the contrarian anal y sis de pend<br />
upon a posi tiv ist model <strong>of</strong> sci ence where the<br />
ap pro pri ate role <strong>of</strong> the sci en tist is to pur sue<br />
“pure” sci en tific in quiry sep a rate from the pol -<br />
icy sphere. The posi tiv ist ap proach as sumes<br />
that policymakers re quire ro bust sci en tific ev i -<br />
dence in or der to le git i mize their de ci sions—<br />
where the rigor <strong>of</strong> sci ence, when ad e quately<br />
trans lated, will in form the most ap pro pri ate<br />
pol icy de ci sions. The im plicit sug ges tion is<br />
that good sci ence trans lates into good pol icy.<br />
This in ter pre ta tion re lies on a par tic u lar view<br />
<strong>of</strong> an au ton o mous and ob jec tive sci ence that is<br />
de-cou pled from the nor ma tive pro to cols and<br />
de ci sions <strong>of</strong> the socio-po lit i cal world. Of<br />
course, the posi tiv ist model <strong>of</strong> sci ence un der -<br />
ly ing the SEPP anal y sis has been strongly<br />
chal lenged for some time in the sci ence pol icy<br />
lit er a ture.<br />
The two fol low ing anal y ses use<br />
constructivist ap proaches to an a lyze the so cial<br />
pro cesses that un der line cli mate sci ence ac tiv -<br />
i ties in clud ing the ques tions asked, meth ods<br />
used and the ways that in for ma tion is ne go ti -<br />
ated for its suf fi ciency and ad e quacy.<br />
Constructivist ap proaches high light the ways<br />
that sci ence and pol icy com mu ni ties are not as<br />
dis crete in prac tice as they are in the ory but in -<br />
stead ex pose the ways sci ence and pol icy are<br />
inter pen etrat ing forces.<br />
From a constructivist point <strong>of</strong> view, the ap -<br />
par ent trans fer <strong>of</strong> value-neu tral sci en tific in -<br />
for ma tion to le git i mize the de ci sions <strong>of</strong> the<br />
value-laden pol icy world be comes prob lem -<br />
atic when as sess ing “pol icy rel e vant sci en tific<br />
in for ma tion.” Latour (1993) as serts that the at -<br />
tempt to “pu rify” the do mains <strong>of</strong> sci ence and<br />
pol icy is a fruit less mod ern ist pro ject that de -<br />
nies the im bro glios that ul ti mately re sult in the<br />
“pro lif er a tion <strong>of</strong> hy brids” be tween sci ence and<br />
the socio-po lit i cal sphere. A constructivist ap -<br />
proach ex am ines the un der ly ing val ues, pre -<br />
scrip tions and pro cesses in volved in sci en tific<br />
prac tice that be come re moved from the for mal<br />
rep re sen ta tion <strong>of</strong> sci ence.<br />
Boehmer-Christiansen at the macro-scale<br />
and Shackley and Wynne at the mi cro-scale<br />
look to the in flu ences, ne go ti a tions, and prac -<br />
tices that con struct sci en tific in for ma tion and<br />
by do ing so, chal lenge the dis cur sive and pre -<br />
scrip tive au thor ity at trib uted to both sci ence<br />
and sci en tists. These anal y ses re veal the con -<br />
tin gency in volved in the fram ing <strong>of</strong> sci en tific<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
108
prob lems, in claim-mak ing and fact con struc -<br />
tion, and the per va sive ness <strong>of</strong> the pol icy in ter -<br />
face in cli mate sci ence. It is an open ques tion,<br />
how ever, whether this con tin gency nec es sar ily<br />
re duces the cred i bil ity or whether it en hances<br />
the use ful ness <strong>of</strong> the sci ence gen er ated in the<br />
IPCC. The two ap proaches we ex am ine seem<br />
to come to dif fer ent views on this point.<br />
A Contextual Approach<br />
Boehmer-Christiansen (1994) traces the be -<br />
hav iors, al li ances and eco nomic ties <strong>of</strong> the<br />
lead ing cli mate sci en tists (those sci en tists al -<br />
ready op er at ing within pres ti gious in sti tu -<br />
tions) to show how sci en tists have used ideo -<br />
log i cal not sci en tific per sua sion to es tab lish<br />
cli mate change as a pol icy pri or ity. She ar gues<br />
that the in cep tion <strong>of</strong> the in ter na tional cli mate<br />
re search pro gram (cul mi nat ing in the IPCC)<br />
was mo ti vated by two in cen tives—the abil ity<br />
to se cure fund ing and the abil ity to co or di nate<br />
and pro mote an en vi ron men tal pol icy agenda.<br />
In the First As sess ment Re port (FAR) sci en -<br />
tists aligned them selves with an en vi ron men tal<br />
agenda <strong>of</strong> “ac tion now” sup ported by a small<br />
yet sig nif i cant group <strong>of</strong> up per level bu reau -<br />
crats. Yet ac cord ing to Boehmer-Christiansen,<br />
this changed in the Sec ond As sess ment Re port<br />
(SAR). Greater sig nif i cance was at trib uted to<br />
sci en tific un cer tain ties in the SAR, which pro -<br />
moted a “wait and learn” ap proach to pol icy.<br />
Boehmer-Christiansen sug gests that, “faced<br />
with the com plex ity <strong>of</strong> en vi ron men tal sci ence<br />
re search ing at the fron tiers <strong>of</strong> knowl edge sci -<br />
en tific ad vo cacy can hon estly switch from em -<br />
pha siz ing cer tain ties to un cer tain ties, from the<br />
ad vo cacy <strong>of</strong> ‘ac tion now’ to a ‘wait and learn’<br />
ap proach” (1994b, 197; em pha sis added). In<br />
other words, cli mate sci ence is suf fi ciently un -<br />
cer tain that dif fer ent, le git i mate in ter pre ta -<br />
tions are possible.<br />
Boehmer-Christiansen’s (1994) ac tor-net -<br />
work ap proach re lies heavily on an as sump tion<br />
<strong>of</strong> so cial agency. Sim i lar to Latour and<br />
Woolgar (1979), Boehmer-Christiansen<br />
(1994a) takes as a point <strong>of</strong> de par ture the ways<br />
that sci en tists pro duce pub lic mean ing through<br />
their abil ity to en roll al lies and through the ma -<br />
nip u la tion <strong>of</strong> re sources. She con cludes that the<br />
pres er va tion and en hance ment <strong>of</strong> sci en tific ca -<br />
reers and the de sire to se cure fu ture fund ing is<br />
the in ter est <strong>of</strong> sci en tists. Latour and Woolgar<br />
(1979) re fer to this as the “cred i bil ity cy cle”<br />
around which sci en tists re volve in an end less<br />
se quence <strong>of</strong> pro duc ing work, re ceiv ing rec og -<br />
ni tion, and get ting sup port. Boehmer-<br />
Christiansen’s (1994a, and 1994b) anal y sis re -<br />
veals the roles <strong>of</strong> fund ing cir cles, epistemic<br />
net works, and an es tab lished cred i bil ity cy cle<br />
where sci en tists ad here to un der ly ing pol icy<br />
com mit ments in or der to se cure in ter est and<br />
fund ing for their per sonal re search. There is<br />
the im plicit sug ges tion that where epistemic<br />
con sen sus ex ists, sci en tists have uni lat eral and<br />
per sua sive au thor ity within the pol icy sphere.<br />
Yet where con tro versy and un cer tainty per -<br />
vades en vi ron men tal sci ence, sci en tists can<br />
“hon estly” shift from one in ter pre ta tion to a<br />
dif fer ent one (by fo cus ing on ques tions <strong>of</strong> ad e -<br />
quacy <strong>of</strong> knowl edge and suf fi ciency <strong>of</strong> in for -<br />
ma tion) (Camp bell, 1985). In this way,<br />
Boehmer-Christiansen ar gues that the au thor -<br />
ity <strong>of</strong> sci ence has been used to le git i mate both<br />
strong pol icy (FAR) and sta tus-quo pol icy<br />
(SAR) in the IPCC. She re veals the con tin -<br />
gency <strong>of</strong> sci en tific in ter pre ta tions in pol icy<br />
and sug gests that the “ad-hoc ar range ments”<br />
and the blur ring <strong>of</strong> the roles be tween sci en tific<br />
and bu reau cratic in sti tu tions have de creased<br />
the le git i macy <strong>of</strong> IPCC information.<br />
The im pli ca tions <strong>of</strong> Boehmer-<br />
Christiansen’s anal y sis for our pur poses is that<br />
it goes be yond the posi tiv ist cri tique to re veal<br />
the de gree to which the “front end” <strong>of</strong> the sci -<br />
en tific pro cess is it self al ready con nected in<br />
strong ways to the pol icy pro cess. This sug -<br />
gests that the SEPP cri tique <strong>of</strong> the IPCC pro -<br />
cess is mis guided since it ig nores the de gree to<br />
which this front-end con nec tiv ity al ready<br />
com pro mises a uni di rec tional “truth speaks to<br />
power” model <strong>of</strong> the sci ence-pol icy re la tion -<br />
ship. Boehmer-Christiansen’s ar gu ments are<br />
use ful in show ing how the posi tiv ist ideal <strong>of</strong> an<br />
au ton o mous and ob jec tive sci ence is un at tain -<br />
able.<br />
A Situated <strong>Science</strong>—Looking to <strong>Science</strong> in<br />
Prac tice<br />
Pol icy-ori ented re search is the re sult <strong>of</strong><br />
com plex forms <strong>of</strong> com mu nal work be tween<br />
sci en tific and bu reau cratic in sti tu tions that can<br />
share in the mu tual le git i ma tion <strong>of</strong> ideas, dis -<br />
courses, prac tices, and goals (Jasan<strong>of</strong>f and<br />
Wynne, 1998). The sit u a tional ap proach has as<br />
its foun da tion the as sump tion <strong>of</strong> a strong form<br />
<strong>of</strong> en gage ment be tween sci en tists and<br />
policymakers. This ap proach sug gests that so -<br />
cial in flu ences in volved in sci ence and knowl -<br />
SCIENCE POLICY MODELS<br />
109
edge cre ation not only ex ist in ties to the bu -<br />
reau cratic es tab lish ment, but also are more<br />
im plic itly de fined by a shared so cial en vi ron -<br />
ment and the cog ni tive com mit ments that act<br />
to de fine that en vi ron ment. This is known as<br />
the co-pro duc tion <strong>of</strong> sci en tific in for ma tion,<br />
where so cial and cul tural com mit ments are<br />
built into ev ery phase <strong>of</strong> knowl edge pro duc -<br />
tion and con se quent so cial ac tion (Jasan<strong>of</strong>f<br />
and Wynne, 1998).<br />
In the IPCC con text, Shackley and Wynne<br />
(1995, and 1997) use a sit u a tional model to in -<br />
ves ti gate the de vel op ment <strong>of</strong> tech ni cal knowl -<br />
edge in the IPCC and the so cial que ries in -<br />
volved in de ter min ing the ad e quacy <strong>of</strong><br />
knowl edge. The sit u a tional ap proach as sumes<br />
that sci ence is sit u ated and prac ticed in con tin -<br />
gent sci en tific cul tures that op er ate un der dif -<br />
fer ent ex pec ta tions and con straints and where<br />
judg ments <strong>of</strong> ra tio nal ity and ir ra tio nal ity are<br />
made in par tic u lar prac tice set tings and struc -<br />
tures. Shackley et al. (1998) look in ter nally to<br />
sci en tific prac tice and its sub stan tive con tent<br />
in the IPCC to ex pose how the de vel op ment,<br />
con struc tion, and in ter pre ta tion <strong>of</strong> global cir -<br />
cu la tion mod els (GCM) is im plic itly in flu -<br />
enced by ties to the pol icy realm.<br />
Shackley and Wynne (1995) take as their<br />
point <strong>of</strong> de par ture the way sci en tific in ter pre -<br />
ta tions con struct (and limit) the cli mate sci -<br />
ence re search agenda. They claim that the<br />
GCM lit er a tures used in WG I es tab lish a<br />
“knowl edge net” where the in de ter mi nacy <strong>of</strong><br />
the cli mate sys tem is con structed into a “do -<br />
able” re search agenda and is there fore con sid -<br />
ered know able through the use <strong>of</strong> GCM tech -<br />
nol ogy. They ar gue that this gen er ates a<br />
“knowl edge pyr a mid” whereby a rel a tively<br />
small or core-set group <strong>of</strong> WG I cli mate sci en -<br />
tists and mod el ers, es tab lish con cep tual he ge -<br />
mony over cli mate re search and anal y sis as<br />
well as over the en tire IPCC pro cess (Shackley<br />
and Wynne, 1995; Shackley et al., 1998). They<br />
find that the com pi la tion, con struc tion, and in -<br />
ter pre ta tion <strong>of</strong> these mod els is dom i nated by a<br />
small num ber <strong>of</strong> sci en tists who, based on orig -<br />
i nal es ti ma tions and as sump tions, tac itly in flu -<br />
ence what in for ma tion be comes tan gi ble, rel e -<br />
vant, and know able both in the nat u ral and the<br />
so cial worlds <strong>of</strong> in ves ti ga tion and re sponse.<br />
De ter mi na tions <strong>of</strong> ad e quate and ac cept able<br />
ap prox i ma tions and un cer tain ties in volved in<br />
the model con struc tion re main the do main <strong>of</strong><br />
sci en tific judg ment de spite the strong heu ris tic<br />
im pli ca tions for the pol icy com mu nity and the<br />
in flu ence on their abil ity to con sider re sponses<br />
(Oreskes et al. 1994).<br />
Shackley and Wynne’s (1995) anal y sis does<br />
not at tempt to un der mine the use <strong>of</strong> gen eral<br />
cir cu la tion mod els (GCM’s) or the sci en tific<br />
and tech ni cal as sess ments <strong>of</strong> the IPCC. In -<br />
stead, they dem on strate the nu ances <strong>of</strong> the sci -<br />
ence-pol icy in ter face that is in ter nal to the con -<br />
struc tion <strong>of</strong> cli mate mod els. They ar gue that<br />
the con struc tion and in ter pre ta tion <strong>of</strong> GCM’s<br />
<strong>of</strong> ten is based upon “im plicit as sump tions<br />
about the user world, its needs and ca pa bil i ties,<br />
and its struc tures <strong>of</strong> agency and de ci sion-mak -<br />
ing” (1995, 120). This ar gu ment re turns to the<br />
con cerns ex pressed by SEPP about the in ter nal<br />
work ing <strong>of</strong> sci ence. Like SEPP, Shackley and<br />
Wynne paint a pic ture <strong>of</strong> sci ence as in flu enced<br />
by the con cep tual judg ments <strong>of</strong> sci en tists<br />
struc tured in a way that col ors the kinds <strong>of</strong> con -<br />
clu sions reached both in fu ture re search ef forts<br />
and im plic itly in the ex plo ra tion <strong>of</strong> pol icy op -<br />
tions. But un like SEPP, Shackley and Wynne<br />
do not see this pic ture as prob lem atic in prin ci -<br />
ple. An aware ness <strong>of</strong> such pro cesses does not<br />
weaken or in val i date sci ence but al lows a<br />
richer and more nuanced view <strong>of</strong> its ben e fits<br />
and lim its. By ex pos ing ar eas <strong>of</strong> ne go ti a tion,<br />
ap prox i ma tion, and un cer tainty, and di vi sions<br />
amid a spe cial ized sci en tific core, Shackley<br />
and Wynne sug gest that sci en tific contestation<br />
is not just the re sult <strong>of</strong> sci ence be ing trans lated<br />
into the pol icy realm but is in stead an in trin sic<br />
part <strong>of</strong> sci en tific in quiry. They re veal the ways<br />
that sci en tific prac ti tio ners im plic itly ne go ti -<br />
ate judg ments that in flu ence the con cep tual<br />
ter ri tory <strong>of</strong> the pol icy “user” community.<br />
The sit u a tional ap proach re veals the ways<br />
that nor ma tive de ci sions and judg ments made<br />
by sci en tists be come en trenched in the de sign,<br />
for mu la tion, and in ter pre ta tion <strong>of</strong> in for ma tion.<br />
Shackley and Wynne’s anal y sis ex poses the<br />
sci ence-pol icy nexus that is im plicit in sci en -<br />
tific as sess ment and within most sci en tific de -<br />
lib er a tions over the rel e vance and ad e quacy <strong>of</strong><br />
in for ma tion.<br />
Com par ing the Three Ap proaches<br />
The three ap proaches for the use <strong>of</strong> sci ence<br />
de scribed here paint quite dif fer ent pic tures <strong>of</strong><br />
both the ac tual and ideal na ture <strong>of</strong> the re la tion -<br />
ship be tween sci ence and pol icy. In the posi tiv -<br />
ist anal y sis <strong>of</strong> IPCC sci en tific in for ma tion,<br />
SEPP paints a pic ture <strong>of</strong> sci en tists as, in prin ci -<br />
ple, au ton o mous from the socio-po lit i cal<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
110
sphere in which they op er ate. In con trast<br />
Boehmer-Christiansen and Shackley and<br />
Wynne ap ply constructivist meth ods in their<br />
anal y ses <strong>of</strong> the IPCC. Constructivist stud ies<br />
in ves ti gate sci ence as a so cial pro cess and re in -<br />
te grate the so cial di men sions in volved in all<br />
sci ence, whether ap plied or pure, which are <strong>of</strong> -<br />
ten erased from sci en tific rep re sen ta tions<br />
(Latour 1987). These two stud ies taken to -<br />
gether pro vide an un der stand ing <strong>of</strong> the un der -<br />
ly ing con cep tual, ideo log i cal, and so cial pro -<br />
cesses in volved in sci en tific in quiry rather than<br />
an ide al ized pic ture <strong>of</strong> sci ence based on an<br />
ethos <strong>of</strong> ob jec tiv ity, au ton omy and ac cu racy<br />
pur sued in the posi tiv ist ap proach.<br />
Sci en tific judg ments about what ques tions<br />
to ask, meth od ol o gies to use and what in ter -<br />
pre ta tions are made are im bued with tech ni cal,<br />
so cial, po lit i cal, and eco nomic con sid er ations,<br />
and gen er ally re main un ex am ined (Shackley<br />
et al., 1998). These judg ments there fore in -<br />
volve more than just the sci en tific com mu nity<br />
and at their most ba sic form are hy brid judg -<br />
ments that strad dle the worlds <strong>of</strong> the so cial and<br />
nat u ral. The crit i cal point, how ever, is that<br />
these judg ments re main hid den un der the<br />
guise <strong>of</strong> ob jec tive, au ton o mous sci en tific in -<br />
quiry.<br />
Negotiating the Boundary<br />
Com par ing the three anal y ses dis cussed<br />
here pro vides a use ful way to con sider new ap -<br />
proaches to a phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence/pol icy.<br />
How ever, the fo cus on cli mate sci ence and the<br />
sub stan tive prod ucts gen er ated by the IPCC in<br />
these anal y ses may de flect at ten tion from what<br />
could be the most novel, in no va tive, and per ti -<br />
nent as pect <strong>of</strong> the IPCC—the IPCC as pro -<br />
cess—as a means in and <strong>of</strong> it self. Un der stand -<br />
ing the ways that cred i bil ity and le git i macy are<br />
for mu lated both within sci en tific pro cess and<br />
in sci ence-pol icy in ter ac tions may be a use ful<br />
way to de velop mean ing ful “pol icy rel e vant<br />
not pol icy pre scrip tive sci en tific in for ma tion.”<br />
“Mean ing ful,” in this sense, de notes a dis tinc -<br />
tion be tween the val ues as so ci ated with tra di -<br />
tional dis courses <strong>of</strong> cred i bil ity and le git i macy<br />
and the pos si bil i ties for the cred i bil ity and le -<br />
git i macy <strong>of</strong> in for ma tion that is nei ther pure<br />
sci ence nor pure pol icy but some hy brid <strong>of</strong> the<br />
two.<br />
Two IPCC in stru ments—the sum mary for<br />
policymakers (SPM) and the syn the sis re port<br />
(SYR)—me di ate the in ter ac tion be tween sci -<br />
en tists and policymakers (see Ap pen dix). The<br />
ques tion is whether these pro ce dural in stru -<br />
ments rep re sent a place where the cred i bil ity<br />
and le git i macy <strong>of</strong> in for ma tion can be en hanced<br />
through the sci ence-pol icy in ter face. Such a<br />
pro ce dural point <strong>of</strong> con nec tion may pro vide<br />
the op por tu nity for sci ence and pol icy com mu -<br />
ni ties to trans fer in for ma tion, val ues, and dis -<br />
courses in both di rec tions. Rather than ac cept -<br />
ing the uni di rec tional flow <strong>of</strong> in for ma tion<br />
pos ited by a posi tiv ist frame work, as sess ments<br />
pro duce “pol icy rel e vant sci en tific in for ma -<br />
tion” that re quire in put by both knowl edge<br />
pro duc ers and knowl edge us ers about key sci -<br />
en tific find ings and about what is pol icy rel e -<br />
vant. Guston (2001) high lights the im por tant<br />
role for in creased in ter ac tion be tween sci ence<br />
and pol icy in or der to re cover the bor der lands<br />
that ex ist be tween these dis crete and bi nary<br />
cat e go ries. Yet he cau tions that it is not clear to<br />
what ex tent the blur ring <strong>of</strong> bound aries is pro -<br />
duc tive and at what point it be comes de struc -<br />
tive (2001, 400). Work ing from Shackley and<br />
Wynne’s in ves ti ga tion, we are in ter ested in ex -<br />
tend ing the sit u a tional model to the pro ce dural<br />
level where un der ly ing judg ments, as sump -<br />
tions, ap prox i ma tions, and un cer tain ties in sci -<br />
en tific in for ma tion can be as sessed and ne go ti -<br />
ated through a man aged sci ence pol icy<br />
process.<br />
In or der to un der stand how cred i bil ity and<br />
le git i macy are de vel oped and main tained in<br />
the SPM and the SYR pro cesses, an un der -<br />
stand ing <strong>of</strong> bound ary ob jects be comes sa lient.<br />
Bound ary ob jects man age and max i mize both<br />
the au ton omy and com mu ni ca tion be tween<br />
worlds where het er o ge neous econ o mies <strong>of</strong> in -<br />
for ma tion and ma te ri als are re quired (Star and<br />
Griesemer, 1989, 404). Sim i lar to “bound ary<br />
ob jects,” the SPM and PRSQs co or di nate two<br />
di ver gent worlds while main tain ing the iden -<br />
tity <strong>of</strong> each. Bound ary ob jects en able am big u -<br />
ous and multivalent in for ma tion to travel<br />
across bound aries and rep re sent dif fer ent<br />
mean ings to dif fer ent com mu ni ties. Ac cord -<br />
ing to Star and Griesemer (1989) stan dard iza -<br />
tion <strong>of</strong> meth ods (dis cussed by Shackley and<br />
Wynne 1995; 1997) and mon i tor ing <strong>of</strong> pro cess<br />
make in for ma tion com pat i ble, al low ing for a<br />
lon ger reach across di ver gent worlds. In ves ti -<br />
gat ing the lat ter will lead to an anal y sis <strong>of</strong> how<br />
these in stru ments can con trib ute more ef fec -<br />
tively to the ad vance ment <strong>of</strong> pol icy rel e vant<br />
sci en tific in for ma tion that is trans par ently coproduced.<br />
SCIENCE POLICY MODELS<br />
111
These con sid er ations sug gest that the en -<br />
cour age ment <strong>of</strong> cer tain forms <strong>of</strong> sci ence-pol -<br />
icy in ter ac tion may in crease the abil ity to de -<br />
rive pol icy rel e vant sci en tific in for ma tion<br />
with out weak en ing or un der min ing the sci en -<br />
tific pro cess. We be lieve the de gree to which<br />
the SPM and PRSQ pro cesses act to (a) trans -<br />
late, sim plify, and make com plex and ex ten -<br />
sive sci en tific in for ma tion rel e vant to a pol icy<br />
au di ence (SPM), (b) sit u ate pol icy rel e vant<br />
sci ence within an in ter gov ern men tal frame -<br />
work (SYR), and (c) man age sci ence-pol icy<br />
in ter ac tion in unique ways, de serves fur ther<br />
study and ex plo ra tion. An in ves ti ga tion into<br />
the IPCC pro cess has the po ten tial to trans form<br />
con ven tional com mit ments to the bound aries<br />
be tween the sci en tific and po lit i cal worlds, to<br />
com mit ments that in clude new cri te ria and<br />
more contextualized pro to cols for the de vel op -<br />
ment <strong>of</strong> valid and use ful knowl edge.<br />
Conclusion<br />
“Pol icy rel e vant sci en tific in for ma tion”<br />
may re quire that as sess ment sci ence cease to<br />
be re garded as the cul mi na tion <strong>of</strong> a uni ver sal<br />
sci en tific method re sult ing in uni fied agree -<br />
ment. Rather, it may be more pro duc tive to un -<br />
der stand as sess ment as a ne go ti a tion be tween<br />
sci en tists and the pol icy com mu ni ties in the<br />
ac cep tance <strong>of</strong> prob lem def i ni tion, meth ods,<br />
the ad e quacy <strong>of</strong> in for ma tion, and the sig nif i -<br />
cance <strong>of</strong> un cer tain ties. In this way, the in for -<br />
ma tion pro duced would be less likely to fall<br />
within the “truth speaks to power” (sim i lar to<br />
SEPP) or “power speaks to truth” (sim i lar to<br />
Boehmer-Christiansen) con cep tion <strong>of</strong> sci ence<br />
that trans fers cog ni tive au thor ity to ei ther sci -<br />
en tific or pol icy com mu ni ties. A pro cess that<br />
en cour ages sci ence-pol icy in ter ac tion, and<br />
man ages the ne go ti a tion at the in ter face may<br />
(co-) pro duce better ques tions, for mu la tions,<br />
as sess ments, and prod ucts than ei ther in de -<br />
pend ently. Per haps ex plic itly in clud ing the<br />
user com mu nity in the pro cess to ne go ti ate<br />
what their own needs are and what is con sid -<br />
ered to be rel e vant will lead to a much more<br />
sub stan tial form <strong>of</strong> pol icy rel e vant sci en tific<br />
in for ma tion (Wynne, 1989, 1992, and 1992a).<br />
In or der to in ves ti gate this is sue we need to<br />
look at ques tions like: How is the IPCC pro -<br />
cess deal ing with the in her ent as sump tions,<br />
nor ma tive judg ments, and am bi gu ities in -<br />
volved in con struct ing sci en tific knowl edge?<br />
What types <strong>of</strong> ex per tise and which com mu ni -<br />
ties have the cred i bil ity to in form judg ments<br />
in volved in prob lem con struc tion? How can<br />
knowl edge claims and pol icy de ci sions be de -<br />
vel oped through pro ce dures and prac tices con -<br />
sid ered le git i mate? What con sti tutes cred i ble<br />
and rel e vant in for ma tion on an is sue such as<br />
global cli mate change where ev ery one is a<br />
stake holder? What role do the SPM and PRSQ<br />
pro cesses play in pro duc ing rel e vant but not<br />
pre scrip tive in for ma tion? Ad dress ing these<br />
ques tions may pro vide sig nif i cant in sight into<br />
a more ad e quate phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence pol icy<br />
in global en vi ron men tal prob lems. Rather than<br />
see ing sci ence as a uni tary and tran scen den tal<br />
de scrip tion <strong>of</strong> the world “out there” and the in -<br />
ter na tional pol icy com mu nity as merely in ter -<br />
est-based, an al ter na tive view that ac knowl -<br />
edges the con tin gent and hy brid na ture <strong>of</strong> both<br />
sci en tific and po lit i cal knowl edge may be de -<br />
sir able. A view that rec og nizes the unique con -<br />
tri bu tion each can make to pol icy prob lems<br />
may suc ceed in pro duc ing knowl edge that is<br />
in deed rel e vant, but not pre scrip tive in un de -<br />
sir able ways.<br />
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Ap pen dix: An An a lytic De scrip tion <strong>of</strong> the In ter gov ern men tal<br />
Panel on Cli mate Change<br />
The In ter gov ern men tal Panel on Cli mate<br />
Change (IPCC) is best de scribed in terms <strong>of</strong> its<br />
man date, its pro cess, and its spe cial de vel op -<br />
ment <strong>of</strong> a “Sum mary for <strong>Policy</strong>makers.”<br />
The IPCC as Man dated Sci ence<br />
The IPCC was de rived as a sci en tific ad vi -<br />
sory body to (a) as sess avail able sci en tific and<br />
socio-eco nomic in for ma tion on cli mate<br />
change and its im pacts and on the op tions for<br />
mit i gat ing cli mate change and adapt ing to it<br />
and (b) pro vide, on re quest, sci en tific, tech no -<br />
log i cal, and socio-eco nomic ad vice to the<br />
Con fer ence <strong>of</strong> the Par ties (CoP) to the United<br />
Na tions Frame work Con ven tion on Cli mate<br />
Change (UNFCCC) (IPCC Third As sess ment<br />
Re port Work ing Group III). It rep re sents a<br />
clas sic case <strong>of</strong> what Liora Salter has called<br />
man dated sci ence. The IPCC is asked to de ter -<br />
mine the cur rent state <strong>of</strong> knowl edge with re -<br />
gard to cli mate re search and in for ma tion in or -<br />
der to pro vide rel e vant ma te rial to a pol icy<br />
au di ence.<br />
Sci en tific as sess ments op er ate dif fer ently<br />
than tra di tional sci ence in their meth ods <strong>of</strong> re -<br />
view and cri te ria for ad e quacy. For ex am ple, in<br />
the area <strong>of</strong> sci ence as sess ment, sci en tists are<br />
en cour aged to eval u ate the over all state <strong>of</strong><br />
knowl edge on a given pol icy is sue and to draw<br />
from multi-dis ci plin ary lit er a tures. This prac -<br />
tice in volves judg ments about who is in cluded<br />
in the as sess ment pro cess, what in for ma tion is<br />
con sid ered ac cept able and ad e quate for re -<br />
view, the ne go ti a tion <strong>of</strong> an ap pro pri ate in ter -<br />
pre ta tion among par tic i pat ing sci en tists, and<br />
the method for dis clos ing this in ter pre ta tion to<br />
a pol icy au di ence. Judg ments are made among<br />
a core group <strong>of</strong> cli mate sci en tists yet ex tend<br />
be yond the strict bound aries <strong>of</strong> sci en tific in -<br />
quiry. As sess ments have time-de pend ent and<br />
value-de pend ent as pects that force sci en tists<br />
to make tacit as sump tions about the needs <strong>of</strong><br />
the “user” au di ence (i.e., policymakers) as<br />
they con tem plate and/or an tic i pate the ways<br />
in for ma tion will be used in the non-sci en tific<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
114<br />
sphere and the sub se quent so cial and po lit i cal<br />
im pli ca tions <strong>of</strong> the in for ma tion de rived. Man -<br />
dated sci ence is thus “a hy brid ac tiv ity in<br />
which sci en tific ex per tise is ac com pa nied by a<br />
con sid er able amount <strong>of</strong> so cial and po lit i cal<br />
judg ment” (Farrell et al., 2001). Yet man dated<br />
sci ence is ac com pa nied by a strong be lief that<br />
sci en tific con tri bu tions should nev er the less be<br />
ob jec tive and value-neu tral (Jasan<strong>of</strong>f, 1990,<br />
and Salter, 1988).<br />
The IPCC Pro cess<br />
The pro cess <strong>of</strong> pro duc ing an IPCC as sess -<br />
ment is long and com plex. In ter na tional teams<br />
<strong>of</strong> Lead Au thors (LA), nom i nated by coun tries<br />
and se lected by the IPCC Bu reau (a group <strong>of</strong><br />
ex perts cho sen by the two spon sor ing or ga ni -<br />
za tions (United Na tions En vi ron ment<br />
Programme and World Me te o ro log i cal Or ga -<br />
ni za tion), are or ga nized into Lead Au thor writ -<br />
ing teams that spend sev eral years pre par ing<br />
in di vid ual chap ters in each <strong>of</strong> three Work ing<br />
Groups. In the 2001 re port, these three re ports<br />
ex am ined the cli mate sci ence (WG I), cli mate<br />
change im pacts and ad ap ta tion is sues (WG II),<br />
and strat e gies for mit i ga tion (WG III). While<br />
WGI has fo cused on the sci ence <strong>of</strong> cli mate<br />
change in all three as sess ment re ports, the<br />
char ac ter iza tions <strong>of</strong> WG II and WG III have<br />
changed slightly over the course <strong>of</strong> IPCC his -<br />
tory. Upon com ple tion <strong>of</strong> the chap ters, col -<br />
lected into one vol ume for each Work ing<br />
Group, the co or di nat ing lead au thors (CLA) <strong>of</strong><br />
each chap ter syn the size the key find ings <strong>of</strong><br />
their chap ter into an ex ec u tive sum mary (ES).<br />
These ex ec u tive sum ma ries are col lated into<br />
an over all tech ni cal sum mary for each work -<br />
ing group re port rep re sent ing key sci en tific<br />
find ings (see Fig ure 1).<br />
Dur ing its prep a ra tion, each WG re port un -<br />
der goes two stages <strong>of</strong> re view. The “first or der<br />
draft” <strong>of</strong> the WG doc u ment pre pared by Lead<br />
Au thor writ ing teams, is ini tially re viewed by<br />
ex perts ex ter nal to the IPCC pro cess for its<br />
tech ni cal in for ma tion and con sis tency. Ex pert
Fig ure 1: The Struc ture <strong>of</strong> 2001 IPCC Re ports<br />
com ments and changes are in te grated into a<br />
“sec ond or der draft” WG doc u ment by the<br />
Lead Au thor teams and cir cu lated for ex pert<br />
and gov ern men tal re view. A fi nal draft is then<br />
pre pared by the Lead Au thor teams and sub -<br />
mit ted to the IPCC Ple nary. No IPCC doc u -<br />
ments are <strong>of</strong> fi cial un til they are consensually<br />
ac cepted, in the case <strong>of</strong> WG re ports, or ap -<br />
proved, in the case <strong>of</strong> the SPM, by par tic i pat -<br />
ing gov ern ments. The ini tial draft <strong>of</strong> a “sum -<br />
mary for policymakers” is writ ten by the<br />
tech ni cal sup port unit (TSU), in com bi na tion<br />
with co or di nat ing lead au thors <strong>of</strong> the var i ous<br />
chap ters, for each work ing group. The pur pose<br />
is to syn the size and sim plify the thou sands <strong>of</strong><br />
pages <strong>of</strong> the un der ly ing as sess ment re ports<br />
into a draft that pro vides the most rel e vant sci -<br />
en tific in for ma tion for a pol icy au di ence. [In<br />
or der to min i mize bu reau cratic costs, the IPCC<br />
ro tates the co or di nat ing re spon si bil i ties <strong>of</strong> var -<br />
i ous work ing groups to par tic i pat ing de vel -<br />
oped na tions. The role <strong>of</strong> the TSU is to co or di -<br />
nate in for ma tion and cover the op er at ing<br />
ex penses in volved in pre par ing the doc u ments<br />
and WG re ports. The fa cil i ta tor or co-chair for<br />
the WG is cho sen from this coun try in com bi -<br />
na tion with a co-chair from a de vel op ing na -<br />
tion.] The SPM un der goes ex pert and gov ern -<br />
men tal re view and, in a com plex ple nary<br />
pro cess (de scribed be low), is ne go ti ated by all<br />
par tic i pat ing gov ern ments and is consensually<br />
ap proved through a line-by-line process.<br />
The Syn the sis Re port (SYR) is a syn the sis<br />
<strong>of</strong> the three un der ly ing WG re ports. It is an at -<br />
tempt to tran scend the dis ci plin ary si los <strong>of</strong> the<br />
WG’s in or der to de rive and in te grate the key<br />
find ings rel e vant for in ter na tional<br />
policymakers. The Syn the sis Re port <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Third As sess ment was or ga nized in terms <strong>of</strong><br />
nine (orig i nally ten) pol icy rel e vant sci en tific<br />
ques tions (PRSQ) that de fine the chap ters <strong>of</strong><br />
the re port. The nine ques tions were de rived by<br />
the Bu reau and ne go ti ated and ap proved by<br />
COP del e ga tions. This ap proach at tempted to<br />
in te grate in ter pre ta tions <strong>of</strong> what is rel e vant to<br />
the in ter na tional pol icy sphere at the front-end<br />
<strong>of</strong> the SYR draft ing pro cess. The SYR went<br />
through an ex pert and gov ern men tal re view<br />
pro cess and was also put through a line-by-line<br />
ap proval pro cess sim i lar to the SPM. The SYR<br />
is also ac com pa nied by a sum mary for<br />
policymakers (SPM), a pol icy rel e vant syn the -<br />
sis <strong>of</strong> the syn the sis, which un der goes the same<br />
line-by-line ap proval pro cess.<br />
The Sum mary for <strong>Policy</strong>makers (SPM)<br />
While the ini tial draft <strong>of</strong> the sum mary for<br />
policymakers is writ ten and re viewed by sci en -<br />
tists, sub se quent it er a tions are cre ated through<br />
a pro cess <strong>of</strong> ne go ti a tion be tween sci en tists and<br />
gov ern men tal del e gates (here af ter these rep re -<br />
sen ta tives will be re ferred to as policymakers)<br />
through what is called the Ses sion <strong>of</strong> the Panel<br />
or IPCC Ple nary. This re fers to a se ries <strong>of</strong><br />
meet ings <strong>of</strong> the Bu reau, lead au thors, and gov -<br />
ern men tal rep re sen ta tives held at the ple nary<br />
level <strong>of</strong> the IPCC, and in cludes non-gov ern -<br />
men tal or ga ni za tions (NGO) as ob serv ers.<br />
The ini tial draft <strong>of</strong> the SPM is re viewed by<br />
ex perts and par tic i pat ing del e ga tions for their<br />
SCIENCE POLICY MODELS<br />
115
ex am i na tion <strong>of</strong> the con tent, em pha sis, and<br />
clar ity <strong>of</strong> in for ma tion, and for their com ments<br />
on ar eas for re vi sion. These ex pert and gov ern -<br />
ment com ments are col lated and ac cepted or<br />
re jected in a meet ing <strong>of</strong> lead au thors and a new<br />
draft is pre pared. All com ments that are re -<br />
jected must be ac com pa nied by a ra tio nale for<br />
its ex clu sion in or der to en sure con sis tency and<br />
fair ness. This re vised draft is then in tro duced<br />
into the IPCC Ple nary, where policymakers<br />
and sci en tists are both pres ent. The<br />
policymakers then fol low a line-by-line re view<br />
<strong>of</strong> the text <strong>of</strong> the draft SPM, in which they can<br />
ob ject to text or pro pose new text. How ever, all<br />
pro posed al ter ations <strong>of</strong> the re port can only be<br />
jus ti fied if they are con sis tent with the un der -<br />
ly ing text in the WG re ports. Lead au thors at -<br />
tend the meet ing to an swer ques tions and to<br />
scru ti nize the bound aries <strong>of</strong> sci ence in or der to<br />
en sure that the un der ly ing work ing group re -<br />
ports are not mis in ter preted or trans formed<br />
(de spite the many changes in em pha sis and se -<br />
man tics) in the SPM doc u ment. Con sis tent<br />
with the re quire ment to be “pol icy rel e vant but<br />
not pol icy pre scrip tive,” much at ten tion is paid<br />
to elim i nat ing pre scrip tive word ing or any pre -<br />
scrip tive em pha sis in the in for ma tion.<br />
It is typ i cal for the orig i nal draft <strong>of</strong> the SPM<br />
to be sig nif i cantly al tered and trans formed in<br />
or der to meet the needs <strong>of</strong> par tic i pat ing del e ga -<br />
tions. This ne go ti a tion <strong>of</strong> the rel e vant sci en -<br />
tific in for ma tion by policymakers takes place<br />
within an over all con sen sus pro cess where all<br />
pro posed changes must be unan i mously ap -<br />
proved by the en tire Panel. “Ap proval” in the<br />
SPM sig ni fies that the ma te rial has been sub -<br />
jected to de tailed, line-by-line dis cus sion and<br />
agree ment (see IPCC def i ni tions, Ap pen dix A,<br />
in the Pro ce dures for the Prep a ra tion, Re view,<br />
Ac cep tance, Adop tion and Ap proval and Pub -<br />
li ca tion <strong>of</strong> IPCC Re ports, 1999). Con ten tious<br />
is sues are del e gated to “con tact groups,” con -<br />
sist ing <strong>of</strong> rep re sen ta tives <strong>of</strong> those gov ern -<br />
ments in ter ested in the pro posed text, to gether<br />
with the LA’s re spon si ble for the un der ly ing<br />
text, and then brought back to the full ple nary<br />
for dis cus sion and ap proval. Par tic u larly “hot”<br />
top ics thus tend to be de bated and ap proved at<br />
the end <strong>of</strong> what is usu ally an ex tremely long<br />
and tir ing multi-day meet ing, where ses sions<br />
<strong>of</strong> ten be gin at 8:00 a.m. and end past mid night<br />
at times, for four or five days in a row.<br />
What is con structed and pro duced by this<br />
pro cess is a hy brid doc u ment that is in tended<br />
to be both sci en tif i cally cred i ble and po lit i -<br />
cally ap proved or au tho rized. There are a num -<br />
ber <strong>of</strong> prob lems <strong>of</strong> eq uity in volved in this form<br />
<strong>of</strong> con sen sus ne go ti a tion. Dis crep an cies be -<br />
tween de vel oped and de vel op ing coun tries<br />
with re gard to ex per tise, au thor ity, and man -<br />
age ment are a sys temic prob lem, de spite ef -<br />
forts made by the IPCC for de vel op ing coun try<br />
in volve ment (Lahsen 2000; and Kandlikar and<br />
Sagar 1999). Rob ert Wat son, the pre vi ous<br />
chair <strong>of</strong> the IPCC, sees this com bined ef fort as<br />
a way to strengthen the pro cess <strong>of</strong> in ter na tional<br />
as sess ment (per sonal comm., 2001). He ar -<br />
gues that by in clud ing the in ter na tional po lit i -<br />
cal au di ence in the con struc tion <strong>of</strong> a pol icy rel -<br />
e vant sci en tific doc u ment, the pro cess <strong>of</strong><br />
in ter na tional treaty mak ing be comes a more<br />
ef fi cient and uni fied ex pe ri ence. In the syn the -<br />
sis <strong>of</strong> the per ti nent cli mate re search, the SPM<br />
pro cess pro vides a frame work for na tions to<br />
ne go ti ate their par tic u lar con cerns, re ac tions<br />
and in ter pre ta tions <strong>of</strong> the same sci en tific in for -<br />
ma tion in an open forum.<br />
The SPM pro cess con trib utes to a trans la -<br />
tion and in ter pre ta tion <strong>of</strong> rel e vant in for ma tion<br />
within a gov ern men tal frame work or au tho riz -<br />
ing fo rum. How ever, it is ap par ent that the con -<br />
tent <strong>of</strong> the SPM is driven by a pro cess that be -<br />
gins with the fram ing and ar tic u la tion <strong>of</strong> key<br />
sci en tific find ings by the sci en tific com mu -<br />
nity. As a re sult, the in for ma tion in the SPM<br />
may con sist <strong>of</strong> key find ings that are con sid ered<br />
sci en tif i cally in ter est ing but not nec es sar ily<br />
the most use ful for pol icy. In or der to ad dress<br />
this prob lem, in the Third As sess ment Re port<br />
(TAR) pro cess, the IPCC Bu reau in tro duced a<br />
new, more pol icy re spon sive ap proach in the<br />
or ga ni za tion <strong>of</strong> the Syn the sis Re port (a sum -<br />
mary <strong>of</strong> all work ing group in for ma tion from<br />
all three as sess ment re ports as well as any<br />
IPCC spe cial re ports). The Syn the sis Re port<br />
rep re sents an at tempt to in clude policymakers<br />
in the pro cess <strong>of</strong> de riv ing and fram ing rel e vant<br />
sci en tific in for ma tion by hav ing them ar tic u -<br />
late a set <strong>of</strong> pol icy rel e vant sci en tific ques tions<br />
(PRSQ).<br />
<strong>Policy</strong> Relevant Scientific Questions<br />
(PRSQ)<br />
Ten pol icy rel e vant sci en tific ques tions<br />
(PRSQ) (later con sol i dated to nine) con sid -<br />
ered im por tant to in ter na tional policymaking<br />
and re quir ing sci en tific as sess ment were<br />
drafted by the Bu reau and ne go ti ated and<br />
agreed to by the in ter na tional pol icy com mu -<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
116
nity in San Jose, Costa Rica in 1999. These<br />
ques tions de ter mined the struc ture <strong>of</strong> the Syn -<br />
the sis Re port (SYR) and acted to guide sci en -<br />
tists in draft ing its text. Their job was to syn -<br />
the size the un der ly ing Work ing Group re ports,<br />
tech ni cal sum ma ries, and SPM’s as an swers to<br />
the PRSQs, each <strong>of</strong> which de fined a chap ter in<br />
the SYR. The SYR pro cess thus fa cil i tated the<br />
front-end in volve ment <strong>of</strong> the pol icy com mu -<br />
nity to frame the way sci en tific in for ma tion<br />
was col lated and de fined the terms <strong>of</strong> what was<br />
pre sented. This al lowed policymakers to play a<br />
greater role in the de ter mi na tion <strong>of</strong> pol icy rel e -<br />
vance. This re port also al lowed the IPCC sci -<br />
en tific pro cess to be in te grated in a more ex -<br />
plicit way with the con cur rent po lit i cal pro cess<br />
<strong>of</strong> the COP.<br />
These SPM and PRSQ ap proaches fa cil i tate<br />
a ne go ti a tion <strong>of</strong> tasks and in for ma tion that de -<br />
pends less on tech ni cal in for ma tion and more<br />
on com mu ni ca tion and co or di na tion be tween<br />
the pol icy and sci en tific com mu nity. The SPM<br />
and the PRSQ can thus pro vide the ba sis for an<br />
ex plo ra tion <strong>of</strong> the ways these in stru ments re -<br />
ne go ti ate the bound aries <strong>of</strong> and in ter ac tions<br />
be tween sci ence and pol icy.<br />
SCIENCE POLICY MODELS<br />
117
NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS<br />
Andoni Alonso (Universidad de Extremadura, Spain) holds a doc tor ate in phi los o phy from the<br />
Uni ver sity <strong>of</strong> the Basque Coun try. His pub li ca tions in clude schol arly works (which have ap -<br />
peared in Basque, Span ish, and Eng lish) on Wittgenstein, art, phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> tech nol ogy, and sci -<br />
ence-tech nol ogy-so ci ety stud ies, as well as pub lic af fairs com men tary on com puter cul ture and<br />
sci ence lit er acy. His most re cent books (co-authored with Inaki Arzoz) are Basque<br />
Cyberculture: From Dig i tal Euskadi to CyberEuskalherria (Reno, NV: Cen ter for Basque Stud -<br />
ies, 2003) and Carta al Homo ciberneticus: Un man ual de Ciencia, Tecnologia y Sociedad<br />
activista para el siglo XXI (Ma drid: Edaf, 2004).<br />
Adam Briggle (Uni ver sity <strong>of</strong> Col o rado) is a doc toral stu dent in the En vi ron men tal Stud ies pro -<br />
gram. His re search fo cuses on the in ter face <strong>of</strong> the hu man i ties and sci ence and tech nol ogy pol icy.<br />
Carlos Cas tro (Junta de Extremadura) is Dean <strong>of</strong> the School for Biblioteconomy and Doc u men -<br />
ta tion and Di rec tor <strong>of</strong> the In for ma tion So ci ety De part ment. His re search in ter ests in clude<br />
cyberculture and the in no va tion and use <strong>of</strong> in for ma tion tech nol o gies for re gional de vel op ment.<br />
He con trib uted to de vel op ment <strong>of</strong> the Linex cur ric u lum.<br />
Eric Co hen (Eth ics and Pub lic Pol icy Cen ter, Wash ing ton, DC) is di rec tor <strong>of</strong> the Bio tech nol ogy<br />
and Amer i can De moc racy pro gram and co-di rec tor <strong>of</strong> the pro gram on Sci ence, Tech nol ogy, and<br />
So ci ety at the Cen ter and a se nior con sul tant to the Pres i dent’s Coun cil on Bioethics. He is also<br />
the ed i tor <strong>of</strong> the Cen ter’s jour nal The New Atlantis. He is co-ed i tor (with Wil liam Kristol) <strong>of</strong> The<br />
Fu ture is Now: Amer ica Con fronts the New Ge net ics (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield,<br />
2002).<br />
Fernando Solís Fernández (Junta de Extremadura) is the sub-del e gate from the Span ish Gov -<br />
ern ment at Extremadura. For merly a high civil ser vant, he has also lec tured on dif fer ent ad min is -<br />
tra tive as pects <strong>of</strong> gov ern ment-funded re search and de vel op ment. His most re cent work has been<br />
as di rec tor <strong>of</strong> Higher Ed u ca tion and Re search in Extremadura.<br />
Erik Fisher (Uni ver sity <strong>of</strong> Col o rado) is a doc toral stu dent in En vi ron men tal Stud ies and teaches<br />
hu man i ties and Sci ence, Tech nol ogy, and So ci ety Stud ies. His work cen ters on in te grat ing<br />
philo soph i cal in quiry into en gi neer ing ed u ca tion and tech nol ogy pol icy.<br />
Guillermo Foladori (Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas) is re search fel low at the Doc toral<br />
Pro gram on De vel op ment Stud ies. His work fo cuses on the con tra dic tory de vel op ment <strong>of</strong> so cial<br />
and eco log i cal sustainability. He is au thor <strong>of</strong> Con tro ver sies on Sustainability (Ciudad de<br />
México: M. A. Porrúa/UAZ, 2001) and co-ed i tor (with Naína Pierri) <strong>of</strong> Sustainability? Dis -<br />
agree ments on Sus tain able De vel op ment (Mon te vi deo: Trabajo y Cap i tal, 2002).<br />
Rob ert Frodeman (Uni ver sity <strong>of</strong> North Texas) is chair <strong>of</strong> the De part ment <strong>of</strong> Phi los o phy and<br />
Re li gion Stud ies. His wancement <strong>of</strong> Genomics where she works on re search pol icy is sues in<br />
stem cell ap pli ca tions, new tech nol o gies in genomics, and bi o log i cal en ergy al ter na tives. She re -<br />
ceived her Ph.D. in 1993 in Mi cro bi ol ogy from the Uni ver sity <strong>of</strong> Wash ing ton.<br />
Ambrosio Velasco Gómez (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mex ico) earned a doc tor ate in<br />
the Phi los o phy and His tory <strong>of</strong> Po lit i cal The ory from the Uni ver sity <strong>of</strong> Min ne sota. He is the au -<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
118
thor <strong>of</strong> Nat u ral is tic and Her me neu tic Tra di tions in the Phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> So cial Sci ences (Mex ico:<br />
ENEP Acatlan, UNAM, 1998).<br />
Matthias Gross (Universitaet Bielefeld, Ger many) co-di rects the “Real-World Ex per i ment Pro -<br />
ject” at the In sti tute for Sci ence and Tech nol ogy Stud ies. His re search in ter ests in clude the his -<br />
tory <strong>of</strong> so ci ol ogy and ecol ogy, clas si cal so cial the ory, and the so ci ol ogy <strong>of</strong> sur prises. He is the<br />
au thor <strong>of</strong> Die Natur der Gesellschaft: Eine Geschichte der Umweltsoziologie (Mu nich: Juventa,<br />
2001) and In vent ing Na ture: Eco log i cal Res to ra tion by Pub lic Ex per i ments (Lanham, MD:<br />
Rowman and Littlefield, 2003).<br />
Noela Invernizzi (Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas) is re search fel low at the Doc toral Pro -<br />
gram on De vel op ment Stud ies and pro fes sor at Universidade Fed eral do Paraná. Her re search in -<br />
ter est is the re la tion ship be tween in dus trial in no va tion and workforce skills and em ploy ment<br />
con di tions. She is au thor <strong>of</strong> Flex i ble and Dis ci plined: Bra zil ian Work ers fac ing In dus trial Re -<br />
structuring (Ciudad de México: M. A. Porrúa/UAZ, 2004).<br />
Philip Kitcher (Co lum bia Uni ver sity) is pro fes sor <strong>of</strong> phi los o phy and cur ric u lum co or di na tor.<br />
His re search and teach ing in ter ests in clude the phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence, with a fo cus on bi ol ogy<br />
and math e mat ics. He is au thor <strong>of</strong> Sci ence, Truth and De moc racy (New York: Ox ford Uni ver sity<br />
Press, 2001) and In Men del’s Mir ror: Philo soph i cal Re flec tions on Bi ol ogy (New York: Ox ford<br />
Uni ver sity Press, 2003).<br />
Wolfgang Krohn (Universitaet Bielefeld, Ger many) co-di rects the “Real-World Ex per i ment<br />
Pro ject” at the In sti tute for Sci ence and Tech nol ogy Stud ies and is pro fes sor <strong>of</strong> the so cial stud ies<br />
<strong>of</strong> sci ence and tech nol ogy. His re search in ter ests range from the so cial or i gins <strong>of</strong> mod ern sci ence<br />
to the spread <strong>of</strong> re search strat e gies in mod ern “knowl edge” so ci et ies.<br />
Juan Carlos Lucena (Col o rado School <strong>of</strong> Mines), a na tive <strong>of</strong> Bogotá, Co lom bia, cur rently di -<br />
rects the CSM McBride Hon ors Pro gram in Pub lic Af fairs for En gi neers. His re search fo cuses on<br />
com par a tive en gi neer ing cul tures.<br />
Luis Cosas Luengo (Junta de Extremadura) is Man ag ing Di rec tor <strong>of</strong> the Foun da tion for the De -<br />
vel op ment <strong>of</strong> the Sci ences and Tech nol ogy. He holds a Grad u ate De gree in Law and works on<br />
Eu ro pean Com mu nity Law at the Eu ro pean Stud ies Cen tre <strong>of</strong> Universidad de Alcalá de Henares.<br />
He has also served as the Head <strong>of</strong> the Extremadura Li ai son Of fice to the Eu ro pean Com mu ni ties<br />
in Brussels.<br />
Carl Mit cham (Col o rado School <strong>of</strong> Mines) is a pro fes sor <strong>of</strong> Lib eral Arts and<br />
In ter na tional Stud ies. His pub li ca tions in clude Think ing through Tech nol ogy: The Path be tween<br />
En gi neer ing and Phi los o phy (Chi cago: Uni ver sity <strong>of</strong> Chi cago Press,<br />
1994) and (with R. Shan non Duval) En gi neer’s Toolkit: En gi neer ing Eth ics<br />
(Up per Sad dle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2000). He is ed i tor in chief <strong>of</strong> the<br />
multi-vol ume En cy clo pe dia <strong>of</strong> Sci ence, Tech nol ogy, and Eth ics, forth com ing<br />
from Macmillan Ref er ence.<br />
John Robinson (Uni ver sity <strong>of</strong> Brit ish Co lum bia) is a pro fes sor at the Sus tain able De vel op ment<br />
Re search Ini tia tive and in the De part ment <strong>of</strong> Ge og ra phy. His work fo cuses on in ter ac tive and<br />
par tic i pa tory ways <strong>of</strong> col lect ing and us ing sustainability knowl edge in or der to ad vance<br />
sustainability re search, to si mul ta neously in te grate and ed u cate pub lic un der stand ing and to<br />
con trib ute to com plex pol icy de ci sions. He is co-ed i tor (with Ann Dale) <strong>of</strong> Achiev ing Sus tain -<br />
able De vel op ment (Van cou ver: Uni ver sity <strong>of</strong> Brit ish Co lum bia Press, 1996).<br />
CONTRIBUTORS<br />
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Tind Shepper Ryen (Uni ver sity <strong>of</strong> Col o rado) is a doc toral stu dent in the En vi ron men tal Stud ies<br />
pro gram at CU. His re search fo cuses on fed eral sci ence de ci sion mak ing and US space pol icy.<br />
Dan iel Sarewitz (Ar i zona State Uni ver sity) is man ag ing di rec tor <strong>of</strong> the Con sor tium for Sci ence,<br />
Pol icy, and Out comes (CSPO). His work fo cuses on un der stand ing the con nec tions be tween sci -<br />
en tific re search and so cial ben e fit, and on de vel op ing meth ods and pol i cies to strengthen such<br />
con nec tions. He is au thor <strong>of</strong> Fron tiers <strong>of</strong> Il lu sion: Sci ence, Tech nol ogy, and the Pol i tics <strong>of</strong> Prog -<br />
ress (1996) and one <strong>of</strong> the ed i tors <strong>of</strong> Liv ing with the Ge nie: Es says on Tech nol ogy and the Quest<br />
for Hu man Mas tery (2003).<br />
Alison Shaw (Uni ver sity <strong>of</strong> Brit ish Co lum bia) is a doc toral can di date in the Re source Man age -<br />
ment En vi ron men tal Stud ies pro gram at UBC. Her re search fo cuses on the sci ence pol icy in ter -<br />
face in the In ter gov ern men tal Panel on Cli mate Change (IPCC).<br />
Kristin Shrader-Frechette (Uni ver sity <strong>of</strong> No tre Dame) is pro fes sor <strong>of</strong> phi los o phy and bi o log i -<br />
cal sci ences. Her work cov ers sev eral ar eas in pub lic pol icy and the phi los o phy <strong>of</strong> sci ence. Most<br />
re cently, she has authored En vi ron men tal Jus tice: Cre at ing Equal ity, Re claim ing De moc racy<br />
(New York: Ox ford Uni ver sity Press, 2002) and co-ed ited (with Laura Westra) Tech nol ogy and<br />
Hu man Val ues (Sav age, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 1997).<br />
Rama Mohana Turaga (Geor gia In sti tute <strong>of</strong> Tech nol ogy) BS and MS de grees in Civil En gi -<br />
neer ing from Andhra Uni ver sity and the In dian In sti tute <strong>of</strong> Tech nol ogy, Kharagpur, re spec -<br />
tively, and is cur rently a doc toral stu dent <strong>of</strong> Pub lic Pol icy at Geor gia Tech. He has worked as an<br />
en gi neer and en vi ron men tal pol icy an a lyst.<br />
Uday Turaga (Penn syl va nia State Uni ver sity) holds BS and MS de grees in Chem is try from the<br />
Uni ver sity <strong>of</strong> Delhi, In dia, and a re cent doc tor ate in Fuel Sci ence from Penn State. He has pub -<br />
lished widely in In dia and the United States on sci ence pol icy is sues. He is cur rently em ployed at<br />
the Bartlesville Tech nol ogy Cen ter <strong>of</strong> ConocoPhillips do ing re search on sorbent de vel op ment.<br />
PHILOSOPHY TODAY<br />
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