18 Questions
What is the term used to describe the organized, well-founded knowledge of nature and human nature?
Natural philosophy
What is science often described as due to its vast social consequences?
A total societal enterprise
In what way is science compared to 'Esperanto' or a universal language?
A sophisticated intellectual version of Esperanto
What is the attitude encouraged in the process of obtaining scientific knowledge?
Organized and systematic skepticism
What are the goals of science outlined in the text?
Explanation, understanding, prediction, control
How is scientific knowledge described in terms of its certainty?
Scientific knowledge is tentative
What is the relationship between society and scientific knowledge?
Science is a human endeavor influenced by society and culture.
How do social norms impact technoscience?
Technology is an expression of a social world.
What are professional norms in technoscience?
Scientific laws and theories are separate kinds of scientific knowledge.
Why are scientific concepts open to interpretation?
Scientific observations are inherently subjective based on interpretations.
How do disagreements arise in defining science?
Technology is a discourse on practical or industrial arts.
What is the impact of social norms on scientific knowledge?
Science is influenced by society and culture.
Why did the classical view of science begin to fall apart in the 20th century?
Philosophers were unable to formalize the 'black box' of Nature, Science, and Truth, and historians found no such thing as 'pure science' removed from social and political interactions.
What did sociologists discover when they opened the black box of contemporary scientific activity?
They found that the inside of the black box was thoroughly social and political, implying that science is not separate from societal influences.
What is the concept of 'scientism' and how far back does it trace?
Scientism is the belief in a sharp divide between 'facts' and 'values' in science, tracing back to at least the Scientific Revolution (c. 1550–1700).
What is the authority of science based on, according to the concept of scientism?
The authority of science is based on its claim to be 'value free' and 'objective,' as promoted by scientism.
How does scientism view the role of experts in solving society's problems?
Scientism promotes the idea that all of society's problems can be solved by experts who are specially trained to unearth the facts of the matter.
Why do most people still hold the naive view of science, according to the text?
Most people still hold the naive view of science due to the influence of scientism, which propagates the idea of a clear distinction between 'facts' and 'values' in scientific endeavors.
Explore the breakdown of the classical view in science during the 20th century and the challenges in formalizing a singular scientific method. Delve into the complexities of how scientists reach consensus on truths of the natural world.
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