Ideology And Science Flashcards
The impacts of science on society
- medicine
- transport, communications, work and leisure
- revolutionised economic productivity and raised our standards of living
- pollution, global warming and weapons of mass destruction
- manufactured risks
How does science have a cognitive power
It allows us to explain, predict and control the world in a way that non scientific belief systems can’t
Open belief systems
Popper says science is an open belief system which is governed by falsificationism. Discarding falsified knowledge claims is what enables scientific understanding of the world to grow. Scientific knowledge is cumulative.
CUDOS norms
Merton identifies these norms which make scientists act in ways that serve the goal of increasing scientific knowledge:
- Communism: scientific knowledge isn’t private property, it must be shared so it can grow
- Universalism: the truth or falsity of scientific knowledge is judged by universal, objective criteria
- Disinterestedness: being committed to discovering knowledge for its own sake
- Organised Scepticism: every idea is open to questioning, criticism and investigation
Closed belief systems
Horton says belief systems make knowledge claims that can’t be successfully overturned. Whenever its fundamental beliefs are threatened, a closed belief system has a number of devices that reinforce the system and prevent it from being disproved.
Devices used by belief systems to sustain themselves in the face of contradictory evidence (Polanyi)
- Circularity
Each idea in the system is explained in terms of another idea within the system - Subsidiary explanations
- Denial of legitimacy to rivals
Refusing to grant any legitimacy to the basic assumptions of alternative worldviews
Science as a closed system
Polanyi says all belief systems reject fundamental challenges to their knowledge claims and science is no different. eg Velikovsky published a book where he put forward a new theory on the origins of the earth. Instead of putting the theory to the test like open systems do, the scientific community rejected it without reading it.
How is scientific knowledge socially constructed
Interpretin ist’s say that rather than being objective truth, it is created by social groups using the resources available to them.
Knorr-Cetina says that new instruments permit scientists to make new observations and fabricate new facts. What they study in the lab is constructed and far removed from the natural world that they are supposedly studying.
Woolgar’s views on science
- scientists have the same process of interpreting the world as everyone else
- when confronted by evidence from their observations they decide what it means a by making theories or explanations but they then have to persuade others to accept it.
- a scientific fact is a social construction that scientists convince their colleagues to share
Marxist, feminist and postmodernist views on science
- Marxists say scientific knowledge serves the interest of the ruling class and advances in ‘pure’ science are driven by the need of capitalism for certain types of knowledge
- Feminists say scientific knowledge serves the interests of men and can be a form of ideology eg biological ideas justifying male domination
- Postmodernists like Lyotard say science is a mega narrative which falsely claims to find the truth about how the world works but is actually just another discourse used to dominate people. Science has become techno science which serves capitalism by making commodities for profit
Define ideology
A worldview or set of ideas and values. Also defined as
- distorted ideas about the world
- ideas that conceal the interests of a particular group or justify their privileges
- ideas that mislead people about the reality of the situation they’re in
- a self sustaining belief system that is irrational and closed to criticism
Marxism and ideology
The capitalist class exploit the working class who aim to overthrow capitalism. To do this they need to develop class consciousness but this is prevented by ruling class ideology which includes beliefs such as:
- equality won’t work because it goes against human nature
- victim blaming ideas such as Bowles and Gintis’ ‘the poor are dumb’ theory of meritocracy
- racist ideas about the inferiority of EMs
Hegemony and revolution
- Gramsci refers to the ruling class’ ideological domination of society as hegemony
- the w/c have a dual consciousness so it is possible for them to develop class consciousness and overthrow capitalism
- this requires a political party of organic intellectuals ie those who have a class consciousness
x it isn’t the ideology that prevents workers from overthrowing capitalism. Abercrombie et al say that economic factors such as the fear of unemployment keeps workers from rebelling
The ideology of nationalism
Nationalism claims that
- nations are real, distinctive communities each with its own unique characteristics and a long, shared history
- every nation should be self governing
- national loyalty and identity should come before all others
x Anderson says a nation is only an imagined community and even though we identify with it we will never know most of its other members.
Marxism: nationalism as false consciousness
Nationalism is a form of false class consciousness that helps to prevent the overthrow of capitalism by dividing the working class. This is because nationalism encourages workers to believe they have more in common with the capitalists of their country than with workers of other countries. This has enabled the ruling class of each country to persuade the working class to fight wars on their behalf
