Kuhn and the War of Science

Author: Cai Ting · Shadagin Wulun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-03-01
Features: Post-normal science requires expanding the boundaries of science to include different processes, prospects, and types of validity knowledge. It particularly needs to bridge the gap between scientific experts and public concerns. In post-normal science, qualitative assessments of scientific work cannot be solely conducted by scientists—because faced with extreme uncertainty and profound risks, they too have become non-experts. Not long ago, we believed that science was a neutral, value-free pursuit of truth. Thomas Kuhn examined science as a social activity in his book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. He reduced science to a puzzle-solving activity within belief systems and suggested that conventional science is merely dogmatic stability, which will be disrupted by occasional revolutions. Science sociologists have gone even further, arguing that scientists merely negotiate their agreements rather than being constrained by mysterious facts. In recent years, science has been seen as a clash of opposition between scientists and sociologists. The book Kuhn and the Science Wars reveals how science has become a competing cultural symbol and suggests that we need a new synthesis beyond the old debates in post-normal science. Science is no longer what experts demonstrate but a dialogue among stakeholders. This is the new face of science, which will also breathe new life into Kuhn's original insights.