Article ID: CBB123376778

Challenging Expertise: Paul Feyerabend Vs. Harry Collins & Robert Evans on Democracy, Public Participation and Scientific Authority: Paul Feyerabend Vs. Harry Collins & Robert Evans on Scientific Authority and Public Participation (2016)

unapi

This paper compares Feyerabend's arguments in Science in a Free Society to the controversial theory of expertise proposed by Harry Collins and Robert Evans as a Third Wave of Science Studies. Is the legitimacy of democratic decisions threatened by the unquestioned authority of scientific advice? Or does, on the contrary, science need protection from too much democratic participation in technical decisions? Where Feyerabend's political relativism envisions democratic society as inherently pluralist and demands equal contribution of all traditions and worldviews to public decision-making, Collins and Evans hold a conception of elective modernism, defending the reality and value of technical expertise and arguing that science deserves a privileged status in modern democracies, because scientific values are also democratic values. I will argue that Feyerabend's political relativism provides a valuable framework for the evaluation of Collins' and Evans' theory of expertise. By constructing a dialog between Feyerabend and this more recent approach in Science and Technology Studies, the aim of this article is not only to show where the two positions differ and in what way they might be reconciled, but also how Feyerabend's philosophy provides substantial input to contemporary debate.

...More
Included in

Article Matthew J. Brown; Ian James Kidd (2016) Introduction: Reappraising Paul Feyerabend. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science (pp. 1-8). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB123376778/

Similar Citations

Article Matthew J. Brown; (2016)
The Abundant World: Paul Feyerabend's Metaphysics of Science (/isis/citation/CBB255917734/)

Article Catherine Paradeise; Ghislaine Filliatreau; (2021)
Scientific Integrity Matters (/isis/citation/CBB481223880/)

Article Matthew Hayes; Noah Morritt; (2020)
Michael W. Burke-Gaffney and the UFO Debate in Atlantic Canada, 1947-1969 (/isis/citation/CBB417665220/)

Book Liz Sevcenko; (2022)
Public History for a Post-Truth Era: Fighting Denial through Memory Movements (/isis/citation/CBB650942848/)

Essay Review Mark P. Silverman; (2017)
Scientific Controversies: Authentic and Contrived (/isis/citation/CBB701452514/)

Book David Harker; (2015)
Creating Scientific Controversies: Uncertainty and Bias in Science and Society (/isis/citation/CBB156153688/)

Book Clemens Maier-Wolthausen; (2019)
Hauptstadt der Tiere: Die Geschichte des ältesten deutschen Zoos (/isis/citation/CBB818940408/)

Article Jing Zhu; Mingjun Zhang; Michael Weisberg; (2020)
Why does the Chinese public accept evolution? (/isis/citation/CBB639691803/)

Article Davidson, Roei; (2014)
Financial Markets and Authoritative Proximity in Personal Finance Magazines (/isis/citation/CBB001420115/)

Book Andrew Jewett; (2020)
Science under Fire: Challenges to Scientific Authority in Modern America (/isis/citation/CBB653749085/)

Article Kerr, Anne; Cunningham-Burley, Sarah; Tutton, Richard; (2007)
Shifting Subject Positions: Experts and Lay People in Public Dialogue (/isis/citation/CBB000780233/)

Article Joris Mercelis; (2020)
The scientist and the advertisement: Reklamegutachten in imperial Germany (/isis/citation/CBB621920403/)

Book Inmaculada de Melo-Martín; Kristen Intemann; (2018)
The Fight Against Doubt: How to Bridge the Gap Between Scientists and the Public (/isis/citation/CBB549674958/)

Article Forbes, Curtis; (2011)
Science and Public Controversy: Editor's Introduction (/isis/citation/CBB001220690/)

Authors & Contributors
Noah Morritt
Mitchell Kiefer
Ghislaine Filliatreau
Liz Sevcenko
Howell, Emily L.
Matthew Hayes
Concepts
Public understanding of science
Science and society
Authority of science
Controversies and disputes
Communication of scientific ideas
Authorities; experts
Time Periods
21st century
20th century
19th century
Modern
20th century, late
20th century, early
Places
United States
Italy
Germany
China
Canada
Berlin (Germany)
Institutions
Carnegie Museum of Natural History (Pittsburgh)
Zoologischer Garten Berlin
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment