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The Gap Between Political Discourse and Scientific Discourse
Boekbijdrage - Boekhoofdstuk Conferentiebijdrage
The aim of this paper is to give a philosophical outline of the great divide between the field of the political and the field of the sciences. In Modern philosophy of political science, politics is thought as representing humans where science is thought as representing non-humans.
The initial categorization of the political field takes us to Plato's philosophy. By means of the allegory of the cave in his dialogue The Republic Plato describes the way that society is divided in two parts, a political world and a scientific world. Both worlds are radically cut from each other. These lines of the break are analyzed in Latour's Politics of Nature (2004).
The first break is between the access to the truth and the scope of the social or public life. According to the allegory's metaphorical language philosophers must get rid of the tyranny of social life, of politics, in order to obtain access to the truth.
The second break is the fact that the scientist returns to the cave in order to apply the objective knowledge of the impersonal world outside. The scientist was able to obtain this knowledge exactly because he got rid of the captivity of social life. And exactly this (objective) knowledge will be applied to impose order and silence in those places where disputes and controversies are caused. Again here is no continuity between the applied knowledge (the scientist's absolute objective principles) and the disputes within social, public life. Up to now, political and scientific discourses are still thought as separated fields whereas both politicians and scientists are challenged to bridge the cap.
In this paper we want to deals with the philosophical ideas of the evolving relationship between politics and science, between humans and non humans. With Latour (2004) we argue that the notion of politics should cover the representation of both humans and non-humans. Moreover, signs are clearly present that the distinction between humans and non-humans cannot be maintained. In view of the politics of concern, in any case, this dichotomy cannot persist, since both dimensions are connected, interrelated and of mutual influencing one another.
The initial categorization of the political field takes us to Plato's philosophy. By means of the allegory of the cave in his dialogue The Republic Plato describes the way that society is divided in two parts, a political world and a scientific world. Both worlds are radically cut from each other. These lines of the break are analyzed in Latour's Politics of Nature (2004).
The first break is between the access to the truth and the scope of the social or public life. According to the allegory's metaphorical language philosophers must get rid of the tyranny of social life, of politics, in order to obtain access to the truth.
The second break is the fact that the scientist returns to the cave in order to apply the objective knowledge of the impersonal world outside. The scientist was able to obtain this knowledge exactly because he got rid of the captivity of social life. And exactly this (objective) knowledge will be applied to impose order and silence in those places where disputes and controversies are caused. Again here is no continuity between the applied knowledge (the scientist's absolute objective principles) and the disputes within social, public life. Up to now, political and scientific discourses are still thought as separated fields whereas both politicians and scientists are challenged to bridge the cap.
In this paper we want to deals with the philosophical ideas of the evolving relationship between politics and science, between humans and non humans. With Latour (2004) we argue that the notion of politics should cover the representation of both humans and non-humans. Moreover, signs are clearly present that the distinction between humans and non-humans cannot be maintained. In view of the politics of concern, in any case, this dichotomy cannot persist, since both dimensions are connected, interrelated and of mutual influencing one another.
Boek: In Proceedings of the International Political Science Association (IPSA) 2009 annual meeting 21st IPSA World Congress, Research Committee Sessions (RC11) Science and Politics, July 12-16 2009, Santiago, Chile
Jaar van publicatie:2009
Trefwoorden:Political Discourse, Scientific Discourse, Latour, Politics of facts, Politics of concern