Why have scientists shied away from politics, or defended their
work as value free? How has the ideal of neutrality come to
dominate the world of science? These are some of the central
questions that Robert Proctor addresses in his study of the
politics of modern science.
"Value-Free Science?" emphasizes the importance of understanding
the political origins and impact of scientific ideas. Proctor
lucidly demonstrates how value-neutrality is a reaction to larger
political developments, including the use of science by government
and industry, the specialization of professional disciplines, and
the efforts to stifle intellectual freedoms or to politicize the
world of the academy.
The first part of the book traces the origins of
value-neutrality prior to the eighteenth century. Plato and
Aristotle saw contemplative thought as superior to practical
action, and this separation of theory and practice is still invoked
today in defense of "neutral science." In the seventeenth century
the Baconian search for useful knowledge allowed a new and closer
tie between theory and practice, but it also isolated moral
knowledge from natural philosophy. Another version of neutrality
was introduced by the mechanical conception of the universe, in
which the idea of a benevolent, human-centered cosmos was replaced
with a "devalorized" view of nature.
The central part of the book explores the exclusion of politics
and morals with the emergence of the social sciences. Proctor
highlights the case of Germany, where the ideal of value-neutrality
was first articulated in modern form by social scientists seeking
to attack or defend Marxism, feminism, and other social movements.
He traces the rise andfall of positivist ethical and economic
theory, showing that arguments for value-free science often mask
concrete political maneuvers. Finally, he reviews critiques of
science that have been voiced in recent debates over critical
issues in agricultural science, military research, health and
medicine, and biological determinism.
This provocative book will interest anyone seeking ways to
reconcile the ideals of scientific freedom and social
responsibility.
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