Abstract
This chapter addresses the question of general (non-specialized) science education in terms not of a required scientific literacy but with reference to the need for a transformation in the relation between scientists and a democratic society. Such a transformation, it is argued, is less conditioned by a general discourse about the relative, value-laden character of scientific knowledge than by an appetitive interest for both the uncertainty and challenges of science in the making and the controversial socio-technical situations where diverging scientific arguments and facts confront each other. Taking into account scientists’ deeply ingrained distrust of ‘public opinion’, the need for the development of connoisseurship is emphasized. Finally it is shown why not only a democratic society but scientists themselves need today the mediation activity of interested but critical and demanding connoisseurs.
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Notes
- 1.
The distinction between matters of concern and matters of fact has been forcefully and fruitfully introduced by Bruno Latour. See, for instance, Latour 2004.
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Stengers, I. (2014). The Need for a Public Understanding of Sciences. In: Bruguière, C., Tiberghien, A., Clément, P. (eds) Topics and Trends in Current Science Education. Contributions from Science Education Research, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7281-6_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7281-6_2
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