The Siblinghood of Humanity

Abstract

The most important way in which science relates to culture is via its basic axiom. This axiom is that science is a public enterprise, that it is open to all: it has no esoteric parts. To take a striking example, as an institution, science does not recognize the fruits of classified research, no matter how good they may be. To gain recognition as scientific, an item of information or an idea must be on public display. This justifies the label of the scientific culture “the commonwealth of learning”, “the republic of science”, or, broadly, “the republic of letters”. (That republic includes every cultural item except the obscure — from the mysteries of theology to trade secrets.) The essential openness of science rests on the idea that we are all brothers and sisters. By tradition, the title for this feature is “the Brotherhood of Man”. “The siblinghood of humanity” seems to me a better title. It is in line with the general recent upgrading of the English language.