Reflections on Rational Goals in Science and Technology; A Comment on Olsson

Abstract

In the first part of my comments on Olsson I argue that the question whether or not true knowledge may be reduced to useful knowledge is not relevant for the question whether the goal of science is the same as the goal of technology. The reason is that technology is not primarily an epistemic enterprise. The goal of technology is roughly the making of useful things and the development of useful knowledge is a means to achieve this goal, not the goal of technology itself. Because what is useful is context dependent, the goal of technology is intrinsically context dependent in contrast to the goal of science. I argue that this difference in context-dependency has direct impact on when and how issues about rational goal setting in science and technology present themselves. In the second part I address the issue how the theory for rational goal setting discussed by Olsson relates to the widespread idea that rationality is only operative in the domain of means and not of goals. I argue that this theory, which stems from the field of management, is substance dependent and therefore cannot simply be transferred to science. Finally, Olsson argues that in science it may be more rational to go for the more motivational goal of true belief and not just belief, because the more motivational goal may be more achievement-inducing. I briefly point out that setting highly motivating goals may have serious drawbacks and therefore may not always be rational.