Scientific Knowledge vs. Knowledge of Science

Abstract

How is knowledge pertaining to science best transferred to the public in order to bolster support for science-based policy and governance, thereby serving the common good? Herein lies a well-recognized challenge: widespread public support arguably requires a widespread understanding of science itself, but this is naturally undermined by the inherent complexities of the sciences, and by disparities in teaching and popular reporting. A common reaction to this has been to champion educational reform to produce broader scientific literacy, but prevailing conceptions of this, I argue, are misconceived. I consider an account of “knowledge transfer”—a practice whereby science is “transferred” between different contexts of use—to illuminate why some transfers are successful and others are not, and thus, why conventional appeals to scientific literacy are bound to be ineffective in producing public understanding that serves societal wellbeing. As an alternative, principal focus, what is required is a form of philosophical literacy regarding science, amounting to a particular understanding of the claim that “Whatever natural science may be for the specialist, for educational purposes it is knowledge of the conditions of human action” (Dewey, 1916, p. 128).