Abstract
Present day reasoning about difficulties in science reproducibility, science governance, and the use of science for policy could benefit from a philosophical and historical perspective. This would show that the present crisis was anticipated by some scholars of these disciplines, and that diagnoses were offered which are not yet mainstream among crisis-aware disciplines, from statistics to medicine, from bibliometrics to biology. Diagnoses in turn open the path to possible solutions. This discussion is urgent given the impact of the crises on public trust in institutions. We ask whether the present crisis may be seminal in terms of drawing attention to alternative visions for the role of Science in society, and its relevant institutional arrangements. We finish by offering a number of suggestions in this direction.
Highlights
Present day reasoning about difficulties in science reproducibility, science governance, and the use of science for policy could benefit from a philosophical and historical perspective
– Science’s crisis is real, encompassing roles and social functions of science. – The mainstream interpretation of the root causes of the crisis is insufficient, and needs to be complemented with the insight offered by some scholars who anticipated the current predicament. – The root causes of the crisis include profound transformations of society and science’s role in society
The conception of science as a privileged way to reveal objective facts driving social progress and civilization has been the basis of an enduring tradition
Summary
Many articles have been written on the crisis in science’s reproducibility, science’s governance, and the use of science for policy. – The root causes of the crisis include profound transformations of society and science’s role in society. – Science’s crisis is real, encompassing roles and social functions of science. – The mainstream interpretation of the root causes of the crisis is insufficient, and needs to be complemented with the insight offered by some scholars who anticipated the current predicament. In this situation, scientists cannot hope to resolve the problem alone as they have contributed to create it in the first place, and have high stakes in the preservation of the status quo. Scientists cannot hope to resolve the problem alone as they have contributed to create it in the first place, and have high stakes in the preservation of the status quo. – A resolution to the predicament is not in sight, but there are some remedies that can be implemented to improve the situation, including important changes in the behavior and societal activity of the scientific community
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