| Examination: Pass/fail |
Aim: Credible knowledge is knowledge which is worthy of belief, which an
audience can have confidence in and can trust. Historically, the
scientific community worked hard to build institutions which ensured
that scientific knowledge was as credible as possible. By the end of the
twentieth century, scientific advice was commonly seen as in the service
of commercial interests. In the case of unpredictable environmental and
health risks, scientific claims to expertise came to be seen as
complacent and hubristic. Today the ethically-based "precautionary
principle" came to rival standards of scientific proof and certainty.
Increasingly, governments and policy have become wary of technocratic
defences for official policy. |
Contents: This four-day seminar will make a comprehensive examination of
credibility in science. The first day will examine how social
scientists, historians and philosophers have approached the question of
credibility within the scientific community. On day two the focus will
shift to the connection between techniques for building credibility
within science and strategies for boosting the credibility of the
scientific community in the eyes of external agencies. Finally, days
three and four will examine case studies of the external credibility of
scientific expertise. Topics covered will include studies in the
public’s understanding of scientific advice and information; studies of
public participation and the building of the credibility of ‘citizen
expertise’; studies of the credibility of standards; and analysis of the
precautionary principle as basis for policy making. |
| Contact: Steven Yearley |
| Department: 042 Department of Manufacturing Engineering and Management |
| Course URL: http://www.its.dtu.dk/faggr/faggr_e.htm |
| Keywords: Sociology of Scientific Knowledge |
Signup: Annegrethe Hansen
IPL
Building 307
DTU
2800 Lyngby
Signup deadline: apr 05 2001 |
| Updated: 16-03-2001 |
