Science as Public Sphere?

Abstract

In this paper we argue that the best way to explain the normative framework of science is to adopt a model inspired in the democratic characterization of a public sphere. This model assumes and develops some deliberative democratic principles about the inclusiveness of the concerned, the parity of the reasons and the general interest of the subjects. In contrast to both bargaining models and to power-inspired models of the scientific activities, the model of scientific public sphere proposes to account for the self-legislative capacity of science, the public nature of the scientific results and the epistemic virtues of scientific research in terms of the deliberative process carried out by individuals who are engaging in the public use of reason. This perspective provides new insights into the normative conditions of a democratic science.Jesús Vega Encabo is Associate Professor in the Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain. He has published several papers in epistemology and philosophy of science and technology. In epistemology, his research topics concern the philosophical analysis of know-how and experience. In philosophy of science and technology, he is interested in the analysis of scientific practices and the place of science in democracies.

Media and Participation: A site of ideological-democratic struggle

“…Another argument supporting this approach is that authors in other research elds have labelled other spaces public spheres. 36 Shelton (2009), for instance, writes about the museum as a public sphere, Buschman (2005) refers to the library, and Giroux (2002) and Vega Encabo and Gil Martín (2007) discuss the university and science from this perspective. ere are many other examples, such as public sphere analyses of the workplace (Roberts, 2009), the arts (Fernandes, 2006) and literature (Gustafson, 2008).…”