The Ethics of Distributing Scientific Knowledge: Epistemic and Ethical Injustices in Context

Abstract

Science communication is fundamentally about distribution, knowledge distribution. Like all distributions, it raises issues of justice. This paper discusses core issues for contemporary science communication by mapping them onto well-defined theories of distributive justice. Importantly, considerations of epistemic justice force us to look not only at the classic recipients (the audience), but also at the distributors (science communicators), as they are, themselves, also recipients of knowledge.