Pereira - Science, Philosophy and Sustainability

Science, Philosophy and Sustainability

For science to remain a legitimate and trustworthy source of knowledge, society will have to engage in collective processes of knowledge co-production, which not only include science, but also other types of knowledge. This process of change has to include a new commitment to knowledge creation and transmission and its role in a plural society.

This book proposes to consider new ways in which science can be used to sustain our planet and enrich our lives. It helps to release and reactivate social responsibility within contemporary science and technology. It reviews critically relevant cases of contemporary scientific practice within the Cartesian paradigm, relabelled as innovation research, promoted as essential for the progress and well-being of humanity, and characterised by high capital investment, centralised control of funding and quality, exclusive expertise, and a reductionism that is philosophical as well as methodological.

This is an accessible and relevant book for scholars in science and technology studies, history and philosophy of science, and science, engineering and technology ethics. Providing an array of concrete examples, it supports scientists, engineers and technical experts, as well as policy-makers and other non-technical professionals working with science and technology to redirect their approach to global problems, in a more integrative, self-reflective and humble direction.

ngela Guimares Pereira is a scientific officer of the Joint Research Centre, European Commission, Ispra, Italy.

Silvio Funtowicz is Professor at the Centre for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities of the University of Bergen, Norway.

Routledge Explorations in Sustainability and Governance

Resource Accounting for Sustainability Assessment

The nexus between energy, food, water and land use

Mario Giampietro, Richard J. Aspinall, Jesus Ramos-Martin and Sandra G.F. Bukkens

Science, Philosophy and Sustainability

The end of the Cartesian dream

ngela Guimares Pereira and Silvio Funtowicz

Science, Philosophy and Sustainability

The end of the Cartesian dream

Edited by ngela Guimares Pereira and Silvio Funtowicz

First published 2015

by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

and by Routledge

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Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2015 ngela Guimares Pereira and Silvio Funtowicz

The right of the editors to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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ISBN: 978-1-138-79640-9 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-1-315-75790-2 (ebk)

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This inspired collection serves to awaken us from the illusory dependence on the Cartesian dream that arrogantly assumes that nature and society can be controlled. It calls for a renewed sense of responsibility in science, driving innovation to serve society in the pursuit of sustainability, justice and equality.

Cynthia Selin, Arizona State University, USA

For too long, sustainability was considered a low-hanging fruit for science and technology. It appeared to require nothing but an expansion of rational control, optimized performance, more efficient resource-use. This book shows that a more humble, probing, and integrative approach is required for science and technology to genuinely promote sustainable development. Aside from defining the challenge, it provides the conceptual tools for meeting it.

Alfred Norman, Technische Universitt Darmstadt, Germany

The book edited by ngela Guimares Pereira and Silvio Funtowicz on Science, Philosophy and Sustainability, is a sign of hope. If humanity wants to address and overcome the vital challenges of global environment crisis we will need a New Organon for scientific research and scientific debate. This book is a milestone in the right path.

Viriato Soromenho Marques, University of Lisbon, Portugal

The Cartesian dream of absolute scientific knowledge and absolute technological power has suffered greatly over the past decades, giving way to increasing paradox, confusion, indeterminacy and concerns over technologys perverse effects. This outstanding collection of articles is required reading for anyone seeking to understand this philosophical, scientific, technological and social crisis.

Tsjalling Swierstra, Maastricht University, the Netherlands

Contents

MARIO GIAMPIETRO, SERIES EDITOR

JEROME RAVETZ

SILVIO FUNTOWICZ AND NGELA GUIMARES PEREIRA

PART I
Foundations

RAGNAR FJELLAND

DAVID WALTNER-TOEWS

EDVIN SCHEI AND ROGER STRAND

PART II
Technoscience and innovation

FERN WICKSON

ALICE BENESSIA AND NGELA GUIMARES PEREIRA

MARIACHIARA TALLACCHINI

PAULA CURVELO

PART III
Quality in an interconnected world

DANIEL SAREWITZ

ANDREA SALTELLI AND SILVIO FUNTOWICZ

Alice Benessia is a visual artist and research fellow on epistemology of sustainability at the University of Aosta Valley and the Interdisciplinary Research Institute on Sustainability (IRIS) based at the University of Turin. She is a founding member of the Italian Association for Sustainability Science. Her interdisciplinary research deals with epistemological issues arising in the framework of art, science and sustainability, with special interest in visual language. In her photography, she focuses on the relationship between human beings and socio-ecological systems.

Paula Curvelo is a Ph.D. candidate in environmental philosophy at the University of Lisbon, Portugal. She holds a degree in Geography (University of Lisbon, UL), a postgraduate diploma in Urban Sociology (Instituto Universitrio de Lisboa, ISCTE-IUL), and a masters degree in Geographic Information Systems and Science (New University of Lisbon ISEGI-NOVA). Her current research interests include the ethical, legal and social aspects of geoengineering, the governance of emerging technologies, the politics of risk and uncertainty, and the philosophy of technology.

Ragnar Fjelland is trained as a physicist and philosopher, and his current topics of interest include the significance of technology for the acquisition of scientific knowledge, philosophical implications of chaos theory and fractal geometry, complexity and uncertainty, ethical problems of modern science and technology, and the challenge of environmental problems to science. He is Professor Emeritus at Centre for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities, University of Bergen, Norway.