The Constitution of Science

Préface
Introduces the idea of a 'Constitution of Science' as a means for protecting the foundations of science.

Auteur
C. Mantzavinos is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Athens and an elected member of the Academia Europaea and the Académie Internationale de Philosophie des Sciences. He has taught at Freiburg, Stanford and Witten/Herdecke, was a senior fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods, Bonn and held visiting appointments at Harvard, Princeton and the Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, Paris. He is the author of Wettbewersbstheorie (1994), Individuals, Institutions and Markets (Cambridge University Press, 2001), Naturalistic Hermeneutics (Cambridge University Press, 2005), Explanatory Pluralism (Cambridge University Press, 2016), A Dialogue on Explanation (2018), A Dialogue on Institutions (2021) and the editor of Philosophy of the Social Sciences (Cambridge University Press, 2009).

Texte du rabat

How can science be protected, by whom and at what level? Mantzavinos introduces the idea of a 'Constitution of Science' as a vital means to channel the scientific process effectively. Will appeal to audiences who have concerns about the long-lasting attacks on science.

Résumé
How can science be protected, by whom and at what level? If science is valued positively as the incubator of the most successful solutions to representational problems of reality as well as the basis of the most effective interventions in the natural and social world, then its constitutional foundations must be protected. This book develops a specific normative outlook on science by introducing the idea of a 'Constitution of Science'. Scientific activities are special kinds of epistemic problem-solving activities unfolding in an institutional context. The scientific enterprise is a social process unfolding within an intricate institutional framework that structures the daily activities of scientists and shapes their outcomes. Those institutions of science which are of the highest generality make up the 'Constitution of Science' and are of fundamental importance for channelling the scientific process effectively.

Contenu
Introduction; 1. The scaffolds humans erect on science; 2. Science and values; 3. Normativity; 4. The informal institutions of science; 5. Core scientific activities: explanation and interpretation; 6. The formal institutions of science; 7. The search for an adequate constitution; 8. Five principles for a quasi-autonomous science; Epilogue: The constitution of science is written in the heart of the scientists; Excursus: The value-free ideal for science; References.