Science and Representative Democracy

Mauro Dorato charts pressing debates within the philosophy of science that centre around scientific expertise, access to knowledge, consensus, debate, and decision-making.This English-language translation of argues that the advancement of science depends on an exponential process of specialization, accompanied by the creation of technical languages that are less and less accessible to the general public. Dorato reveals how such a process must align with representative forms of democracies, in which knowledge and decision-making ought to aim at the society''s general interest. Given the importance of the principle of competence, however, the role of experts as mediators of knowledge threatens the citizens'' autonomy of choice. Consequently, the risk of technocratic regimes calls for new ways to increase literacy about science and its philosophical and probabilistic foundations. Stressing the conceptual conflict between pluralism and conformism, Science and Representative Democracy reveals the obstacles to the functioning of both science and democracy.>

Préface
English-language translation of Disinformazione Scientifica e Democrazia, charting the growth of scientific expertise and specialism in the context of implications for representative and participatory democracy.

Auteur

Mauro Dorato is Professor of Philosophy of Science at Roma 3 University, Italy.

Contenu
List of Figures Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Historical Prologue: The LippmannDewey Debate 2. How Does Science Work? The Evaluation and Controllability of Scientific Hypotheses 3. How Does Democracy Work? The Balance of Powers 4. Representative Democracy, Direct Democracy, and Scientific Specialization 5. Scientific Disinformation and Distrust in the Experts 6. How to Navigate in the Disagreement of Experts: The Need for Greater Scientific Literacy 7. The Role of the History and Philosophy of Science in the Democratic Debate Conclusion Notes References Index