History and Past Activities
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History and Past Activities |
John Ziman
London, United Kingdom, jmziman@aol.com
The non-instrumental role of science.
According to economists and politicians the sole function of science is to produced instrumental knowledge that can be commodified to serve perceived corporate or state ends. In the name of competitive market efficiency, they encourage the systematic commercialisation of all research. But in a pluralist society, science also performs important non-instrumental roles. In particular, academic science has traditionally provided society with reliable, imaginative, public knowledge, and with self-critical, disinterested expertise. This function is not compatible with the practice of instrumental science, which is typically proprietary, prosaic, pragmatic and partisan. But as research becomes ever more dependent on public and corporate funding, increasing stress is laid on its direct practical utility. All modes of knowledge production are merging into a new, ‘post-academic’ research culture which is dominated by instrumental values. The urgent question for all scientists and metascientists now is how to ensure that the increasing commercialisation of science does not destroy its capacity to perform its vital non-instrumental functions.
Sociology of Science and Technology NETwork - last update: April 2006