Frontiers of Illusion: Science, Technology, and the Politics of Progress

250 Pages·1996·33.83 MB·English

by  Daniel Sarewitz

FRONTIERS OF ILLUSION
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FRONTIERS OF
IttUSIO~1
Science, Technology,
and the Politics
of Progress
Daniel Sarewitz
TEMPLE UNIVERSITY PRESS
PHILADELPHIA
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Temple University Press, Philadelphia 19122
Copyright © 1996 by Daniel Sarewitz. All rights reserved
Published 1996
Printed in the United States of America
§ The paper used in this book meets the requirements of
the American National Standard for Information Sciences -
Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials,
ANSIZ39·48-1984·
Text design by Richard Eckersley
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sarewitz, Daniel R.
Frontiers of illusion: science, technology, and the politics of
progress / Daniel Sarewitz.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-56639-415-5 (cloth: alk. paper). - ISBN 1-56639-416-3
(pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Science and state - United States. 2. Technology and state
United States. 3. Research - Philosophy. 4. Research
Government policy - United States. 5. Research
Social aspects - United States. J. Title.
Q127.u6s25 1996 338.97306 - dC20 95-31840
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For Erica
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CONTENTS
Preface ix
Chapter 1: The End of the Age of Physics
Science and Technology Policy 5
Policy Goals and Policy Myths 8
Beyond the Age of Physics: Science,
Technology, and Reality 13
Chapter 2: The Myth ofInfinite Benefit 17
Chapter 3: The Myth of Unfettered Research 31
External Fetters: Teapot in a Tempest 35
Internal Fetters: The Maleness of the System 42
Unfettered Reality 48
Chapter 4: The Myth of Accountability 51
Chapter 5: The Myth of Authoritativeness 71
DNA Fingerprinting: Disorder in the Court 79
Global Climate Change: An Atmosphere
of Uncertainty 83
Stratospheric Ozone Depletion: Getting It
Right (by Accident) 89
Authoritative Politics 92
Chapter 6: The Myth of the Endless Frontier 97
Endless Frontier, Finite Earth 102
Moral Science 113
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CONTENTS
Chapter 7: Pas de Trois: Science, Technology, and
the Marketplace 117
The Sound ofI nvisible Hands Clapping 123
Nobody's Partner 131
Chapter 8: Science as a Surrogate for Social Action 141
Sickness Care 142
The Best Defense 152
Tailoring People to Taste 158
Chapter 9: Toward a New Mythology 169
Five Policy Suggestions: 171
1. Expanding Diversity 172
2. Integrating the Human Element 173
3. Honest Brokers 178
4. Introducing Democracy 181
5. The Global R&D Community 184
The Search for Ellipses 188
Notes 197
Index 231
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PREFACE
THE CONCERNS OF THIS BOOK must be clearly distinguished from those
of a persistent and sometimes vitriolic academic debate that revolves
around the character and validity of the natural sciences. The debate
hinges on the core assertion of science: that some things are objectively
knowable. Is scientific knowledge a reflection of the true structure of an
objective outside world, gradually and progressively approached through
the scientific method? Or, rather, does the inescapable cultural context
in which experiments and observations are carried out permit nothing
more than the construction of a vague and distorted simulacrum of
nature, a reflection more of ourselves than of the world that surrounds
us? The two sides of the debate are variously characterized as science
versus antiscience, modernist versus postmodernist, natural science ver
sus social science, objectivist versus relativist.
Many books and articles have emerged from the dispute, but this book
is not one of them. Nevertheless, because the arguments that will be
presented here are critical of certain political and social implications of
science and technology in modern culture, those who take issue with my
critique may be inclined to interpret it within the context of the philo
sophical controversy about the intrinsic validity of science. To do so is to
miss utterly the central concern of this book, which has nothing to do
with what science is and everything to do with what science does and can
do once it emerges from the laboratory. Therefore, to avoid confusion
and misrepresentation, I here baldly and unapologetically state that I
recognize the scientific method to be a valid technique for approaching
what I am pleased to term an objective understanding of the physical and
natural world. This belief, however, offers no a priori comfort to anyone
who would try to answer such questions as What types of scientific
knowledge should society choose to pursue? How should such choices be
made and by whom? How should society apply this knowledge, once
gained? How can "progress" in science and technology be defined and
measured in the context of broader social and political goals? And in
deed, it is precisely these sorts of questions that underlie and motivate
this book.
ix
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