Implications of postmodernism for science, or, science as progressive discourse

Abstract

Postmodernism's rejecting of the possibility of an objective stance has led some educators to begin treating scientific knowledge as merely a matter of elite consensus ("Most scientists believe that ..."). Objectivity, I argue, is not an essential claim of science, but progress is. Whether theory B is an improvement over theory A is a question that can be discussed profitably without appeal to objective truth. Such discussion constitutes what I call progressive discourse, which depends on a set of quasi-moral commitments that amount to a devotion to progress in knowledge. Among other things, this view of science as progressive discourse provides more sensible and humane ways of dealing with misconceptions, scientific methodology, and authoritative texts than does the elite consensus view.

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