Hola. Los mensajes de abajo son parte de la segunda etapa, de un seminario virtual sobre el tema Democratizacion de la Ciencia, del Concejo Britanico. http://science.britishcouncil.org Ligia ----------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 16:24:51 -0000 Subject: [Modern science] Science and politics From: Mick Fealty <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Democraticscience (E-mail)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ====================== From: Saliem Fakir Director IUCN-SA South Africa Saliem suggests some practical steps ====================== I think the issue of democracy and science can and must be viewed in the following manner: 1. Create a climate for creative endeavour amongst scientists, so that all theories and views can be tested, and encouraged. Something where there is still great room for improvement. 2. Ensure that there is at least a democratic process around the decisions as to what the priority scientific issues are, so as to direct public funds towards work that is relevant and benefits the public. 3. Ensure that with regard to protecting the public interest, especially on matters of ethics, there is democratic oversight - more so when scientific work or products are likely to fundamentally affect society. It is in areas covered by points 2 and 3 that I would think democracy can play a very positive role in protecting the interest of the public and ensure that real benefits from science can be derived. Mensaje Dos---------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2001 08:47:14 -0000 Subject: [Modern science] Science and politics From: Mick Fealty <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Democraticscience (E-mail)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ======================= From: Suresh K. Mahajan Molecular Biology and Agriculture Division Bhabha Atomic Research Centre Mumbai India Suresh examines Saliem's suggested practical steps ======================= The three point action plan suggested by Saliem Fakir to regulate the interaction between science and society provides a reasonable way to safeguard the interests of both the 'partners', as Eric Sandmann would call them. There is, however, an apparent contradiction between his suggestions 1 and 3. An environment in which scientists can test all ideas and theories may be inconsistent with democratic supervision of scientific work from outside science. Such supervision is certainly desirable in the case those applications of scientific knowledge which may affect society adversely, say by degrading the environment to unacceptable levels or by raising armies of brawny clones. However, outside control of work related to understanding nature may stifle science and deprive it of one of the major roles that it has played historically, namely, evolving our worldview and belief systems to make them consistent with reality and discarding those based on some arbitrary, imaginary formulations invented when much less was known about reality. Not permitting scientists to explore ideas that may contradict these formulations, and the ethics based on them, may stunt the growth of humanity. History would suggest that this has actually happened in the past. I wonder if there is a reasonable way to deal with this problem. Mensaje Tres----------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2001 12:59:59 -0000 Subject: [Modern science] Science and politics From: Mick Fealty <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Democraticscience (E-mail)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ====================== From: Mick Fealty Moderator UK ====================== This recent press release from President Bush is a practical demonstration of the complexity of the politics of science in democratic society: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/03/20010314.html ++++++++++++++++++++++ The European Commission is preparing a White Paper on European Governance: "Enhancing Democracy in the European Union", due to be published in the summer 2001. They are currently seeking the views of policy-makers, experts and the public, including representative groups, on a number of issues connected with the topic using a web-based questionnaire. You don't need to be based within the EU, though some of the questions are questions. If you are interested in participating, background information and the questionnaire can be found at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/improving/intro_en.html. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Ligia Parra-Esteban Directora Fundacion VOC de Investigacion de la Comunicacion Entre Cientificos. Apartado Aereo 86745 Bogota. Colombia. http://www.mox.uniandes.edu.co/voc Telefono (+) 571-6242075 Fax (+) 571-6139654 Zona Postal 1102 E-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] Secretario Junta Directiva Luis H. Blanco <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Laboratorio de Investigaciones Basicas. Bloque 9 Ciudad Universitaria. Unidad Camilo Torres. --------------------------------------------------------------------- ============================================================================= Si necesita retirarse de la lista envie un mensaje a: [EMAIL PROTECTED] con una unica linea : unsubscribe r-caldas Para inscribirse en la lista envie un mensaje a [EMAIL PROTECTED] con una unica linea : subscribe r-caldas Los mensajes que circulan en la lista los puede consultar en : http://www.mail-archive.com/r-caldas@colciencias.gov.co
