Fuller, Steve, 1959-. (2012) The art of being human : a project for general philosophy of science. Journal for General Philosophy of Science, Vol.43 (No.1). pp. 113-123. ISSN 0925-4560

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Abstract

Throughout the medieval and modern periods, in various sacred and secular guises, the unification of all forms of knowledge under the rubric of ‘science’ has been taken as the prerogative of humanity as a species. However, as our sense of species privilege has been called increasingly into question, so too has the very salience of ‘humanity’ and ‘science’ as general categories, let alone ones that might bear some essential relationship to each other. After showing how the ascendant Stanford School in the philosophy of science has contributed to this joint demystification of ‘humanity’ and ‘science’, I proceed on a more positive note to a conceptual framework for making sense of science as the art of being human. My understanding of ‘science’ is indebted to the red thread that runs from Christian theology through the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment to the Humboldtian revival of the university as the site for the synthesis of knowledge as the culmination of self-development. Especially salient to this idea is science‘s epistemic capacity to manage modality (i.e. to determine the conditions under which possibilities can be actualised) and its political capacity to organize humanity into projects of universal concern. However, the challenge facing such an ideal in the twentyfirst century is that the predicate ‘human’ may be projected in three quite distinct ways, governed by what I call ‘ecological’, ‘biomedical’ and ‘cybernetic’ interests. Which one of these future humanities would claim today’s humans as proper ancestors and could these futures co-habit the same world thus become two important questions that general philosophy of science will need to address in the coming years.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	Q Science > Q Science (General)
Divisions:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Sociology
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Science -- Philosophy
Journal or Publication Title:	Journal for General Philosophy of Science
Publisher:	Springer Netherlands
ISSN:	0925-4560
Date:	2012
Volume:	Vol.43
Number:	No.1
Page Range:	pp. 113-123
Identification Number:	10.1007/s10838-012-9181-5
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access
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URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/50418

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