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Exploring the Borderlands

Summary/Abstract: The problem of the boundaries of science, i.e. where science ends and what begins behind the borders (pseudo-science, superstition, ignorance, nonsense, or whatever), has been a crucial problem ever since science evolved as a powerful cultural form in modern societies. Not surprisingly, approaches depend largely on who, and with what intention, addresses the problem. For many scientists, or those like philosophers of science willing to take up the scientifi c perspective, science represents the form and content of knowledge, which humankind needs in order to secure a rational, just and prosperous future—while those who criticize science or support alternative traditions jeopardize these aims and should thus be combated. For the non-scientifi c majority of society, however, science is a costly and authoritative institution forming claims over terrains where, in some cases, it steadily proves to be inefficient and controversial. The complexity of this situation calls for a detailed and context- sensitive approach to the problem, benefiting from recent findings in a wide range of historical, sociological and philosophical studies of science.

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