11: Trust in science
Science is the social production of improbable and uncertain knowledge. Neither experts nor lay people can anticipate the results of research. They surprise, they upset commonsense certainties, and, on the other hand, they are still uncertain. They may have to be revised in a short time. Furthermore, in doing scientific research you are dependent on the competence of many other scientists and the reliability of their work. All these aspects are related to forms and processes of trust. Scientists have to trust one another, although organized scepticism is one of the core values of modern science. Likewise, the societal relevance of scientific knowledge is based on social trust in science. The seminar will explore the mechanisms and forms of trust internal to science and at the science/society interface. The main topics of the seminar are:
1) Trust as a general mechanism in social systems. Sociological and historical foundations of understanding trust.
2) Why do scientists believe in the validity of knowledge claims? Introduction to theories of social epistemology.
3) Competition, cooperation and coauthorship in present day science. Trust-formation in the social networks of science.
4) Trust, control and the intensified observation of scientific observers. The impact of peer review and evaluation.
5) How does society deal with its futures prognosticated by science?
6) Trust in science as trust towards progress. How does society adjust to the risks related to the promise of progress?
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Dr. Wolfgang KROHN
Professor emeritus of Sociology, Institute for Science and Technology Research, Faculty of Sociolgy, Bielefeld University
| Studium der Philosophie und Sozialwissenschaften | |
| Promotion in Hamburg mit einer Arbeit über Hegels Wissenschaft der Logik | |
| Habilitation in Bremen mit einer Arbeit über Francis Bacon | |
| 1970-1980 | Max-Planck-Institut zur Erforschung der Lebensbedingungen der wissenschaftlich-technischen Welt in Starnberg |
| seit 1981 | an der Universität Bielefeld. Zwischenzeitlich am History of Science Department von Harvard, TU Wien, Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut Essen |
| Forschungsschwerpunkte, Forschungsgebiete: | |
| Theorie der Wissenschaft- und Technikentwicklung (social epistemology); Entstehung der neuzeitlichen Wissenschaft, Theorie der Selbstorganisation; Innovationsnetzwerke und Real-Experimente |
Dr. Rudolf STICHWEH
President and Professor of Sociological Theory and General Sociology, Department of Sociology, Faculty of Humanites and Social Sciences, University of Lucerne
| Studium der Soziologie und Philosophie an der FU Berlin und der Universität Bielefeld | |
| Promotion (1983) und Habilitation (1990) in Soziologie an der Universität Bielefeld | |
| 1985-1989 | Max-Planck-Institut für Gesellschaftsforschung, Köln |
| 1987 | Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, Paris |
| 1989-1994 | Max-Planck-Institut für europäische Rechtsgeschichte, Frankfurt am Main |
| 1994-2003 | Professor für Soziologie, Universität Bielefeld |
| seit 2003 | Professor für Soziologie, Universität Luzern |
| 2005-2006 | Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin |
| seit 2006 | Rektor der Universität Luzern |
