A solid knowledge base is one of the necessary conditions to assure healthas a human right. The contemporary source of such knowledge are thesciences at large, which however presents a problem, since thescientific enterprise can – and has been – a source of human rightsviolations as well. The field of social studies of science (STS) takes aniconoclast approach to the science, providing much needed criticismof its claims of authority. Recently, however, when attacks frommultiple sources attempt to undermine perfectly reasonable scientificdevelopments, the STS approach may not provide the adequate toolsto deal with such challenge, especially with regard to health issues. Thisessay explores, with examples, ways in which the critical stance of STSmay be compatible with a defense of proper scientific knowledge – infact, helping to define what that actually means – without falling in thetrap of scientism.
展开▼
