Leonelli, Sabina (2025) Contrasting Visions of Inquiry for an Open Society: Henri Bergson and Karl Popper Between Humane and Rational Openness. [Preprint]
![[img]](https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/style/images/fileicons/text.png) |
Text
BergsonPopperOpenSociety_preprint.pdf Download (473kB) |
Abstract
This paper discusses the meaning of openness as a guiding principle for scientific inquiry within democratic societies. To this aim, it contrasts Henri Bergson’s and Karl Popper’s takes on the open society, proposing Bergson’s interpretation as instantiating a humane interpretation of openness, while Popper privileges a rational one. The bulk of this paper compares the humane and rational visions of openness provided by Bergson and Popper, thereby highlighting the commonalities and differences between these views and their subsequent legacies. I then use this distinction to examine the history and current socio-political role of open inquiry – and particularly of research processes now carried out under the heading of ‘open science’. The final part of the paper briefly examines how humane and rational openness relate to current debates on open science and related disagreements over the procedures, goals and outputs that scientific research should incorporate and encourage to support societal advancements. In conclusion I argue that while Popper’s take on open inquiry has so far won the day in inspiring research policy and governance, contemporary debates on open science and its role in society would benefit from considering Bergson’s approach, thereby paying attention to the centrality of connections (intellectual as much as emotional) among human beings as backbone to successful communication, constructive critique and creative exchange.
| Export/Citation: | EndNote | BibTeX | Dublin Core | ASCII/Text Citation (Chicago) | HTML Citation | OpenURL |
| Social Networking: |
| Item Type: | Preprint | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Creators: |
|
||||||
| Keywords: | Open Science; science policy; science governance; research practice; collaboration; scientific exchange. | ||||||
| Subjects: | General Issues > History of Philosophy of Science General Issues > Philosophers of Science General Issues > Science and Society General Issues > Science and Policy General Issues > Social Epistemology of Science General Issues > Values In Science |
||||||
| Depositing User: | Sabina Leonelli | ||||||
| Date Deposited: | 22 Aug 2025 13:44 | ||||||
| Last Modified: | 22 Aug 2025 13:44 | ||||||
| Item ID: | 26292 | ||||||
| Subjects: | General Issues > History of Philosophy of Science General Issues > Philosophers of Science General Issues > Science and Society General Issues > Science and Policy General Issues > Social Epistemology of Science General Issues > Values In Science |
||||||
| Date: | 20 August 2025 | ||||||
| URI: | https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/26292 |
Monthly Views for the past 3 years
Monthly Downloads for the past 3 years
Plum Analytics
Actions (login required)
 |
View Item |
![[feed]](http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/style/images/feed-icon-32x32.png){kind=icon}