Douglas, Heather (2023) Differentiating scientific inquiry and politics. [Preprint]

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Abstract

Protecting science from politicization is an ongoing concern in contemporary society. Yet some political influences on science (e.g. setting public funding amounts) are fully legitimate. We need to have a clear account of when a political influence is politicization (an illegitimate political influence) in order to properly detect and address the problem. I argue in this paper that understanding how the space of scientific inquiry is distinctive from democratic politics can be the basis for defining politicization. Similarities between inquiry and democratic politics have long been noted, but there are important differences as well. I describe four norms that are importantly distinct for inquiry when compared with democratic politics, even if they can be seen as roughly similar. Although there are parallels between democratic political norms and norms for scientific inquiry, there are crucial differences as well. Eliding these differences creates politicization of inquiry. Even as we understand scientific inquiry as pursued within society and responsible to society, we pursue it in a distinctive space, guided by distinctive norms and practices.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Douglas, Heather dougl239@msu.edu 0000-0003-1068-8948
Subjects:	General Issues > Science and Policy General Issues > Values In Science
Depositing User:	Prof. Heather Douglas
Date Deposited:	28 Dec 2025 22:55
Last Modified:	28 Dec 2025 22:55
Item ID:	27642
Subjects:	General Issues > Science and Policy General Issues > Values In Science
Date:	2023
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/27642

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