Science, Part III: Further Developments in the Concept of Science

Abstract

In this third part of the trilogy about “science,” Section 6 presents further developments in conceptualizing science. It has been claimed that science has recently changed in profound ways, and the concept of “epochal breaks” has been used about these developments. The article presents and discusses many of these new concepts, including “triple helix,” “post-academic science,” “mode 2 research”, “technoscience,” “postmodern science,” “citizen science,” and the little older “big science.” It is hard to form a clear conclusion about these developments, but most of these conceptions seem based on the increasing commercialization of science. In a way, this is connected to the pragmatic philosophy of science but seems to have failed to address how science can continue to penetrate ever deeper to understand the world and not just reflect the more immediate social and commercial interests. Section 7 is the general conclusion of the trilogy. It states that the many pieces of fragmented knowledge about science from many different fields and perspectives must work together in a much more integrated way. Concerning information science, knowledge organization, and related fields, these fields need to understand themselves as a member of the science studies in its broad meaning. All activities concerning science must realize the socio-cultural and paradigmatic conflicts involved in such activities, from producing over mediating (retrieving, publishing, digitalizing, curating, translating, organizing, teaching, etc.) to use.