“Another Science Is Possible!”: A Plea for Slow Science
“Another Science Is Possible!”: A Plea for Slow Science
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“另一种科学是可能的！”：对缓慢科学的呼吁
DOI：
10.1163/9789462096448_004
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发表时间：
2016
影响因子：
1.9
通讯作者：
I. Stengers
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
I. Stengers
直到1988年，我任教的布鲁塞尔自由大学的校徽上都是天使击倒巨龙的图案，校训是“scientia vincere tenebras”（科学将战胜黑暗）。如今，该大学的标志看起来更像是一家咨询公司或投资银行的标志。作为一名学者，我是个麻烦制造者。事实上，可以说我有点太认真地对待自己对自由思想的承诺，以及我自己制定的大学座右铭。这是一句要求非常高的座右铭，因为它需要质疑我们所谓的科学以及它应该击败的黑暗。认真对待这个问题，我们应该质疑我们识别和谴责黑暗的方式。我们是否假设光明与黑暗之间存在静态且令人安心的对立？把这种反对视为理所当然的做法很可能实际上是问题的一部分。大学的公司化可能会使这一切变得更加复杂。怀疑是缓慢的。能够怀疑自己的科学可以探索可能性并解决即将到来的危机。但它不会赢得研究评估活动的战争或优化你的大学的排名。
Up to 1988, the coat of arms of the Free University of Brussels, where I taught, showed an angel striking down a dragon, with the motto “scientia vincere tenebras”(Science will defeat the darkness). Today, the university’s logo looks more like that of a consulting company or investment bank. As an academic, I was something of a trouble-maker. Indeed, it might be said that I took a bit too seriously my commitment to free thinking, as well as the motto of the university, which I had also made my own. It is a very demanding motto since it entails questioning both what we call science and the darkness that it is supposed to defeat. Taking it seriously, we should be called upon to question the way we identify and denounce the darkness. Do we assume a static and far too reassuring opposition between light and darkness? The taking for granted of such an opposition might well actually be part of the problem. And the corporatization of the university may compound all of this. Doubt is slow. A science that is able to doubt itself can explore the possible and address crises to come. But it will not win the wars of the research assessment exercise or optimize your university’s ranking.