Science and technology have become powerful forces in the modern world, continually expanding their influence over social and political life. But citizens have so far had little say in their development, or in how they get inserted into our lives. And this is crucial for us to correct, since, as John Dewey says, “any state of affairs which tends to render the things of the environment unknown and incommunicable by human beings in terms of their own activities and sufferings would be deplored as …
Read moreScience and technology have become powerful forces in the modern world, continually expanding their influence over social and political life. But citizens have so far had little say in their development, or in how they get inserted into our lives. And this is crucial for us to correct, since, as John Dewey says, “any state of affairs which tends to render the things of the environment unknown and incommunicable by human beings in terms of their own activities and sufferings would be deplored as a disaster” (Dewey, J., The Public and its Problems: An Essay in Democratic Inquiry. Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park, [1927] 2012, p. 195), and the influence of science and technology upon social and political life has so far done this. But Dewey has offered us a way to solve this problemProblems, so that modern citizens can understand and control the science and technology that is increasingly shaping their fates. By digging through Dewey’s later works, we can uncover a model of democratic inquiryDemocratic inquiries that gives citizens more control over science and technology, and which helps them overcome their cognitive limitations as individuals.
