Philosophical Analysis of Ignorance and Its Implications for the Theories of Public Understanding of Science
Subject Areas : Philosophy
Keywords: Epistemology, Agnotology, Promoting Science, Public Participation in Scienc,
Abstract :
Epistemology is well-known in philosophy, but agnotology, the opposite of epistemology, is a new subject that needs more investigation. Robert Proctor is the first one who initiated studying ignorance as an independent field and termed it agnotology. It is possible to examine agnotology in different areas, as Proctor conducted a detailed research on the agnotology of tobacco industry. Likewise, Science and Public Participation has been scientifically studied by academic institutions only for the past few decades. Public Participation in science is important to improving the interaction between scientists and laymen, science and society. The improvement of public participation in science, leads to scientific and cultural progress. In this essay, we try to study the patterns of public participation in science from an agnotological standpoint
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