The Politicization of Science and Technology: Its Implications for Nanotechnology

Author: Jotterand, Fabrice

Source: The Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, Volume 34, Number 4, Winter 2006 , pp. 658-666(9)

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Abstract:

The development of nanotechnology intensifies challenges to the traditional understanding of how to pursue scientific and technological knowledge. Science can no longer be construed simply as the ideal of the quest for truth (i.e., “pure science”). Science has become the source of economic power and political power. In this paper, I argue that nanotechnology is a cardinal exemplar of “this politicization.” At the same time, I assert that this new scientific ethos offers the possibility of a better integration of ethical and philosophical reflections at the core of scientific and technological development.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-720X.2006.00084.x

Affiliations: 1: Holds a joint Assistant Professor appointment at the University of Texas at Dallas (School of Arts and Humanities, Center for Values in Medicine, Science, and Technology) and at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (Program in Ethics in Science & Medicine, Department of Psychiatry), Dallas, Texas. He received his Ph.D. from Rice University in 2005.

Publication date: 2006-12-01