APPENDIX III - Philosophy of Earth Science
Presentation: Robert Frodeman - Challenge of Skill
History is the medium of thinking
Maurice Merleau-Ponty
(1904-1961) |
OVERHEAD 1
Science in the Public Interest:
The USGS in the 21st Century
A Philosophy Of the Earth Sciences:
Two Modalities, Internal and External
1. "Epistemology": questions internal to the discipline itself
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The peculiar methodology of science in the field
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The decline of fieldwork & the rise of "cybergeology"
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The shift from geology to Earth Sciences
2. "Politics": questions concerning the place of the Earth Sciences
in culture
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As handmaiden to industrial development
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The cultural implications of fossils and deep time
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The narrative nature of the science
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As paradigmatic example of public science
OVERHEAD 2
Science in the Public Interest:
The USGS in the 21st Century
Toward a Political Theory/Philosophy of Public Science
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What are the peculiar roles and responsibilities of a public science agency?
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How do these roles and responsibilities differ from other scientific institutions, and from public agencies?
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To what degree should a public science agency be focused on creating new science, versus creating the context for understanding for the science we already have?
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What types of skills are needed for creating "contexts for understanding"?
OVERHEAD 3
Science in the Public Interest:
The USGS in the 21st Century
Congressional Questions to Public Science:
1. What is the relevance of studies in paleontology, hydrology, or oceanography?
2. What is unique about public science? Why have a public science agency, when private companies could more efficiently handle those aspects of research that were relevant? If the information is truly useful, there will be a market for the information.
3. Objectivity: Are scientists promoting their own values under the guise of disinterested science?
OVERHEAD 4
Science in the Public Interest:
The USGS in the 21st Century
Claims:
1. To do "public science" requires that we think epistemology and politics equi?primordially.
2. The USGS - or another agency like it ? can become a central organ of government, playing central role in society ? if it can adapt to a changing cultural environment.
3. "Wide interdisciplinarity" as the means for this cultural transformation: a horizontal and vertical interdisciplinarity involving a) the humanities and social sciences with physical sciences; and b) stakeholders and community groups.
OVERHEAD 5
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