First, to have objectivity in the way in which it is usually described
would require a condition in which "things" of the biophysical and social
worlds made highly uniform and consistent impressions on their human
viewers (the doctrine of realism) independent of socially shared knowledge
and beliefs. To my knowledge, this has not been demonstrated. Therefore,
the best that we might hope for is "detachment", basically what Ms. Graf
describes as scientists doing their very best to recognize and account for
their subjectivity.
Second, even if something approaching objectivity were possible, the world
is complex and human subjective choice is inherent in research activities.
The possessors of resources for research often structure their RFPs and
select researchers based on prospects of gaining something (co-production
of scientific knowledge). Researchers themselves tend to have goals for
what they do, so certain topics get studied and others ignored.
None of this is intended to disparage science and the people who practice
it. Science is actually quite marvelous for advancing knowledge compared to
some of the alternatives. At the same time, science is based on humans'
experience of certain aspects of the past, so cannot be an infallible guide
to the future (like driving a windshield-less vehicle using observations
from a rear-view mirror).
The proper role(s) of universities (particularly those supported by public
funds) is another difficult issue on which many different perspectives come
to bear. I suspect that most people would include some notion of "public
good" in their prescriptions, but I also suspect that this would not lead
to consensus in assessing the condition of contemporary universities. My
own particular perspective is that publically supported universities should
be doing at least three things: (1) Educating (rather than merely training)
citizens to be aware of issues of importance to our society and others,
understand the different positions on these issues, think analytically
about the implications of perspectives, and be able to work toward
resolving these issues nonviolently. (2) Doing research and extension on
topics that are outside the realm of proprietary commercial interest, e.g.,
sustainable agriculture practices that involve technologies that can easily
be appropriated by any producer. (3) Research and extension on the social
and biophysical environmental impacts of actions of governments,
businesses, and private citizens to inform citizens and decision-makers
about the consequences of these actions, including benefits, risks, and
costs. These are all activities that private commercial entitities would
likely lack interest in funding.
Gil
****************************************************************
Gil Gillespie voice: 607-255-1675
Department of Rural Sociology & fax: 607-254-2896
Division of Nutritional Sciences e-mail: gwg2@cornell.edu
Warren Hall
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853-7801
USA
"Whereas most sociologists are as dull as turnips, many
interactionists were/are fun."
Carl J. Couch, 1997, Symbolic Interaction 20(2):102
*****************************************************************
To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
"unsubscribe sanet-mg".
To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command
"subscribe sanet-mg-digest".
All messages to sanet-mg are archived at:
http://www.sare.org/htdocs/hypermail