Science and Representative Democracy: Experts and Citizens [Paperback]

Mauro Dorato charts pressing debates within the philosophy of science that centre around scientific expertise, access to knowledge, consensus, debate, and decision-making.

This English-language translation ofDisinformazione Scientifica e Democraziaargues that the advancement of science depends on an exponential process of specialization, accompanied by the creation of technical languages that are less and less accessible to the general public. Dorato reveals how such a process must align with representative forms of democracies, in which knowledge and decision-making ought to aim at the society's general interest. Given the importance of the principle of competence, however, the role of experts as mediators of knowledge threatens the citizens' autonomy of choice. Consequently, the risk of technocratic regimes calls for new ways to increase literacy about science and its philosophical and probabilistic foundations. Stressing the conceptual conflict between pluralism and conformism,Science and Representative Democracyreveals the obstacles to the functioning of both science and democracy.

In a word, given that the well-functioning and very existence of democracies are no longer a given, this book is truly welcome and is to be regarded as an important academic contribution to a problem that should hopefully also be considered by decision-makers in the political and economic world. Ethical Theory and Moral Practice

This is a clear and engaging discussion of how science and liberal democracies share a commitment to analogous norms and values, and of how citizens can be empowered by scientific literacy. It is l£™