Scientific rigor and its biopolitical consequences as propaedeutics to a philosophy of education

Abstract

At the beginning of the 20th century an inherited conception in the philosophy of science was consolidated. This conception is characterized by the reduction of scientifi c activity to scientifi c knowledge. “Epistemology” is the name used to identify this sub-kind of philosophy within the traditional gnoseological theory. Epistemology highlights the privileged feature of the knowledge analyzed, since it retrieves the platonic concept of “episteme” as a universal, necessary and true knowledge. Nowadays the challenges of genetic engineering and the developments in digital technologies force us to face once again the question about the limits of science and epistemology. The powers associated with technoscience put the administration of people’s lives under the paradigm of biopolitics. On the basis of this technoscientific situation,
new categories of analysis seem to be necessary in order to think about a renewal of philosophy vis-à-vis the changes in social knowledge and practices. This refl ection attempts to operate as propaedeutics to education in general and the teaching of the philosophy of science in particular.

Key words: philosophy of science, technoscience, post-human, education.