The world is in profound trouble as mounting military conflicts and accelerating ecological crises set us up for a century of uncertainty. To find orientation in tumultuous times, in the past, society has looked up to one specific institution: science. The question remains, though, whether and how science is able to offer a different kind of guidance than ideology. Today, in times of socio-political and ecological crises, let alone the attacks on academic freedom and constitutional norms in the U.S., these questions need our attention more than ever.
In our new Special Issue on ‘Science and Ideology’, we invite you to offer your take on such questions that have permeated the philosophy of science since its inception. Can and should science be free from ideology? Past work has separated this discussion into two main perspectives: On the one hand, there are those who advocate for a science that is and should be ideologically neutral (e.g., Friedman 1953) and whose objective is to incrementally cumulate objective knowledge (e.g., Popper 1972). On the other hand, there are those claiming that science is not and cannot be ideologically neutral. This is because of normative assumptions and research programs that underlie scientific approaches (e.g., Lakatos 1970 or Funtowicz and Ravetz 1993), let alone epistemic reasons against the possibility of objective knowledge, warranting situated claims, that is, claims that acknowledge the positionality of the knower (e.g., Haraway 1988).
We invite you to contribute to this debate by developing your own perspective: What do you think? What is the place of ideology in science? What is the place of science in ideology?
Below, you can find a non-exhaustive list of topics that you may want to explore (500-1000 words). You can, of course, propose your own topic.
We are keen to hear your views!
Deadline to submit an abstract (150 words): We accept submissions on a running basis.
How to submit: Please follow our submission guidelines that are available here.
The Philosophy of Science and Ideology
Sustainability science and ideology
Ideology in economic ideas
The political economy of scientific research funding
Identity, diversity, equity, and inclusion in science
We categorize blog posts in research highlights, commentaries and Special Issue contributions. Research highlights may include a summary or critical discussion of your own paper that has recently been published or is in the submission process. With commentaries, you can publish critical discussions of other people’s work or opinionated but informed perspectives on topical issues or controversies. This can include responses to previous posts. So far, we have called for contributions to two Special Issues: Utopias and Science & Ideology. Check them out!
As a general rule of thumb, contributions should contribute to conceptually understanding or practically resolving grand challenges in any significant manner. We particularly value content with a critical, reflective and emancipatory spirit that includes perspectives on or from the Global South. The definition of the broad term grand challenges is consciously left open and we invite for critical reflection and discussion thereupon.
Who can submit and what can be submitted?
Submission length, format and language?
Submissions must directly contribute to conceptually understanding or practically resolving Grand Challenges in any significant way. Authors must submit a short bio including their institutional affiliation and accept the Blog’s legal disclaimer and comment’s policy.
Referencing guidelines: Kindly follow Nature referencing style to increase readability (see guidelines here, section references) or provide your references with functional hyperlinks directly in-text. You can select this referencing style in your reference management software (e.g., Zotero).
Submitting content is simple! There are three steps:
See submission form below.
2. Submit your full manuscript.
After submitting the online form, an editor will get in touch with you via email. You can then proceed to submit your full manuscript. Take care that it meets our submission requirements! Together with your full manuscript, please also submit via email to your editor:
3. Publication of the blog post.
Accepted blog posts will be published within 2-6 weeks*If you don’t have an idea for a cover photo, we’ll find one together.Expression of interest - Submit a short proposal or abstract to us and fill in the following form:
∗If you have any open questions, please directly contact an editor via email.
We categorize blog posts in research highlights, commentaries and Special Issue contributions. Research highlights may include a summary or critical discussion of your own paper that has recently been published or is in the submission process. With commentaries, you can publish critical discussions of other people’s work or opinionated but informed perspectives on topical issues or controversies. This can include responses to previous posts. So far, we have called for contributions to two Special Issues: Utopias and Science & Ideology. Check them out!
As a general rule of thumb, contributions should contribute to conceptually understanding or practically resolving grand challenges in any significant manner. We particularly value content with a critical, reflective and emancipatory spirit that includes perspectives on or from the Global South. The definition of the broad term grand challenges is consciously left open and we invite for critical reflection and discussion thereupon.
Who can submit and what can be submitted?
Submission length, format and language?
Submissions must directly contribute to conceptually understanding or practically resolving Grand Challenges in any significant way. Authors must submit a short bio including their institutional affiliation and accept the Blog’s legal disclaimer and comment’s policy.
Referencing guidelines: Kindly follow Nature referencing style to increase readability (see guidelines here, section references) or provide your references with functional hyperlinks directly in-text. You can select this referencing style in your reference management software (e.g., Zotero).
Submitting content is simple! There are three steps:
See submission form below.
2. Submit your full manuscript.
After submitting the online form, an editor will get in touch with you via email. You can then proceed to submit your full manuscript. Take care that it meets our submission requirements! Together with your full manuscript, please also submit via email to your editor:
3. Publication of the blog post.
Accepted blog posts will be published within 2-6 weeks*If you don’t have an idea for a cover photo, we’ll find one together.Expression of interest - Submit a short proposal or abstract to us and fill in the following form:
∗If you have any open questions, please directly contact an editor via email.