Participatory Democracy, Science and Technology : An Exploration in the Philosophy of Science PDF

Participatory Democracy, Science and Technology is not a manifesto.

Nor does it propose a model of participatory democracy.

Instead, the author philosophically tackles the question of how public, democratic participation in the directions, implementation, and development of scientific research and technological innovation could be meaningfully possible, as a deliberative means of improving the rational basis for policy decisions about the trajectories and content of science and technology in society.

Taking insights from the philosophy of science, theories of participatory democracy, substantive theories of technology and Critical Theory, Karl Rogers explores the possibilities for democratic participation in science and technology.

He presents an argument for the practical value of participatory democracy for the development of modern society in an open-ended, complex and changing world that does not confirm to human intentions and expectation.

What does 'democracy' mean in a modern society? How and why can maximal democratic participation improve the development of modern society?