Title

Is Science Universal?

Abstract

It is often admitted that science is one of the few (and perhaps the only one) among human endeavours which may pretend to universality, beyond the differences in cultures, languages and social organizations. Relying upon various points of view (ethnographical, linguistic, historical) and appealing to many examples, from Japanese wasan to hypothetical extraterrestrial sciences, it may be shown that this opinion deserves reexamination — without implying any simplistic relativism. If knowledge production is no doubt a characteristic of any human society, its forms and functions are varied enough to entail that considering it in terms of an alleged universality of science leads to underestimate the interest and fecundity of its cultural diversity. And while it is true that the present globalization sustains a strong homogeneization of scientific practices in geographical space, it simultaneously entails a new and deep mutation in historical time.

Selected References 

• Ascher M (1991) Ethnomathematics: A Multicultural View of Mathematical Ideas. Brooks/Cole
• Ascher M (2002) Mathematics Elsewhere: An Exploration of Ideas across Cultures. Princeton University Press, NJ.
• Dahan A (2000) La tension nécessaire: les savoirs scientifiques entre universalité et localité. Alliage 45-46.
• Lévy-Leblond JM (1996) La science est-elle universelle? La vitesse de l’ombre. Seuil, Paris.
• Renan R (1890) L’avenir de la science. Calmann-Lévy, Paris.

Contact

• jmll@unice.fr