Journal of Science and Technology Studies
Online ISSN : 2433-7439
Print ISSN : 1347-5843
Article
Typology of Incertitude in Science
Return from Risk Studies
Go YOSHIZAWA
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JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

2015 Volume 11 Pages 9-30

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Abstract

  There have been several attempts to establish a typology of uncertainty and ignorance in economic and environmental risk studies for the last hundred years. These are, however, mostly oriented to societal decision making, which hinders our understanding of whether such incertitude is intrinsic or extrinsic, blurring boundaries between science and society. By referring to the distinct domains of the real, the actual, and the empirical in critical realism and corresponding them to ontology, epistemology and methodology as foundations in philosophy of science, a novel typology forms a stratified structure of incertitude. This heuristic also breaks the actual domain into two strata on human sensory and meaning, and further divides each stratum by the scope of science−object, system, social interaction with the system, and general. It finally identifies fifteen types of incertitude in science and discusses their relevance by taking seismology as an example. Being well aware of the diversity and inevitability of such incertitude, scientists are expected to undertake their enterprise with scientific discipline and social responsibility.

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© 2015 Japanese Society for Science and Technology Studies
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