Chapter 6. Save the planet, win the election
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Aviram Sariel
Abstract
Science and scientific institutions are not necessarily passive players in the power and manipulation games which constitute democratic elections. In this paper, I shall present a seeming paradox, in which a party well-aligned with science is vulnerable to attack which claims access to alternative and superior science. The argument is demonstrated by the Israeli elections of 1981, won by a party which presented the public with a Perpetuum Mobile, two days before the elections. My analysis, indebted to Hans Jonas’s model of interregnums of values and norms, seems to justify this maneuver and render it rational, in a sense restricted to election campaigns. The analysis was used to predict the victory of Donald Trump in the US elections of 2016.
Abstract
Science and scientific institutions are not necessarily passive players in the power and manipulation games which constitute democratic elections. In this paper, I shall present a seeming paradox, in which a party well-aligned with science is vulnerable to attack which claims access to alternative and superior science. The argument is demonstrated by the Israeli elections of 1981, won by a party which presented the public with a Perpetuum Mobile, two days before the elections. My analysis, indebted to Hans Jonas’s model of interregnums of values and norms, seems to justify this maneuver and render it rational, in a sense restricted to election campaigns. The analysis was used to predict the victory of Donald Trump in the US elections of 2016.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- About the contributors vii
- Foreword 1
- Introduction 7
- Chapter 1. The dam project: Who are the experts? 17
- Chapter 2. Rational decisions in a disagreement with experts 35
- Chapter 3. Rethinking the notion of public 53
- Chapter 4. The expert you are (not) 71
- Chapter 5. Decisions without scientists? 87
- Chapter 6. Save the planet, win the election 109
- Chapter 7. Science and the source of legitimacy in democratic regimes 127
- Chapter 8. The ethics of communication and the Terra Terra project 145
- Chapter 9. The political use of science 165
- Chapter 10. The dialectical legacy of epigenetics 185
- Index 197
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- About the contributors vii
- Foreword 1
- Introduction 7
- Chapter 1. The dam project: Who are the experts? 17
- Chapter 2. Rational decisions in a disagreement with experts 35
- Chapter 3. Rethinking the notion of public 53
- Chapter 4. The expert you are (not) 71
- Chapter 5. Decisions without scientists? 87
- Chapter 6. Save the planet, win the election 109
- Chapter 7. Science and the source of legitimacy in democratic regimes 127
- Chapter 8. The ethics of communication and the Terra Terra project 145
- Chapter 9. The political use of science 165
- Chapter 10. The dialectical legacy of epigenetics 185
- Index 197
