The New Concept of Knowledge Production in Technoscience

Abstract

The paper analyses specific features of knowledge development on the contemporary stage of the science evolution. It is revealed that postnonclassical paradigm of scientificity correlates with the stage called ``technoscience{''}. It is reasoned that in frames of the existing system of scientific knowledge classification which includes natural, socio-humanitarian and technical sciences, technoscience cannot be referred to any of these types of knowledge. Technoscience represents new concept of knowledge production, new socio-technocratic discourse. Authors give the characteristic of the ``technoscience{''} phenomenon with its' basic feature high socio-practical orientation. The peculiarity of technoscience is that its' objects are not elements of the Cartesian dualistic worldview, but so called ``humane-dimension{''} objects. New stage of integration between science and society is characterized by the methodology of transdisciplinary research. Transdisciplinary research in comparison with interdisciplinary is distinguished by the life practice outcome; it is socially distributed knowledge production. Knowledge is produced not only in the context of breakthrough and fundamental objectivation, but as well in the context of the assessed consequences of application (social assessment of technology). It is highlighted that technoscience is referred to the activity in frames of which science and technology are united (as a mixture or hybrid); technoscience is to be understood as a specific contemporary phenomenon, a social technology of its kind. Philosophic analysis of the contemporary science trends of development allows showing that science is no longer a matter of the armchair scientists, but an action included to social practice. Fundamental research, technoscience and technology assessment convergently interact. As a result, the new is not revealed, but is constructed in the space of interaction between science and society. Since the subject of the technoscience is represented by complex self-developing systems including a human being, scientific activity begins to be regulated by additional compared to traditional science ethical norms. There is a need to carry out additional reflection on scientific knowledge in the form of socio-ethical expertise of models and projects, for example, in order to identify social risks. The paper shows that in technoscience knowledge is produced not only in the context of revelation and fundamental grounding, but in the context of the assessed aftereffect as well (social assessment of technology).