USGS Workshop Woods Hole, Mass. February 6-8, 2001
Making USGS Information Effective in the Electronic Age
Description | Agenda | Porter | Frodeman | McDermott/Wendt | Hutchinson | Accomodations
Philosophies of government science, our historic and present roles
There are two themes to my remarks:
Part 1: A Philosophical History of the USGS>br> Part 2: The Role of USGS Scientific Information
1. "History is the medium of thinking" (Merleau-Ponty). For the USGS to envision a future where it fulfills its promise within the body politic, it needs a firm grasp of its history, and more generally the history of public science in America. We will therefore review both the history of the USGS (with a particular focus on the USGS’s own sense of its role in society), and the history of public science (including the debates over the use, nature, and scope of the public production of knowledge). Developing these themes will involve some conceptual analysis of the terms "politics" and "science." We will find over the history of the Survey a variety of implicit philosophies underlying the survey’s relation to the nation.
2. The information that the USGS produces has -- must have - a wide range of uses in a variety of cultural, political, and economic contexts. We will explore these contexts, with a particular focus on the political and cultural dimensions of scientific information within our nation. This will involve an account of the difference between scientific explanation and narrative understanding in the presentation of scientific information. We will also review the effect of recent political developments (e.g., the rise of stakeholders' movements, and more generally of libertarian political philosophies). Finally, we will consider the relationship between government, knowledge, and democracy.
Bob Frodeman