A POSTCAPITALIST PARADIGM: THE COMMON GOOD OF ...

the very basis of our increased ability to tame and exploit nature for economic
purposes, as also to develop more and more devastating
weapons of war, including weapons of mass destruction. While many
alternative visions and practices are explored in the area of economy,
peace and ecology, much less attention has generally been paid to the
knowledge areas like science and technology, even though it is this
knowledge that has been the basis of exploitative economic, security
and ecological practices. Scientific knowledge appears to be the holy
cow that must remain untouched in the pursuit of alternatives. The question
may be asked: ‘Can the alternative vision like the common good of
humanity be explored without critically examining and suggesting alternative
approaches to the core of the knowledge system, namely science,
that fuels the present dominant paradigm?’
The routes to counter the dominance of science in crafting the ‘modern’
are often the rather well-known anti-science or anti-modern formulations,
a trend philosophically identified with Feyerabend and his followers,
various strands of post-modernism, as also certain ecological and
religious critiques of science. But demonizing science is unlikely to lead
to any real solutions, since as will be argued later, science is not an ‘out
there’ phenomenon that one can switch on or off; it is rather a part of
humans and humanity, much like language and culture, which can be
moulded, given different directions to craft alternatives, but hardly abandoned.
Unlike rather naïve formulations that treat science as a value neutral
activity, science is very much located within the social and political
aspects of human endeavour, and therefore open to choices according
to the kind of transformation one wishes to see in society.
Science and Nature
Humans are different from other species on earth precisely because of
the evolved brain that has powers of cognition and language. Human
cognition and language have combined together to provide powers of
reason that can be codified and communicated. This in many ways is
also the origin of science – the study and control of nature, from ancient
times to the present. Such an understanding of science was elaborated
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