Artigo



Dados vol. 37 n. 2 Rio de Janeiro 1994

A Legitimação da Ciência na Fronteira

Lovisolo, Hugo

Resumo

Based on the late-nineteenth-century works of the Spanish scientist Santiago Ramón y Cajal, the author addresses two themes related to the context of frontier situations, that is, of still virgin nations not yet "tamed" by scientific production. The first theme has to do with constructing a strategy for legitimating science which requires the renunciation of theology and philosophy, of politics, and even of control over the technological applications of science's results. Labeling this the academic strategy, or strategy of renunciation, the author contrasts it with the interventionist, or "scientistic" strategy manifested in Latin America through the University Reforro movement that began in Cordoba, Argentina in 1918. The second theme has to do with how science is viewed on the frontier. The author contends that Cajal's vision shares certain characteristics with epistemological, historical, and sociological considerations elaborated quite recently within these fields of research and reflection.

Texto completo

A Legitimação da Ciência na Fronteira