Description du projet
Redéfinir notre entendement de l’influence scientifique
Les modèles scientifiques exercent une influence considérable au-delà de la simple prévision, façonnant les politiques et les comportements individuels, un phénomène connu sous le nom de «performativité». Cela peut nuire à la précision des prévisions, tout en soulevant des questions éthiques relatives au rôle de la science dans l’orientation des affaires humaines. Malgré les implications pratiques, la philosophie des sciences n’a pas encore proposé d’orientation claire concernant la science performative. Dans ce contexte, le projet MAPS, financé par le CER, se propose d’étudier l’équilibre délicat entre le rôle épistémique de la science et son impact sociétal. En examinant en détail les pratiques scientifiques, MAPS entend évaluer et gérer les risques éthiques de la performativité. Faisant le lien entre la philosophie et la pratique, il apporte des conseils pour naviguer dans le rôle de plus en plus influent de la science dans la conception de notre monde.
Objectif
Scientific models often do more than predict or explain. Especially in the social realm, they can also influence their targets – a capacity that is called “performativity”. By influencing policy making and individual behavior, models from economics, epidemiology, or machine learning increasingly perform the social world in significant ways. This development should be of utmost importance to philosophers, for two reasons:
First, performativity can impair scientific prediction and explanation. If, for instance, a model of the spread of COVID-19 predicts many deaths, people might reduce their social contacts in response, which may in turn lead to the predicted events not coming about! How should we evaluate such a prediction, and how should scientists deal with these effects?
Second, the development raises difficult ethical questions about the legitimacy of science guiding human affairs, and the values that are implicit in this process. Should we welcome science’s increasingly practical role in shaping policy-making and individual behavior? Or should we regard such influence as manipulative, potentially undermining democratic decision making?
These are difficult philosophical questions, but they also have significant practical import. Yet the philosophy of science hasn’t so far provided guidance on how performative science might be evaluated and managed. MAPS will close this lacuna.
The core aims of the project are:
(1) to develop a novel understanding of what performativity is and can do, by closely following scientific practice;
(2) to understand the intricate relationship between science’s epistemic and performative roles, and to assess the ethical risks of performativity; and
(3) to provide orientation to philosophers and practitioners for how to assess and manage performative science.
By integrating insights from scientific practice with philosophical assessment, the project will establish performativity management as a central theme of philosophical inquiry.
Champ scientifique
- social scienceseconomics and businesseconomics
- medical and health scienceshealth sciencespublic healthepidemiology
- medical and health scienceshealth sciencesinfectious diseasesRNA virusescoronaviruses
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesartificial intelligencemachine learning
- humanitiesphilosophy, ethics and religionphilosophy
Mots‑clés
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Thème(s)
Régime de financement
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC GrantsInstitution d’accueil
30167 Hannover
Allemagne