CULTURE: Its meanings and different models of scientific and technical culture

Abstract

The expression «scientific culture» has become a fashionable term. This expression can be considered a modern terminological twist on past terms and practices of scientific education and communication. It represents an update that seems to fit better with today’s knowledge society. It is an improvement over more limited expressions, and it also benefits from the positive associations of the term «culture». However, adopting the term «culture» also raises several issues.

As the old conceptual framework is transformed, it also gives rise to a new semantic field that inherits the problems caused by the polysemy of the term «culture». The different conceptions of the relationship between power and knowledge in society, inherent to the different meanings of «culture», are thereby transferred onto the conceptual field of «scientific culture». Each of those meanings carries implications into the domain of scientific culture that should be explored and analyzed. We distinguish three basic meanings of «culture» and derive from them three models of scientific culture: a canonical model, a descriptive model, and a contextual model. As we show, each of these models has its own educational, social and political implications.