Civil skepticism, trust and the rehabilitation of skepticism in social studies of science and technology

Abstract

The article reveals the concept of “civilized skepticism” proposed by M. Ramirez-i-Olle as a solution to the problem of the relationship between skepticism and trust in the production of scientific knowledge. The basis of the work is the study of skepticism as a practice
in the process of interaction between members of the scientific community, carried out by M. Ramirez-i-Olle from 2016 to 2019. Skepticism as a practice of interaction between scien­tists needed to be rehabilitated because it has been suggested that skepticism does not foster trusting relationships. “Civil skepticism” was proposed as a rehabilitation of skepticism in scientific practice, and primarily in the social study of technology. Using the example of three years of empirical work by dendroclimatologists, M. Ramirez-i-Olle demonstrates the stages in which skepticism was practiced: laboratory work, seminar, conference, and publication. The paper deduces characteristics corresponding to these stages, which are also characteristics of “civil skepticism”: temporality, materiality, discursiveness and performa­tivity. The practice of “civil skepticism” not only fosters trusting relationships between members of the scientific community in the process of knowledge production, but also ex­pands the so-called “core group” of scientists involved in the work. Despite the fact that we can make a number of comments related to the use of the term “skepticism” and the inter­pretation of some concepts, the study of M. Ramirez-i-Olle is relevant and important for the development of SSK and STS, as it puts a “point” in the issue of the opposition of skepti­cism and trust in the process of scientific knowledge production. In addition, M. Ramirez-i-Olle touches on problems of the sociology of scientific knowledge that need to be addressed, such as the concept of “sociological skepticism”, studies of agnotology and the sociology of ignorance in the STS, and their relevance in the era of “post-truth”.