ABSTRACT
In other words, science is returning to its non-Western roots in Islam, India, and China. Funtowicz and Ravetz’s studies, over the last decade, of the emergence of post-normal science, lead them to believe that the scientific community would no longer be limited simply to scientists. In situations where “facts are uncertain, values in dispute, stakes high, and decisions urgent” (Funtowicz and Ravetz 1992:251-273, 254),17 the questions of quality in science, along with issues of policy, will become paramount. They would lead to an “extended peer community” which would use “extended facts” which would include even anecdotal evidence and statistics gathered by a community. Lay persons, journalists, campaigners, housewives, and theologians will join scientists in making decisions of science policy and shaping and directing scientific research. Science would thus be democratized and values of multiculturalism would play an increasing role in shaping its character. So out goes the supremacy of Western culture and in come the very ethics and values that bring terror to the hearts of alleged neutral objectivists. This is the essence of the moral panic in a large segment of the scientific community-a panic that produced the science wars. This manifestation of the uncertainties inherent in science is a mark of nostalgia for a secure and simple world that will never return.
