ABSTRACT
A rational liberal state needs more, not less, technology policy, but its main emphasis should be in democratic methods and decision procedures that allow the citizens to participate in the assessment and control of technological change. The basic rights of the citizens of liberal Western democracies include many negatively defined freedoms – such as the freedom of speech, thinking, trade. Rational technology policy in a democratic state should be based upon co-operation between the public, private, and ‘third’ sectors. The best way of philosophically defending the autonomy and integrity of scientific inquiry against reduction to the commercial principles of technology policy is provided by scientific realism and the conceptual distinctions between science and technology and between basic and applied research. The Nordic model of welfare society is a sort of compromise between the Hegelian and liberalist traditions. Different conceptions of liberalism may lead to various solutions concerning the relationships between science, technology, and the market.
