ABSTRACT
Science may refer to a body of knowledge distinguishable from other knowledge by specific methods of validation. It may define a self-conscious attitude toward knowledge and knowing that embodies curiosity with empiricism. In Western society, science also connotes an institutional setting, a set of concerns ruled by the notion of ordered rationality, a group of people united by a common competence. Science is systematized knowledge, a mode of inquiry, a habit of thought that is privileged and idealized. Much about science is taken for granted—its bounded and autonomous nature, its homogeneity, its Westernism, its messianic spirit.
