ABSTRACT
The term science often goes hand in hand with the attribute of “modern”. In research, science, as a term, is used almost exclusively in the West for a certain humanism and the explanation of specific sciences. The term entails that modernisation is understood as a process based on advanced technology and scientific spirit, rational attitude towards life, a secularised image of society, justice as a measure of public affairs and the idea of the nation-state. This culminates occasionally in the view that modern science and technology found its immediate expression in industrialisation and thereby contributed directly to the progress of society building and the nation-state, especially of European origin. Such a concept of science is of course self-referential.1
