Evidence, Science, Politics. On the Dangers of Generalizations [in German]

Abstract

Common sense supports the demand for evidence-based politics. Yet problems crop up once the concepts “evidence”, “science” and “politics” are scrutinised. Building on results from three prominent debates in philosophy of science – about the demarcation problem, about values in scientific practices and about the concept of evidence –, the argument presented in this contribution shows why pluralism and the disunity of science have become the standard assumptions today. Furthermore, the concept of politics must be pluralised, too, in order to avoid questionable idealisations by which conflicts in politics are all too often ignored in political philosophy. The contribution closes with a few considerations what it means, from this perspective, to fight for policies and political decisions that take scientific evidence seriously in all its plurality and messiness.