From a constructivist epistemology to a constructed ethics

Several decades ago, most scientists believed that scientific results were the product of a rational, inescapable kind of logic that was central to the quest for ultimate scientific truth. In relatively recent times, the constructivist movement in philosophy and the sociology of science has given rise to a certain consensus which operates according to a different perspective. In this view, scientific theories are not conceived of as a reflection of reality itself or of some theoryderived idea existing in and of itself and governing the organization of the world. Science is increasingly perceived as a human production which occurs in history and which is pursued in accordance with certain finalities. This vision brings out the invented character of the construction of science, wherein the latter is conceived of as a body of representations which have been produced by human creativity in order to picture one's place in space and time and to communicate and act in the world, society, and history. By virtue of this development, science has become demystified and secularized and yet has avoided falling prey to a sort of disillusioned relativism. Science continues to be an enchanting (but not enchanted) cultural and aesthetic enterprise because human beings see in it one of the greatest achievements in which the mind is free to develop and recognize itself in the world. Thus, scientific development is dissociated less and less from the rest of human history. Science not only has a history, science must also be seen as occurring in History.