By: Titus Alexander

Titus Alexander — Thu, 29 Dec 2022 15:49:15 +0000

Sandra Leonie Field’s insightful essay reminds us that the meaning of words “depends on its substantive content” and “the concrete practices or understandings to which it refers”. Like the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, many dictatorships have the word ‘democracy’ in their country’s name or constitution. "A word means what I want it to mean, nothing more, nothing less" as Humpty Dumpty said in Through The Looking Glass.
Francis Bacon’s lesson was the scientific method for unlocking the power of nature through systematic experiments, in contrast to scholasticism’s preoccupation with text. Perhaps as important was the instutionalization and popularization of the scientific method through the Royal Society and emerging industries.
A great deal of social and political science is closer to scholasticism than empiricism.
I suggest that the best way to diversify the study of democracy is to work on experiments to create better models of democratic practice. This is a vast and complex field, ranging from democratic childrearing to global governance but, by helping people develop models of more effective and inclusive forms of democracy, scholars can improve social conditions, just as the scientific method enabled people to improve material conditions.
For more details of this argument and the role universities could play in improving democracy, please see Political Science and the Democratic Method (bit.ly/PolSc-DemMethod).

Comments on: 🦋 Data mountains and usable concepts: a lesson from Francis Bacon

By: Titus Alexander