Transformation of the Scientific Article Paradigm under Diffusion of Internal & External Publicness of Science
This article discusses the specifics of the public sphere of science in the context of the diffusion of the public and private spheres that characterises modern society and is driven, among other factors, by the development of social media and other tools of online communication. Based on the communicative approach suggested by Jurgen Habermas, the science field concept by Pierre Bourdieu, and the actor-network theory by Bruno Latour, the following two types of modern science publicness are defined. Inner, ‘esoteric publicness’ of science itself is a prerequisite for scientific communication, and is set up on the principles of reasonable doubt and criticism, assuming discussiveness, knowledge, and uncertainty of arguable facts. Outer, ‘broad publicness’ becomes a platform of interaction between science and society, and requires science to provide ultimate knowledge. Using the example of the use of texts of scientific articles in popular scientific texts, the problem of the diffusion of the two public spheres is examined. Firstly, the conventional layman is confronted directly with the inner workings of science, and thus has to deal with discrepancies, which he cannot resolve on his own. Secondly, the pragmatics of the scientific article undergos changes, its conclusions tend to radicalise, and the very article is used only for confirming the credibility of a popular text referring to it. The change in the reader (a professional is replaced by a layperson) has an effect on the original pragmatics of the text and the impact it has on the addressee. What is supposed to serve as the discussion onset in ‘esoteric publicness’, becomes the rationale for the unconditional recognition of communicated information in the ‘broad publicness’ of science.