The Mission of a Scientist as Will and Representation

This article is a part of the discussion of Ilya Kasavin's article “Science: A Public Good and a Humanistic Project”. The author agrees with Kasavin's opinion on the importance of forming a new approach to humanism and considering science as a humanistic project. The author substantiates the possibility of forming a new mission of scientists as the formation of a new approach to humanism. In a world, in which confidence in large narratives has been lost, various strategies for the production of knowledge are criticized, and the mind can justify inhuman actions, the question arises about the specific mission of scientists and science as a humanistic project. The humanistic project was formed during the Renaissance. In this project, the human occupies a central position in the world. With the power of reason, s/he can transform the world. Science relies on the same assumption. In the new conditions of a technogenic civilization, it is necessary to form a new humanistic project. It can be based on the joint mission of scientists, philosophers and sociologists. Within the framework of the technogenic civilization, non-human actors have a huge impact on the realization of projects. Therefore, the mission will be aimed at forming a new attitude towards the human who is now included in the world on an equal footing with non-human actors. In this case, a new humanistic project can be associated with the formation of a new approach to the construction and understanding of the place of the human in the world and the processes of forming new knowledge. Science is such a humanistic project. Constructing a world shared by humans and non-human actors through will and representation is the new mission of scientists.

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