THE EMPEROR HAS NO CLOTHES - LET US PAINT OUR LOINCLOTHS RAINBOW - A CLASSICAL AND FEMINIST CRITIQUE OF CONTEMPORARY SCIENCE POLICY

The British government's White Paper on science together with governme nt research council reports are used as a basis for critiquing current science policy and its intensifying orientation, British and worldwid e, towards industrial and military development. The critique draws par ticulary on Plate and Bacon as yardsticks to address who science is fo r, what values it honours and where current policy departs from impera tives of socio-ecological justice. Metaphors of the 'Emperor's new clo thes' and incremental spectral shift in attitude help illuminate both the problems and ways forward. The paper calls for a re-integration of classical perspectives with added insights, often ecofeminist, from p hilosophy, poetics and a theology of reverence. Predication on the val ues of love, interconnectedness and orientation towards childrens' all -round development should be central to curricular reform. Consistent with the views of Plate, the original founder of the Academy, the util itarian role of science ought to be balanced with a contemplative role of science as the art of knowing ourselves in relation to nature. Onl y with such a holistic academic approach can it adequately rise to pro viding a pedagogy of authentic human development, service to the poor and remedies, rather than contribution, to the ongoing destruction of nature.