THE SECULARIZATION OF SCIENCE AND A NEW-DEAL FOR SCIENCE POLICY

The secularization of science, by analogy with the separation of Churc h and state, would divest all science funding from the state, except w here it bears directly on matters of public policy. I argue for an int ensification of this tendency, which is already occurring across the E uro-American world. I then explore the policy implications in some det ail, including historical precedents in New Deal attitudes toward the role of science in public policy. I begin by reviewing the secularizat ion of Christendom, which turns out to be intimately tied with the soc ial ascendency of the natural sciences. I then explore more recent con ditions that contribute to the secularization of science itself, durin g which I claim that the Cold War's scaling up of state support for sc ientific research should be regarded as a historical aberration that w e are currently getting over. However, I still reserve a very strong r ole for the state in the public distribution of already existing knowl edge, the primary vehicle for which will remain the university. (C) 19 97 Elsevier Science Ltd.