Document Type
Article
Abstract
This article presents a view of science that counters the teleological and authoritative way in which it is presented in arenas of popular discourse ranging from public schools, science magazines (such as Wired), community meetings, and popular books written by scientists. Noting the strange conflation of “evolution” (a branch of science) and “science” (as a way of thinking), the essay presents psychoanalytic and scientific arguments that suggest that evolution is equated with science in the public because evolution represents the return of the repressed element that founds any discourse which seeks to remain self contained. In science, this repressed element is metaphysics. As a theory of origins, evolution represents a return of that repressed element, thus accounting for the authoritative and hysterical way in which evolution is discussed in the public sphere.
Repository Citation
Clinton, James. "Evolution, Popular Culture, and the Nature of Scientific Knowledge." Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture vol. 10, no. 4, 2010, pp. 1–24. https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/reconstruction/vol10/iss4/4