论知识民主的功能及其限度

On the functions and limits of knowledge democracy

知识民主为知识生产提供一条新的合法化路径,目的在于生产出具有确定性的、平等服务于所有人的、获得公众信任的知识,解决知识面临的信任危机。然而,民主从来不是无条件的,知识民主实践受到主体性和公共性的制约。前者体现在社会中公共精神、多元治理观念、学习型文化得到一定程度的发展和对个体理性、责任、知识的要求,后者体现在不同学科知识的公共性程度差异和知识生产不同阶段的公共性程度差异。知识民主符合理论发展趋势和社会实践要求,具有发展的必然性,但是也面临着困难和挑战。它对传统公共政策、社会治理和民主制度产生了一定的冲击,需要超越知识生产中的利益纠纷,在更宏观的尺度得到考量和发展。

Knowledge democracy provides a new way of legitimatizing knowledge production,which aims for solving the crisis of trust in knowledge. It endows knowledge production with certainty,equaltiy and pbulic trust. However,democracy has never been unconditional. Similarly,knowledge democracy is also constrained by subjectivity and publicness. Subjectivity is represented by the development in public spirit,multi-governance models and a culture of lifelong learning,and the corresponding requirement on individual rationality,responsibility and individual knwoledge;publicness varies a lot in odifferent disciplinary knowledge and different phases of knowledge producion. Knowledge domocracy,as a new trend in theory,is inevitable and in line with social practice. However,it also faces great difficulties and chanllenges. It has an impact on traditional public policy-making,social governance and democracy. It also requires combating with different interests in knowledge production and being considered and developed in a more grand scale.