About the project

This project’s aim is to map and critically analyze – from an interdisciplinary perspective – aspects of the current relationship between science and ideology by focusing on three key case studies.

The first concerns the relationship between the ideas and major currents of environmentalism on the one hand and, on the other, the role played by the “Gaia” hypothesis in scientific debates within biology, ecology, and climate science. In addition, two parallel investigations will be conducted: one will focus on the diffusion, historical context, and recent shifts in intellectual trends characterized by attitudes of “cultural pessimism” and hostility toward modern science, modernity, or even humanity at large (antihumanism); the second will deal with the development of relativistic notions of knowledge and scientific truth in the field of sociology and philosophy of science.

The second case study concerns the diffusion or revival of “primitivism” and “indigenism” in the humanities and social sciences and their relationship with scientific knowledge, spanning from ecology to medicine.

The third case study focuses on debates about biological sex, gender identity and “binarism” in the context of both the social and natural sciences and society at large.

The integration of historical, philosophical, sociological, and anthropological perspectives facilitates a thorough analysis of subjects and debates that might otherwise be marked by overly rigid stances, hastily conducted analyses, or brilliant yet sporadic polemical interventions. This inclusive, interdisciplinary approach will enhance our comprehension of these subjects and debates, encompassing their historical roots and evolution, as well as their theoretical, social, and cultural implications.

This project is conducted at the Institute of Philosophy in Zagreb in the period 2024–2027, reviewed by the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Croatia and financed through the National Recovery and Resilience Plan by the European Union – NextGenerationEU.