The Incentivised University : Scientific Revolutions, Policies, Consequences / by Seán Mfundza Muller.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Muller, Sean Mfundza, author.

Series:

Debating Higher Education: Philosophical Perspectives, 2366-2581 ; 9

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Education--Philosophy.

Education.

Social sciences.

Humanities.

Education, Higher.

Education and state.

Educational Philosophy.

Philosophy of Education.

Humanities and Social Sciences.

Higher Education.

Educational Policy and Politics.

Local Subjects:

Educational Philosophy.

Philosophy of Education.

Humanities and Social Sciences.

Higher Education.

Educational Policy and Politics.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (229 pages)

Edition:

1st ed. 2021.

Place of Publication:

Cham : Springer International Publishing : Imprint: Springer, 2021.

Summary:

The core thesis of this book is that to understand the implications of incentive structures in modern higher education, we require a deeper understanding of associated issues in the philosophy of science. Significant public and philanthropic resources are directed towards various forms of research in the hope of addressing key societal problems. That view, and the associated allocation of resources, relies on the assumption that academic research will tend towards finding truth – or at least selecting the best approximations of it. The present book builds on, and extends, contributions in philosophy and higher education to argue that this assumption is misplaced: with serious implications for modern higher education and its role in informing societal decisions and government policy. The book develops a philosophical foundation for the analysis of the connection between higher education incentives, scientific progress and societal outcomes. That in turn is used to demonstrate how the current approach to incentivising intellectual and scientific progress is likely not only to fail, but in fact to cause harm on the very dimensions it purports to improve. The arguments presented are illustrated with examples from medicine and academic economics, making the book one of the first to examine issues of scientific progress and social consequences across the human and social sciences. In doing so, it develops a novel critique of modern economics that in turn provides a more philosophically substantive foundation for popular critiques of economics than has existed to date.

Contents:

Chapter 1. Introduction

Part I: Truth-seeking and Scientific Progress

Chapter 2. What is at Stake: Higher Education for Society

Chapter 3. The Dynamics of Scientific Progress

Chapter 4. Philosophy of Science with Consequences

Part II: The Dangers of Normal Science and Academic Consensus

Chapter 5. The Existence and Dangers of Normal Science

Chapter 6. The Dynamics of Consensus and Academic Communities

Part III Incentives in Modern Higher Education and Their Distortionary Consequences

Chapter 7. From Accountability to Managerialism and Incentives

Chapter 8. Incentive Mechanisms in Modern Higher Education

Chapter 9. Research Impact and Incredible Certitude

Chapter 10. Rewarding Normal Pseudoscience and Facsimile Science

Chapter 11. Economics, Facsimile Science and Societal Harm

Part IV: Variation Across Contexts

Chapter 12. Variation Across Disciplines, Societies and Institutions

Chapter 13. Epistemic Hierarchies, Decolonisation and the Periphery

Part V:Conclusion

Chapter 14. Scientific Revolutions Will Not Be Incentivised

Index.

Other Format:

Print version: Muller, Seán Mfundza The Incentivised University

ISBN:

9783030844479