325 Anais do XXI Seminário Internacional Nanotecnologias, Sociedade e Meio Ambiente desafios jurídicos éticos e sociais para a “grande transição sustentável” (XXI SEMINANOSOMA) In short, the agora is the relational space par excellence which, as Frederiksen et al. (2003) state, not only implies the possibility of including a greater number of perspectives in the science-society rela- tionship but rather, a real and radical change in this relationship and, therefore, in the approaches to knowledge validation as well. 2.2 Science in uncertainty and the explicitness of social consequences: Post-Normal Science (PNS) In the 1990s, Silvio Funtowicz and Jerome Ravetz developed the Post-Normal Science (PNS) approach, which not only describes the new dynamics of science but also includes clear programmatic elements.11 For Funtowicz and Ravetz, complexity, uncertainty and the plurality of legitimate perspectives shape the complex systems in which science develops. In this context, there are certain areas, such as envi- ronmental problems for example, where normal science can no longer provide adequate responses12. It is a question of promoting a new model, PNS, whose main attribute is to accept values and perspectives as intrinsic and inseparable elements of technical and scientific decision-making. Funtowicz and Ravetz state that they call this model “post-normal” to recall its contrast with “problem solving” within a (dogmatic) paradigm of “normal science” articulated by Thomas Kuhn. The inherent and necessary multiplicity of perspectives on a problem requires pluralism of methodologies, even within scientific compo- nents (Funtowicz and Ravetz 1993). The problems that today’s science must contend with no longer admit the certainties, controls, and pretensions of foresight defining traditional science. Rather, they are marked by uncertainty, lack of control over variables and unpredictability. In this context, the authors say, it is a question of complex problem solving, admitting ig- norance and managing uncertainties because the goals of science are no longer the traditional goals of attaining the truth and ultimately conquering nature. 11 The PNS approach, in contrast to the Mode 2 approach, and like the approaches presented below, ANT and RRI, has driven a dynamic research programme as well as the development of efficient methodological tools (Kovacic & Biggeri 2023). 12 The main field of reflection underpinning Funtowicz and Ravetz’s work is the environmen- tal field. In this field, scientific results and their policy implications involve a good number of disciplines and social and ethical considerations. Such diversity cannot be addressed through “multidisciplinary” research. A qualitatively different approach is therefore needed, where each specialist or actor involved does not tend to play a solitary role (Funtowicz and Ravetz 1993).
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