大学における教養教育を通じた脳神経科学リテラシーの向上 : ポスト・ノーマル・サイエンスとしての脳神経科学とその科学リテラシー教育

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Recently, some scientific disciplines have been politically promoted in many countries, because governments believe that they can produce economically profitable knowledge, and that neuroscience belongs to these disciplines. They are aptly characterized by Jerome Ravetz's notion of "post-normal science." It is expected that some knowledge produced by neuroscience may, when applied to the real world, influence social systems and, ultimately, our views on what it is to be human beings, even though it is difficult for us to foresee its concrete impacts. To minimize its unexpected negative effects, even non-specialists need to have neuroscience literacy, which includes not only a basic theoretical knowledge of neuroscience, but also knowledge on its social significance and possible impacts on our self-understanding as human beings. We compiled a textbook of neuroscience literacy, and used it in liberal arts education. In this article, we document our project of education on neuroscience literacy in liberal arts, and discuss its social and epistemological meaning.