Toward an Open Science and Society: Multiplex Relations in Language, Religion and Society

In this paper I introduce a new concept, "open science," to denote a pluralist and democratic science culture. I claim that an open society requires, on both the local and the global levels, an open science. For science culture plays a significant role in shaping the political cultures which have a direct impact on social relations and human rights. I call for reform of o ur exclusionist science culture with the aim of better understanding the world, and, at the same time, of promoting a mo re democratic attitude towards alternative explanations and interpretations. I argue that essentialism and exclusive focus on causal relations should be abandoned not only because they represent only one way of looking at the world, but also because of their negative social implications. Explored are examples of the traditional Islamic social (fiqh) and human (nahw and balaghah) sciences as actualized within the Ottoman milieu. Likewise, it is argued that the example of the medical field, where the legitimacy obtains among parallel traditions originating from different civilizations, can serve as a model for other scientific fields.