Društvena uloga znanstvenika danas
The Social Role of Scientists Today

Scientist as Homo Economicus and Homo Sociologicus versus Homo Academicus Universalis

Summary/Abstract: This paper critically examines some aspects of the role of scientists in modern society, starting from the different expectations from scientists under various outside pressures: scientometry, social responsibility and humanistic tasks. In considering the social framework and norms that guide the actions of scientists, firstly we will summarize possible approaches to the roles of scientists as homo economicus and homo sociologicus, which could be used as ideal-type templates for the development of the model that analyses both the role of scientists in features of utility, profit and rationality at the individual, organizational and socio-political level. After that we will show an integrative model of homo academicus universalis, which integrates and reconciles some characteristics of the previous two models, and brings some old humanistic ideals of a scientist as a universal human being. At the end, we briefly analyse the social context: the market society in which the prevailing tendency is that science is becoming fully commodified as well.

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