Abstract

The article analyses the relationship between science and democracy on basis of a very specific point of view. Three arguments are put forward to defend that. In its historical origin, in its linguistic roots and in its institutional basis, science is (and continues to be) a democratic endeavor. The article very briefly discusses the decisive changings in the relation between science and political, economic and military power that took place during the XX century and stresses the cognitive relevance of a set of universal institutions which, all along the history of science, provide the conditions of possibility for science to exist and develop. Finally, even if today those universal institutions face big transformations, the possibility for science to remain a free democratic endeavor is questioned and argued.