Abstract
This essay examines the question, “What is socially relevant science?” in terms of scientific knowledge as a whole, undivided between humanities and social scientific knowledge and technical and natural scientific knowledge. I will lay out the considerations that lead to my answer in a series of steps: first of all, the concept of knowledge needs to be more precisely identified. This is, as we shall see, more than a matter of mere definition. There follows an attempt to answer the question posed to me under the rubric “The application of a theory is never one of strict resemblance”; with reference once again to the thesis of the two scientific cultures, I attempt to demonstrate that their chances of being put into practical use are subject to similar conditions. Finally, in a concluding section, I would like to draw attention to a series of contradictory conclusions. I place these conclusions in the context of the modern society as a knowledge society.
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