‘Social engineering’

The aim of social engineering is to ‘improve matters’, ‘improve the lot of man’ and ‘improve civilization’. Theories of social engineering have been criticized on the ground that the ‘engineer’ must be subject to the influences he is trying to control. Popper suggests that a social engineer merely asks whether a particular institution is ‘well designed and organized to serve’ any aims which have been proposed. The dualism — the distinction between a mechanistic and a voluntaristic realm — is needed for the view that man is the master of his destiny and that society can be shaped and controlled by social engineering. There can be no social engineering unless normative laws or social institutions can be made and changed by man. And in proportion as men do participate in running their own affairs, they will come in conflict with humanitarians and with the reasonableness of social engineers.

Sociology · Critical Theory and Philosophy · Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations · Technology, Environment, Urban Planning