TY - EJOU AU - Abbot, A. D. AU - Bikfalvi, B. A. AU - Bleske-Rechek, B. A.L. AU - Bodmer, B. W. AU - Boghossian, B. P. AU - Carvalho, C. C.M. AU - Ciccolini, C. J. AU - Coyne, C. J.A. AU - Gauss, G. J. AU - Gill, G. P.M.W. AU - Jitomirskaya, J. S. AU - Jussim, J. L. AU - Krylov, K. A.I. AU - Loury, L. G.C. AU - Maroja, M. L. AU - McWhorter, M. J.H. AU - Moosavi, M. S. AU - Schwerdtle, S. P. Nayna AU - Pearl, P. J. AU - Quintanilla-Tornel, Q. M.A. AU - III, I. H.F. Schaefer AU - Schreiner, S. P.R. AU - Schwerdtfeger, S. P. AU - Shechtman, S. D. AU - Shifman, S. M. AU - Tanzman, T. J. AU - Trout, T. B.L. AU - Warshel, W. A. AU - West, W. J.D. TI - In Defense of Merit in Science T2 - Journal of Controversial Ideas PY - 2023 VL - 3 IS - 1 SN - 2694-5991 AB - Merit is a central pillar of liberal epistemology, humanism, and democracy. The scientific enterprise, built on merit, has proven effective in generating scientific and technological advances, reducing suffering, narrowing social gaps, and improving the quality of life globally. This perspective documents the ongoing attempts to undermine the core principles of liberal epistemology and to replace merit with non-scientific, politically motivated criteria. We explain the philosophical origins of this conflict, document the intrusion of ideology into our scientific institutions, discuss the perils of abandoning merit, and offer an alternative, human-centered approach to address existing social inequalities. KW - STEM KW - Enlightenment KW - meritocracy KW - critical social justice KW - postmodernism KW - identity politics KW - Mertonian norms DO - 10.35995/jci03010001