Vetenskap och Folkbildning (

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

: literal translation "Science and Popular Enlightenment", English: The Swedish Skeptics' Association), abbreviated as VoF, is a Swedish skeptics' association. It was founded in 1982 with the purpose to raise the general public's awareness of scientific methods and results. The association publishes the quarterly journal '' Folkvett'' and organises lectures on themes related to

science Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...

and

pseudoscience Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable clai ...

. Since 1987 the association has annually awarded prizes for " Enlightener of the Year" and " Misleader of the Year".

Activities

In 2010 the association had a membership above 2600. The current chairman is Pontus Böckman (who is also a co-host of The European Skeptics Podcast and a board member of the

European Council of Skeptical Organisations The European Council of Skeptical Organisations (ECSO) is an umbrella of skeptical organisations in Europe. Goals Founded on 25 September 1994, the ECSO aims to co-ordinate activities of European organisations and individuals that aim at critic ...

), while Lina Hedman acts as vice-president. Other prominent members are professor of philosophy Sven Ove Hansson (chairman 1982–1988), professor of molecular cell biology Dan Larhammar (chairman 1998–2004) and

ESA , owners = , headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France , coordinates = , spaceport = Guiana Space Centre , seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png , seal_size = 130px , image = Views in the Main Control Room (120 ...

astronaut Christer Fuglesang. VoF is part of an international network of skeptics' associations, the largest of which is the American Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI). Founded six years prior to VoF, CSI served as a model for the Swedish organisation.

Criticism

People whose activities has been labeled "

" and "deceptions" by VoF, and by skeptics in general, have been critical of the organisation. In academia the association enjoys quite high esteem. Several Swedish universities offer courses utilising publications by its members. Many members are scientists and teachers. Some criticism has however also been voiced by academics. Philosopher Martin Gustafsson at the

University of Stockholm Stockholm University ( sv, Stockholms universitet) is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, soci ...

argues that VoF exaggerates the threats against rationality and science, and that its representatives erroneously depict themselves as underdogs in a war on widespread superstition. He has also maintained that the Enlightenment's ideal of free thought clashes with the respect for scientific authority that VoF espouses. Per-Anders Forstorp at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, suggests that VoF represents positivism and institutionalised intolerance. Sven Ove Hansson has commented on this kind of criticism:

The way I see it, VoF and the general skeptical movement is not characterised by any particular view of science. ... Just like members of Amnesty International can have different ideas about the limits of free speech, there is room in VoF for divergent opinions in questions about science and the philosophy of science. (Critics have sometimes claimed that the organisation is full of positivists. I have never come across one of those, but VoF does have supporters and opponents of Karl Popper's falsificationist theory of science among its members.)Sven Ove Hansson, "En rörelse av skeptiker?", i J. Jerkert och S. O. Hansson (red.), ''Fakta eller fantasier'', Stockholm: Leopard, 2007, s. 186.

References

External links

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web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foreningen Vetenskap Och Folkbildning Skeptic organizations in Sweden Science and technology in Sweden

Activities

Criticism

References

Further reading

External links