Abstract
This text debates scientific denialism based on two main references. The first is of an epistemological nature and refers to the postmodern discourse on science, with its relativization of the criteria for the search and definition of truth. It comprises, however, that, at the same time, this phenomenon goes beyond the spaces of scientific discussion, reaching the whole of society. To account for this particularity, it has, as a second reference, discussions about the process of formation of opinions, worldviews and convictions of what the Italian philosopher Antonio Gramsci called the ‘man of the people’. For this purpose, the concept of common sense, from the same Sardinian thinker and militant, and the theorization of Agner Heller on how adherence to the different knowledge that crosses people’s daily lives depends on feelings of identity such as faith (non-religious) and trust, which, according to the author, have different motivations and effects. Finally, it argues that it is necessary to reaffirm objectivity as a criterion of science in the epistemological debate, but that it is equally necessary to face this problem in the field of class struggle, strengthening organic relations of identity and trust as part of the dispute for hegemony.
Keywords:
scientific denialism; truth; hegemony; popular organization