As a child, my goal of becoming a scientist was of a pragmatic nature. As a declared fan of the Middle Ages and princesses, I soon became aware of the dark side of the Middle Ages: infectious diseases such as the plague. I was not reassured that such scenarios were in the past and wanted to be at the forefront of research into such diseases – as in “know your enemy”.

With this in mind, I studied microbiology and immunology at the University of Vienna. However, many questions that directly concern the prevention of such diseases cannot be answered purely with the help of biology: Why, for example, do people lose their trust in science and hesitate to take scientifically proven preventive measures? I switched to the philosophy of science.

Science is not only a social process because it is (mostly) carried out by people and in groups, but also because science is embedded in society. Political, social and historical issues cannot be removed from science. This is not a weakness of science – a science that cannot address social problems is not desirable. However, feminist science criticism, for example, shows that current science also systematically discriminates against women, queer people, BiPOCs, etc. And we scientists must remedy such injustices.

Especially when it comes to questions about why many people hesitate to trust science, we scientists also have a duty to deliver. And this does not consist in providing more and more facts, but in a reflexive attitude with regard to our activities, expectations, and unconscious assumptions. But this is an implicit part of science, and not a special (political) exercise.

Sophie Juliane Veigl studied literature, biology, immunology and philosophy of science at the University of Vienna. She wrote her doctoral thesis on scientific pluralism. Research stays took her to Tel Aviv and Cambridge, among other places. In her free time, she is active as a wrestler under the fighting name “Dr. Diotima”, for example at the Flinta Fight Club.