Contemporary scientific rationality and health: critical reflections in light of the Dialectic of Enlightenment
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.48017/dj.v11i4.3996Keywords:
critical theory, science and development, social determinants of health, scientific research and technological developmentAbstract
This theoretical-reflective essay seeks to critically reflect on contemporary scientific rationality, with an emphasis on the field of health, based on the work Dialectic of Enlightenment, by Theodor W. Adorno and Max Horkheimer. It begins with the gap related to the insufficient problematization of the effects of instrumental rationality on the organization of science and the definition of health priorities. The study is based on critical-dialectical principles. The theoretical deepening on scientific production, research funding, and health practices reveals that modern science is linked to an economic, productivist, and technocratic logic, which can hinder the ways of realizing comprehensive care. As a contribution, the study proposes the strengthening of a critical scientific rationality, capable of integrating methodological rigor, social responsibility, and ethical commitment to human dignity into global scientific production. It concludes that the incorporation of critical frameworks can broaden the reflective capacity of science and promote more equitable and contextualized health practices.
Metrics
References
Adorno, T. W., & Horkheimer, M. (1985). Dialética do esclarecimento: fragmentos filosóficos [Dialectic of Enlightenment: Philosophical Fragments] (Vol. 1, 1ª ed., 23ª reimpressão). Zahar.
Allison, L., Wang, C., & Kaminsky, J. (2021). Religiosity, neutrality, fairness, skepticism, and societal tranquility: A data science analysis of the World Values Survey. PLOS ONE, 16(1), e0245231. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0245231
Amaral, N. C., Silva Junior, W. T., & Salles, J. C. (2025). Universidades federais: autonomia subtraída pelo financiamento? [Federal universities: autonomy subtracted by funding?]. Caderno CRH, 38, e025020. https://doi.org/10.9771/ccrh.v38i0.65172
Clavey, C. H. (2023). “The stereotype takes care of everything”: Labor antisemitism and critical theory during World War II. Journal of the History of Ideas, 84(4), 711–742. https://doi.org/10.1353/jhi.2023.a909536
Hosseini, M., Jahanshahlou, F., Akbarzadeh, M. A., Zarei, M., & Vaez-Gharamaleki, Y. (2024). Formulating research questions for evidence-based studies. Journal of Medicine, Surgery, and Public Health, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.glmedi.2023.100046 (doi.org in Bing)
Kumar, R., Marla, K., Sporn, K., Paladugu, P., Khanna, A., Gowda, C., Ngo, A., Waisberg, E., Jagadeesan, R., & Tavakkoli, A. (2025). Emerging diagnostic approaches for musculoskeletal disorders: Advances in imaging, biomarkers, and clinical assessment. Diagnostics, 15(13), 1648. https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics15131648
Maldonado, M. M. C., & Camargo Júnior, K. R. (2026). A epidemia de TDAH: medicalização, mercado e a expansão de diagnósticos psiquiátricos [The ADHD epidemic: Medicalization, market forces, and the expansion of psychiatric diagnoses]. Interface – Comunicação, Saúde, Educação, 2(1), e250144. https://doi.org/10.1590/interface.250144
Nader, H. B., & Ribeiro, R. J. (2025). Corte orçamentário ameaça sobrevivência das Universidades Federais e futuro do País, alertam SBPC e ABC [Budget cuts threaten the survival of Federal Universities and the country’s future, warn SBPC and ABC]. https://portal.sbpcnet.org.br/noticias/corte-orcamentario-ameaca-sobrevivencia-das-universidades-federais-e-futuro-do-pais-alertam-sbpc-e-abc/
Registro, M., Elias, G. P., & Seti, M. E. R. (2025). Reflexões sobre o modelo biomédico e suas implicações no campo da saúde coletiva [Reflections on the biomedical model and its implications for collective health]. Revista Interfaces, 13(1), 5061–5069. https://doi.org/10.16891/2317-434X.v13.e5.a2025.id1988
Rodrigues, D. A. M., Lorenzetti, L., & Selles, S. E. (2025). Enfrentamento ao negacionismo científico e a promoção da alfabetização científica e tecnológica nos currículos estaduais de ciências do Nordeste brasileiro [Confronting scientific denialism and promoting scientific and technological literacy in state science curricula in Northeastern Brazil]. Revista Electrónica de Enseñanza de las Ciencias, 24(1), 99–122.
Santos, I. V., Oliveira, K. C. P. N., Santos, R. M., & Moreira, R. T. F. (2024). Espaço quadripolar da pesquisa e os estudos experimentais. Desenvolvimento em Questão, 22(60), e14660. https://doi.org/10.21527/2237-6453.2024.60.14660
Serafim, M., Dias, R., & Etulain, C. R. (2021). Editorial – Os cortes no orçamento da ciência brasileira: da Fronteira Sem Fim ao Fim da Linha? [Editorial – Budget cuts in Brazilian science: From the Endless Frontier to the End of the Line?]. Revista da Avaliação da Educação Superior, 26(3), 654–657. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1414-40772021000300001
Sheldon, M. (2016). Stephen Jay Gould and the value of neutrality of science during the Cold War. Endeavour, 40(4), 248–255. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.endeavour.2016.10.003
Souza, J. T., & Dias, J. F. A. (2025). A fé cega da razão: laicidade, universidade e exclusão epistêmica [The blind faith of reason: Secularity, university, and epistemic exclusion]. Aoristo – International Journal of Phenomenology, Hermeneutics and Metaphysics, 8(2), 160–182. https://doi.org/10.48075/aoristo.v8i2.35714
Thorp, H. H. (2024). Neutrality’s effects on academic freedom. Science, 385(6707), 347. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adr8867
Wang, X. Q., Goytain, A., Dickson, B. C., & Nielsen, T. O. (2022). Advances in sarcoma molecular diagnostics. Genes, Chromosomes & Cancer, 61(6), 332–345. https://doi.org/10.1002/gcc.23025
Zanato, A. R., Campos, T. A., Fioresi, C. A., & Cunha, M. B. (2026). Fake news e seus aspectos sociais e psicológicos [Fake news and their social and psychological aspects]. Educação: Teoria e Prática, 36(71), e37. https://doi.org/10.18675/1981-8106.v.36.n.71.s18898
Zanette, V. G. (2026). Quando a tecnologia adoece [When technology makes us ill]. Periódicos Cedigma, 1(1), 10–17. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.18843273
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Isaías Vicente Santos, Rossana Teotonio de Farias Moreira, Victor José Correia Lessa, Keila Cristina Pereira do Nascimento Oliveira, Paulo Antônio Galindo Soares
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The Diversitas Journal expresses that the articles are the sole responsibility of the Authors, who are familiar with Brazilian and international legislation.
Articles are peer-reviewed and care should be taken to warn of the possible incidence of plagiarism. However, plagiarism is an indisputable action by the authors.
The violation of copyright is a crime, provided for in article 184 of the Brazilian Penal Code: “Art. 184 Violating copyright and related rights: Penalty - detention, from 3 (three) months to 1 (one) year, or fine. § 1 If the violation consists of total or partial reproduction, for the purpose of direct or indirect profit, by any means or process, of intellectual work, interpretation, performance or phonogram, without the express authorization of the author, the performer, the producer , as the case may be, or whoever represents them: Penalty - imprisonment, from 2 (two) to 4 (four) years, and a fine. ”
