What TMT Cannot See: Scientific Objectivity and Knowledge Prioritization

Abstract My objective is to analyze the controversy of the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) on Maunakea, a sacred mountain for Native Hawaiians, and the role that beliefs about Western science play in arguments about whether TMT should be built on this land. I have found these arguments often rely on characterizations of scientific knowledge as objective and universal, thus allowing its prioritization over Indigenous religious concerns. Yet, these characterizations are based on a long defunct view of scientific objectivity, which makes their prominence in these arguments problematic. In this paper, I will argue that these kinds of characterizations of scientific knowledge should be laid to the side in these debates, such that the actual political and ethical problems at hand can receive proper attention.