Marcus van Toor

The soil and the sea: the changing relation between science and policy in the Anthropocene

Institute of Logic, Language and Computation (ILLC), Faculty of Humanities, University of Amsterdam

Supervisors: Prof. dr. Huub Dijstelbloem

Background

Marcus studied cultural history at the University of Utrecht and philosophy of culture and governance at the Free University in Amsterdam. During his masters he became fascinated with the empirical philosophy of Bruno Latour. Marcus currently works as a researcher at the Netherlands Court of Audit, where he conducts research into the efficiency and effectiveness of energy, environmental and infrastructural policies. As an external PhD-candidate, Marcus uses his experience with policy research to analyse the relationship between science and policy.

Content

My PhD-project aims to study under which conditions (e.g. social, political, epistemological) scientific research takes place that substantiates government policy. With this question, the PhD-project aims to study three interconnected problems. First, some scientific facts seem to have a hard time entering policies. It has proven hard to regulate for example PFAS, greenhouse emissions and pesticides before they have done major damage to people and to the environment. Second, the way in which politicians and policymakers handle science can threaten democratic legitimacy. Calling on the authority of science can objectify and reveal the political decisions that are being made. The moment this authority is criticized, however, a third problem comes into sight. Analyzing scientific practice by deconstructing notions like ‘truth’ or ‘objectivity’ can result in a decreasing trust in science, ultimately embodied in the emergence of ‘alternative facts’.

Theoretically, this project aims to elaborate on and to contribute to scholarship on the intersection of philosophy of science, philosophy of science in practice, science and technology studies and political theory. Empirically, this study will investigate two cases that exemplify the interplay of science and policy.

• The first case is a study into soil pollution as a consequence of the leaching of harmful substances from secondary building materials.
• The second case offers insight into the scientific research concerning noise pollution for porpoises due to offshore wind parks in the North Sea.

Publications

Toor, Marcus van, ‘Boekbespreking: Is wetenschap absurd?, Radix: tijdschrift voor geloof, wetenschap en samenleving, vol. 51, nr. 1 (2025).

Toor, Marcus van, ‘Leven in het einde der tijden: Bruno Latour en de terugkeer van religie’, Wapenveld, vol. 73, nr. 5 (2023).

Toor, Marcus van, ‘Diepzinnig leuteren over het klimaat’, Filosofie-Tijdschrift, vol. 32, nr. 6 (2022).

Toor, Marcus van, ‘Boekbespreking: Luisterend denken met Sloterdijk’, Radix: tijdschrift voor geloof, wetenschap en samenleving, vol. 47, nr. 2 (2021).

Toor, Marcus van, ‘Opinie: We kunnen een probleem niet oplossen met de denkwijze die het heeft veroorzaakt’, ChangeInc., 23 september 2021, (https://www.change.inc/future-leadership/opinie-we-kunnen-een-probleem-niet-oplossen-met-de-denkwijze-die-het-heeft-veroorzaakt-37117)