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Addressing conflicts of interest in nanotechnology oversightJournal of Nanoparticle Research 14 664-8. 2012.
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46While the science and values literature has seen recurrent concerns about wishful thinking, there have been few efforts to characterize this phenomenon. Based on a review of varieties of wishful thinking involved in climate skepticism, we argue that instances of wishful thinking can be fruitfully characterized in terms of the mechanisms that generate them and the problems associated with them. We highlight the array of mechanisms associated with wishful thinking, as well as the fact that it can …Read more
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Mitigating Conflicts of Interest in Chemical Safety TestingEnvironmental Science and Technology 46 (15): 7937-8. 2012.
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768Introduction: Cognitive attitudes and values in scienceStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 53 57-61. 2015.
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10Heather E. Douglas. Science, Policy, and the Value-Free Ideal. xiv + 210 pp., bibl., index. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2009. $27.95 (review)Isis 102 (1): 204-205. 2011.
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47Conceptual clarification and policy-related science: The case of chemical hormesisPerspectives on Science 8 (4): 346-366. 2000.: This paper examines the epistemological warrant for a toxicological phenomenon known as chemical hormesis. First, it argues that conceptual confusion contributes significantly to current disagreements about the status of chemical hormesis as a biological hypothesis. Second, it analyzes seven distinct concepts of chemical hormesis, arguing that none are completely satisfactory. Finally, it suggests three ramifications of this analysis for ongoing debates about the epistemological status of chem…Read more
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2Taking Financial Relationships into Account When Assessing ResearchAccountability in Research: Policies and Quality Assurance 20 (3): 184-205. 2013.
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53Robert Proctor has argued that ignorance or non-knowledge can be fruitfully divided into at least three categories: ignorance as native state or starting point; ignorance as lost realm or selective choice; and ignorance as strategic ploy or active construct. This chapter explores Proctor’s second category, ignorance as selective choice. When scientists investigate poorly understood phenomena, they have to make selective choices about what questions to ask, what research strategies and metrics to…Read more
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42The value-ladenness of transparency in science: Lessons from Lyme diseaseStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 88 (C): 1-9. 2021.
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31Selective Ignorance and Agricultural ResearchScience, Technology, and Human Values 38 (3): 328-350. 2012.Scholars working in science and technology studies have recently argued that we could learn much about the nature of scientific knowledge by paying closer attention to scientific ignorance. Building on the work of Robert Proctor, this article shows how ignorance can stem from a wide range of selective research choices that incline researchers toward partial, limited understandings of complex phenomena. A recent report produced by the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science, a…Read more
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119A Taxonomy of Transparency in ScienceCanadian Journal of Philosophy 52 (3): 342-355. 2022.Both scientists and philosophers of science have recently emphasized the importance of promoting transparency in science. For scientists, transparency is a way to promote reproducibility, progress, and trust in research. For philosophers of science, transparency can help address the value-ladenness of scientific research in a responsible way. Nevertheless, the concept of transparency is a complex one. Scientists can be transparent about many different things, for many different reasons, on behal…Read more
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33Could low-level exposure to polluting chemicals be analogous to exercise -- a beneficial source of stress that strengthens the body? Some scientists studying the phenomenon of hormesis claim that that this may be the case.s A Little Pollution Good For You? critically examines the current evidence for hormesis.
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22Review of What Is Nanotechnology and Why Does It Matter: From Science to Ethics (review)Studies in Ethics, Law, and Technology 5 (1). 2011.
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3Daniel Steel, Philosophy and the Precautionary Principle: Science, Evidence, and Environmental Policy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press , 266 pp., $95.00 (review)Philosophy of Science 82 (3): 524-527. 2015.
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15Review: Daniel Steel. Philosophy and the Precautionary Principle: Science, Evidence, and Environmental Policy (review)Philosophy of Science 82 (3): 524-527. 2015.
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94Value-entanglement and the integrity of scientific researchStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 75 1-11. 2019.
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33Addressing Industry-Funded Research with Criteria for ObjectivityPhilosophy of Science 85 (5): 857-868. 2018.In recent years, industry-funded research has come under fire because of concerns that it can be biased in favor of the funders. This article suggests that efforts by philosophers of science to analyze the concept of objectivity can provide important lessons for those seeking to evaluate and improve industry-funded research. It identifies three particularly relevant criteria for objectivity: transparency, reproducibility, and effective criticism. On closer examination, the criteria of transparen…Read more
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132Epistemic and methodological iteration in scientific researchStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 43 (2): 376-382. 2012.A number of scholars have recently drawn attention to the importance of iteration in scientific research. This paper builds on these previous discussions by drawing a distinction between epistemic and methodological forms of iteration and by clarifying the relationships between them. As defined here, epistemic iteration involves progressive alterations to scientific knowledge claims, whereas methodological iteration refers to an interplay between different modes of research practice. While disti…Read more
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550A Tapestry of Values: Response to My CriticsPhilosophy, Theory, and Practice in Biology 10 (11). 2018.This response addresses the excellent responses to my book provided by Heather Douglas, Janet Kourany, and Matt Brown. First, I provide some comments and clarifications concerning a few of the highlights from their essays. Second, in response to the worries of my critics, I provide more detail than I was able to provide in my book regarding my three conditions for incorporating values in science. Third, I identify some of the most promising avenues for further research that flow out of this inte…Read more
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42Précis of A Tapestry of Values: An Introduction to Values in SciencePhilosophy, Theory, and Practice in Biology 10. 2018.
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23Teaching and learning guide for: The promise and perils of industry‐funded researchPhilosophy Compass 13 (11). 2018.Private companies provide by far the most funding for scientific research and development. Nevertheless, relatively little attention has been paid to the dynamics of industry‐funded research by philosophers of science. This paper addresses this gap by providing an overview of the major strengths and weaknesses of industry research funding, together with the existing recommendations for addressing the weaknesses. It is designed to provide a starting point for future philosophical work that explor…Read more
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104The promise and perils of industry‐funded sciencePhilosophy Compass 13 (11). 2018.Private companies provide by far the most funding for scientific research and development. Nevertheless, relatively little attention has been paid to the dynamics of industry‐funded research by philosophers of science. This paper addresses this gap by providing an overview of the major strengths and weaknesses of industry research funding, together with the existing recommendations for addressing the weaknesses. It is designed to provide a starting point for future philosophical work that explor…Read more
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29Roles for Socially Engaged Philosophy of Science in Environmental PolicyIn David Boonin (ed.), Palgrave Handbook of Philosophy and Public Policy, Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 767-778. 2018.In recent years, philosophers of science have taken renewed interest in pursuing scholarship that is “socially engaged.” As a result, this scholarship has become increasingly relevant to public policy. In order to illustrate the ways in which the philosophy of science can inform public policy, this chapter focuses specifically on environmental research and policy. It shows how philosophy can assist with environmental policy making in three ways: clarifying the roles of values in policy-relevant …Read more
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359Nonepistemic Values and the Multiple Goals of SciencePhilosophy of Science 81 (1): 1-21. 2014.Recent efforts to argue that nonepistemic values have a legitimate role to play in assessing scientific models, theories, and hypotheses typically either reject the distinction between epistemic and nonepistemic values or incorporate nonepistemic values only as a secondary consideration for resolving epistemic uncertainty. Given that scientific representations can legitimately be evaluated not only based on their fit with the world but also with respect to their fit with the needs of their users…Read more
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124How values in scientific discovery and pursuit Alter theory appraisalPhilosophy of Science 76 (5): 598-611. 2009.Philosophers of science readily acknowledge that nonepistemic values influence the discovery and pursuit of scientific theories, but many tend to regard these influences as epistemically uninteresting. The present paper challenges this position by identifying three avenues through which nonepistemic values associated with discovery and pursuit in contemporary pollution research influence theory appraisal: (1) by guiding the choice of questions and research projects, (2) by altering experimental …Read more
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70Anthropocentric Indirect Arguments for Environmental ProtectionEthics, Policy and Environment 17 (3): 243-260. 2014.Environmental ethicists have devoted considerable attention to discussing whether anthropocentric or nonanthropocentric arguments provide more appropriate means for defending environmental protection. This paper argues that philosophers, scientists, and policy makers should pay more attention to a particular type of anthropocentric argument. These anthropocentric indirect arguments defend actions or policies that benefit the environment, but they justify the policies based on beneficial effects …Read more
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19Environmental Health EthicsEthics, Policy and Environment 17 (2): 238-239. 2014.While the fields of biomedical ethics and environmental ethics have received a great deal of philosophical attention in recent years, the intersection of these fields—environmental health ethics—ha...
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14Legally Poisoned: How the Law Puts Us at Risk from ToxicantsEthics, Policy and Environment 16 (2). 2013.Carl Cranor, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 2011, 328 pp, cloth $35.00, paper $19.95, ISBN 0-674-04970-5 Carl Cranor's new book, Legally poisoned, provides an important argument for a new...