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16Legitimizing Values in Regulatory ScienceEnvironmental Health Perspectives 3 (127): 035001-1-035001-8. 2019.Background: Over the last several decades, scientists and social groups have frequently raised concerns about politicization or political interference in regulatory science. Public actors (environmentalists and industry advocates, politically aligned public figures, scientists and political commentators, in the United States as well as in other countries) across major political-regulatory controversies have expressed concerns about the inappropriate politicization of science. Although we share c…Read more
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3Controversias científicasIdeas Y Valores 71 8-12. 2022.Desde los inicios del filosofar y de las ciencias, el ejercicio de controvertir ha estado presente para dinamizar la emergencia de ideas, el reconocimiento de hechos y la formulación de métodos que los seres humanos han articulado con el propósito de entender las realidades que los rodean. Sin embargo, el estudio sistemático del desacuerdo en las ciencias como problema en sí mismo es de muy reciente data. Incluso la dimensión histórica de las controversias fue eclipsada por otras cuestiones apar…Read more
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8Controversias en la Investigación Clínica. Estudios específicos de Raza y el caso BIDILIdeas Y Valores 71 218-236. 2022.El objetivo principal de este artículo es analizar los estudios que respaldan la aprobación y el uso del BiDil, el primer medicamento aprobado para uso exclusivo en población afroamericana en EE. UU., así como la controversia que surgió alrededor de este. En particular, mostraré que la controversia sobre el BiDil no debe entenderse como una controversia puramente epistémica, sino como una controversia compleja en la que convergen aspectos tanto epistémicos como ético-sociales y comerciales. Ente…Read more
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24Epistemic diversity and industrial selection biasSynthese 201 (5): 1-18. 2023.Philosophers of science have argued that epistemic diversity is an asset for the production of scientific knowledge, guarding against the effects of biases, among other advantages. The growing privatization of scientific research, on the contrary, has raised important concerns for philosophers of science, especially with respect to the growing sources of biases in research that it seems to promote. Recently, Holman and Bruner ( 2017 ) have shown, using a modified version of Zollman ( 2010 ) soci…Read more
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28Methodological and Cognitive Biases in Science: Issues for Current Research and Ways to Counteract ThemPerspectives on Science 31 (5): 535-554. 2023.Arguments discrediting the value-free ideal of science have left us with the question of how to distinguish desirable values from biases that compromise the reliability of research. In this paper, I argue for a characterization of cognitive biases as deviations of thought processes that systematically lead scientists to the wrong conclusions. In particular, cognitive biases could help us understand a crucial issue in science today: how systematic error is introduced in research outcomes, even wh…Read more
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42Exploring the limits of dissent: the case of shooting biasSynthese 200 (4): 1-19. 2022.The shooting bias hypothesis aims to explain the disproportionate number of minorities killed by police. We present the evidence mounting in support of the existence of shooting bias and then focus on two dissenting studies. We examine these studies in light of Biddle and Leuschner’s “inductive risk account of epistemically detrimental dissent” and conclude that, although they meet this account only partially, the studies are in fact epistemically and socially detrimental as they contribute to r…Read more
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14Exploring the limits of dissent: the case of shooting biasSynthese 200 (4): 1-19. 2022.The shooting bias hypothesis aims to explain the disproportionate number of minorities killed by police. We present the evidence mounting in support of the existence of shooting bias and then focus on two dissenting studies. We examine these studies in light of Biddle and Leuschner’s “inductive risk account of epistemically detrimental dissent” and conclude that, although they meet this account only partially, the studies are in fact epistemically and socially detrimental as they contribute to r…Read more
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96How Dissent on Gender Bias in Academia Affects Science and Society: Learning from the Case of Climate Change DenialPhilosophy of Science 88 (4): 573-593. 2021.Gender bias is a recalcitrant problem in academia and society. However, dissent has been created on this issue. We focus on dissenting studies by Stephen J. Ceci and Wendy M. Williams, arguing that they reach conclusions that are unwarranted on the basis of the available evidence and that they ignore fundamental objections to their methodological decisions. Drawing on discussions from other contexts, particularly on manufactured dissent concerning anthropogenic climate change, we conclude that d…Read more
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Agnotology and the New Politicization of Science and Scientization of PoliticsIn David Tyfield, Rebecca Lave, Samuel Randalls & Charles Thorpe (eds.), The Routledge Handbook of the Political Economy of Science, Routledge International Handbooks. pp. 341-350. 2017.
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Epistemic Landscapes Reloaded: An Examination of Agent-Based Models in Social Epistemology.Historical Social Research 43 (1): 48-71. 2018.Weisberg and Muldoon’s epistemic landscape model (ELM) has been one of the most significant contributions to the use of agent-based models in philosophy. The model provides an innovative approach to establishing the optimal distribution of cognitive labor in scientific communities, using an epistemic landscape. In the paper, we provide a critical examination of ELM. First, we show that the computing mechanism for ELM is correct insofar as we are able to replicate the results using another progra…Read more
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33Ignorance, Science, and FeminismIn Kristen Intemann & Sharon Crasnow (eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Feminist Philosophy of Science, Routledge. 2020.The aim of this chapter is to examine some of the key contributions of feminist philosophers of science to the study of ignorance. First, I provide a brief introduction to agnotology and its critical stance to traditional epistemology. Then, I illustrate how the study of ignorance can serve as a tool for feminist epistemology through an examination of case studies. In the third section, I examine the importance of ignorance studies for the feminist project in philosophy of science. Finally, in t…Read more
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18Scientific ignoranceTheoria: Revista de Teoría, Historia y Fundamentos de la Ciencia 34 (2): 195-211. 2019.The aim of the paper is to clarify the concept of scientific ignorance: what is it, what are its sources, and when is it epistemically detrimental to science. While some sources of scientific ignorance come inevitably with the process of knowledge acquisition, others are deliberately created. The former includes selection processes, inductive reasoning, and cognitive biases, while the latter includes scientific fraud. Another important source of scientific ignorance appears when scientists intro…Read more
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42Commercial Interests and the Erosion of Trust in SciencePhilosophy of Science 87 (5): 1003-1013. 2020.The article examines the idea that commercialized science is a central factor in the erosion of trust in science. I claim that commercial interests have a negative impact on the trustworthiness of...
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40A Role for Science in Public Policy? The Obstacles, Illustrated by the Case of Breast Cancer Screening PolicyScience, Technology, and Human Values 43 (5): 917-943. 2018.A coherent and helpful public policy based on science is difficult to achieve for at least three reasons. First, there are purely practical problems—for example, that scientific experts often disagree on policy-relevant questions and their debates often continue well beyond policy appropriate timelines. Second, there are epistemic problems—for example, that science is hardly the neutral supplier of factual information that traditionally has been supposed. And third, there are social problems: gi…Read more
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19Doubly Disadvantaged: The Recruitment of Diverse Subjects for Clinical Trials in Latin AmericaTapuya 1 (2): 391-407. 2019.Due to its allegedly diverse population and strong doctor–patient relations, Latin America has become one of the most attractive locations for international clinical trials. In the paper, I examine the case of recruitment of women and minority patients to serve as subjects of international clinical trials, through CROs operating in Latin America. In particular, the paper examines some of the strategies that CROs use to expand their services in the Latin American medical market, illuminating the …Read more
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8The growing body of research on interdisciplinarity has encouraged a more in depth analysis of the relations that hold among academic disciplines. In particular, the incursion of one scientific discipline into another discipline's traditional domain, also known as scientific imperialism, has been a matter of increasing debate. Following this trend, Scientific Imperialism aims to bring together philosophers of science and historians of science interested in the topic of scientific imperialism and…Read more
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16Commercialization and the Limits of Critical Contextual EmpiricismProceedings of the XXIII World Congress of Philosophy 62 43-48. 2018.Philosophers of science have become increasingly concerned with the social dimensions of scientific knowledge. The general aim of the paper is to show that approaches in social epistemology of science fail to take into account important changes that the organization of science has undergone in the past decades. I argue that the social organization of science is an important “social dimension” of scientific knowledge that philosophers need to consider. In order to do so, I focus on Helen Longino’…Read more
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32Scientific ignorance: Probing the limits of scientific research and knowledge productionTheoria. An International Journal for Theory, History and Foundations of Science 34 (2): 195. 2019.The aim of the paper is to clarify the concept of scientific ignorance: what is it, what are its sources, and when is it epistemically detrimental for science. I present a taxonomy of scientific ignorance, distinguishing between intrinsic and extrinsic sources. I argue that the latter can create a detrimental epistemic gap, which have significant epistemic and social consequences. I provide three examples from medical research to illustrate this point. To conclude, I claim that while some types …Read more
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34Democratizing Strategies for Industry-Funded Medical Research: A Cautionary TalePhilosophy of Science 85 (5): 882-894. 2018.The article examines the process of niche standardization in medical research as an example of democratizing strategies implemented in industry-funded science. I argue that niche standardization can lead to undesirable epistemic and ethical consequences, if the various goals of research are not properly aligned. I examine two examples: the case of Sarafem, approved for the treatment of premenstrual dysphoric disorder in women, and the case of BiDil, approved for exclusive use in African American…Read more
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31Learning from ignorance: agnotology's challenge to philosophy of scienceErasmus Journal for Philosophy and Economics 7 (2): 181. 2014.
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31Philosophy of science for globalized privatization: Uncovering some limitations of critical contextual empiricismStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 47 10-17. 2014.The purpose of this paper is to uncover some of the limitations that critical contextual empiricism, and in particular Longino's contextualism, faces when trying to provide a normative account of scientific knowledge that is relevant to current scientific research. After presenting the four norms of effective criticism, I show how the norms have limited scope when dealing with cases of current scientific practices. I then present some historical evidence for the claim that the organization of sc…Read more
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36Democratic values and their role in maximizing the objectivity of science (review)Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 59 121-124. 2016.
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66To Know or Better Not to: Agnotology and the Social Construction of Ignorance in Commercially Driven ResearchScience and Technology Studies 30 (2): 53-72. 2017.With an innovative perspective on the social character of ignorance production, agnotology has been a fruitful approach for understanding the social and epistemological consequences of the interaction between industry and scientific research. In this paper, I argue that agnotology, or the study of ignorance, contributes to a better understanding of commercially driven research and its societal impact, showing the ways in which industrial interests have reshaped the epistemic aims of traditional …Read more
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22Scientific Imperialism: Exploring the Boundaries of Interdisciplinarity (edited book)Routledge. 2019.The growing body of research on interdisciplinarity has encouraged a more in depth analysis of the relations that hold among academic disciplines. In particular, the incursion of one scientific discipline into another discipline’s traditional domain, also known as scientific imperialism, has been a matter of increasing debate. Following this trend, Scientific Imperialism aims to bring together philosophers of science and historians of science interested in the topic of scientific imperialism an…Read more
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85Modeling the social organization of science: Chasing complexity through simulationsEuropean Journal for Philosophy of Science 7 (2): 221-238. 2016.At least since Kuhn’s Structure, philosophers have studied the influence of social factors in science’s pursuit of truth and knowledge. More recently, formal models and computer simulations have allowed philosophers of science and social epistemologists to dig deeper into the detailed dynamics of scientific research and experimentation, and to develop very seemingly realistic models of the social organization of science. These models purport to be predictive of the optimal allocations of factors…Read more
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86Commercialization and the Limits of Well-Ordered SciencePerspectives on Science 23 (2): 173-191. 2015.In recent decades, philosophers of science have become increasingly concerned with the social dimensions of scientific knowledge. Philosophers such as Helen Longino, Philip Kitcher, Miriam Solomon, Heather Douglas, and Janet Kourany have sought to incorporate the social aspects of science, while retaining the normative commitments of philosophy of science. Some of the major theoretical approaches in social epistemology of science, however, tend to ignore or underestimate the role that the curren…Read more
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86Economics Imperialism in Social Epistemology: A Critical AssessmentPhilosophy of the Social Sciences 46 (5): 443-472. 2016.Expanding on recent philosophical contributions to the conceptual and normative framework of scientific imperialism, I examine whether the economics approach to social epistemology can be considered a case of economics imperialism and determine whether economics’ explanatory expansionism appropriately contributes to this philosophical subfield or not. I argue first that the economics approach to social epistemology counts as a case of economics imperialism under a broad conception of the term, a…Read more
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40Tensions in agnotology: Normativity in the studies of commercially driven ignoranceSocial Studies of Science 45 (2): 294-315. 2015.As scientific research moves increasingly to the private sector, the social organization of science undergoes important transformations. Focusing on the production of ignorance, agnotology has been a fruitful approach to understanding the social and epistemic consequences of the recent commercialization of scientific research. Despite their important contributions, scholars working on agnotology seem to hold implicit normative commitments that are in tension with their descriptive accounts of ig…Read more
Areas of Specialization
Science and Values |
Social Epistemology |
Feminist Philosophy of Science |
General Philosophy of Science |