Value-Free Science
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$40.00 (06)Description
It has long been thought that science is our best hope for realizing objective knowledge but that, to deliver on this promise, it must be free of the influence of any values that are not purely epistemic. As recent work in the philosophy, history, and social studies of science shows, however, things are not so simple. Values surface in numerous aspects of the scientific enterprise. The contributors to this volume ask where and how non-epistemic values are involved in science; they explore the roles these values play at the heart of science, in the assessment of evidence and explanations, and they examine the implications this has for ideals of objectivity. In the process, they consider a range of concrete examples drawn from fields as diverse as development economics, evolutionary biology, medicine, neurophysiology, environmental science, and the social/historical sciences, including empirical studies of scientific practice. While they differ on many specifics, the authors share the general perspective that a defensible middle ground lies between the dichotomous views that often dominate debate: that values have no place in science, or that science is nothing but covert politics.The introduction provides an overview of the issues, and an analysis of the much used but under-analyzed slogans value-free and value-laden. The papers in Part I work from detailed case studies to defend various theses about the place of values in science. The role of values in evidence is directly addressed in Part II and, in Part III, issues of value freedom are examined from the perspective of some influential programs in philosophy of science and epistemology.
Reviews
"Historians of science whose work has led them to puzzle over their own and their historical actors' judgments of the relations between value and scientific fact will find much of value here."--Alan Richardson, Isis
"A valuable anthology of essays by contemporary philosophers."--Choice
"A well structured and informative introduction provides readers with background on the question of values in science.... Anyone who is interested in the question of values in science...will find Value-Free Science? a worthwhile read."--Lisa Gannett, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews
About the Author(s)
Harold Kincaid
is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Alabama.
John Dupre
is Professor of Philosophy of Science and Director of the ESRC Centre for Genomics in Society at the University of Exeter.
