Call for Papers – Special Issue: The Epistemic and Political Dimensions of the Life Sciences
Giorgio Airoldi
The Epistemic and Political Dimensions of the Life Sciences
Although the life sciences (including biology, medicine, psychology, and ecology) are often regarded as empirically rigorous and value-neutral, they rely on idealized models, metaphors, classificatory frameworks, and implicit epistemic and metaphysical assumptions. While these conceptual elements are methodologically productive, they also raise important questions concerning the nature and limits of scientific knowledge, as well as the role of values in scientific practice. Such questions are particularly significant because, beyond academia, the authority of the life sciences plays an increasingly central role in political and ethical decision-making, especially in areas such as public health, environmental policy, and animal welfare.
This special issue explores how the conceptual and methodological assumptions of the life sciences intersect with questions of normativity, power, and social organization. We therefore invite contributions addressing topics such as:
- To what extent do idealized models, metaphors, and analogies shape the epistemic foundations of the life sciences, and can these sciences ever be fully value-neutral?
- How are key biological concepts such as health, disease, normality, adaptation, and sentience constructed, and what role do conceptual frameworks play in shaping biological ontology?
- How do scientific models and claims become embedded in political and ethical decision-making processes, particularly in domains such as public health and environmental governance?
- How do value judgments enter into the production and application of scientific knowledge in the life sciences, and can descriptive and normative dimensions ever be clearly separated?
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In what ways do the epistemological and metaphysical assumptions of the life sciences shape social order, self-understanding, and relations of power, and why do these assumptions often remain implicit?
- Philosophy of science (epistemology and methodology of the life sciences)
- Philosophy of biology and ontology (construction of biological categories such as health, disease, adaptation, species, and sentience)
- Ethics and bioethics (normative implications of scientific knowledge in medicine, public health, and animal welfare)
- Political philosophy and philosophy of science policy (scientific expertise in democratic decision-making, governance through modelling, and risk assessment)
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Sociology and social theory of science (science as a form of social power and the production of norms, subjectivities, and institutions)
https://revistas.uminho.pt/index.php/eps/about/submissions
Papers should not exceed 8,000 words, including footnotes and references, and must be submitted by March 30, 2027.
For further information, prospective contributors may contact the guest editor of this special issue:
Giorgio Airoldi
gair...@elach.uminho.pt
About the Journal
Ethics, Politics & Society is a peer-reviewed open-access academic journal dedicated to publishing high-quality contributions in political philosophy, political theory, normative ethics, and applied ethics. The journal focuses particularly on issues related to justice, democracy, moral philosophy, and contemporary debates in applied ethics.