[PHILOS-L] CfP ‘Objectivity and Science’ Special Issue of Philosophy, due Jan 2026
Alexander Franklin
We would like to invite submissions to a special issue of the journal Philosophy on the theme of Objectivity and Science. The special issue will also feature contributions from world-leading thinkers in this area, including Stephen John, Inkeri Koskinen, Helen Longino and Alison Wylie. Submission deadline January 10th 2026; planned publication early 2027. Please get in contact with the guest editors with any questions. For submission instructions: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/philosophy/information/author-instructions
Science is often taken to be distinctively objective. As Samuel Alexander put it in the very first article published in Philosophy, “Science … is controlled entirely from the real world it desires to understand”; the scientist “does not like the artist build his imputations into the material and create something which is not there in the world of nature” (‘Art and Science’, Philosophy 1:1 (1926), 5-19). However, this conception of science has long been challenged, from theoretical problems about the possibility of objectivity, to contemporary accusations of bias in the scientific consensus. The ideal of objectivity also raises specific problems in the context of particular sciences, from quantum mechanics to the science of consciousness. Furthermore, the presumption of objectivity has historically played a role in the exclusion of minorities from the scientific community, raising doubts about its value as an aim of science.
Questions submissions might pursue include:
- In what sense, if any, is science distinctively objective?
- What ideal of objectivity, if any, should science maintain?
- Is objectivity consistent with the roles of values, theories, or models in science?
- Can consciousness be measured objectively?
- Is there a sense in which quantum mechanics is subjective?
We invite submissions addressing these or related questions about objectivity and science, or objectivity and any particular science. Please note that, in order to maximise accessibility, contributors to Philosophy are asked to pay particular attention to the introduction and motivation of their problem and to avoid needless technicality.
Guest Editors: Alexander Franklin (alexander....@kcl.ac.uk) and James Stazicker (james.s...@kcl.ac.uk)
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