Call for papers: The Legacy of the Value-Free Ideal of Science
ISHPSS
Call for Papers
Topical Collection of Synthese: „The Legacy of the Value-Free Ideal of Science”
Guest Editors:
Philippe
Stamenkovic
(a) Jacques Loeb Center for the History and
Philosophy of the Life Sciences, Ben-Gurion
University of the Negev (Israel)
(b) MTA Lendület Values and Science Research
Group
philippe.s...@icloud.com
Adam
Tamas Tuboly
(a) MTA Lendület Values and Science Research
Group
(b) Institute of Transdisciplinary
Discoveries Medical School, University of
Pécs tubolya...@gmail.com
Topical Collection Description:
Until the end of the 20th century, the value-free ideal (VFI) of science, according to which non-epistemic values should not have any influence on the epistemic phase of scientific inquiry (where hypotheses are accepted or rejected), was the dominant view among philosophers and especially scientists. However, in the last decades, the value-laden ideal (VLI) progressively became the new “received view” in the philosophy of science. But the VLI raises difficulties, and in fact, the question of (non-epistemic) values in science remains controversial, at least for the epistemic phase (for the pre-epistemic phase where research questions are formulated, and post-epistemic phase where results are communicated and applied, the influence of non-epistemic values is generally acknowledged and not controversial). There are important unfinished questions, some of which are empirical, but some of which are also normative, such as which values can or should influence science, and how they are allowed to do so. Besides particular (and influential) attempts, a general view of the role of values in science is rarely presented.
The current VLI proposals are often too complicated (designed on a case-by-case basis) and/or potentially ambiguous (when conflicting goals lead to different values and corresponding scientific claims); they conflict with the own views of many scientists and members of the general public (scientists in general, and many within the public and government panels, still tend to follow and emphasize the VFI); and they do not guarantee the epistemic integrity of science (hence maintaining the suspicion of wishful thinking). The question is still open whether there are any legitimate terrains where the VFI is a possible or more desirable option.
This problematic state of affairs gives rise to a confused image of science in the mind of scientists, policy-makers and the general public, which can have a negative impact on the trust people put in science. Worse, such unsettled debate can be used by science deniers to support their undermining enterprise.
The concern to protect the integrity of science is, in turn, a (partial) rehabilitation of the VFI, whose central philosophical motivation and demand is the preservation of the epistemic integrity of science (in order to avoid wishful thinking). Thus, in order to overcome our current predicament, we need to understand what we can learn from the VFI, and why people still deem it important today: why, in a nutshell, it still has some relevance in some way. To do so, we can look both backwards and forwards, with the following possible topics for this topical collection:
• How did the VFI come about, how was it progressively replaced by the VLI, and what is left of it from the historical and social point of view?
• How can we understand today the importance of the VFI in the public image of science, the implications of its demise on the public trust in science, and the dangers represented by the VLI (e.g. with respect to conspiracy theories)?
• What possible ways could we imagine to incorporate the fundamental insight of the VFI, namely the preservation of the integrity of science, while incorporating the influence of values in the most simple, systematic and coherent way?
• As science progresses, do new values surface among the relevant and respected non- epistemic values which already influence science?
• Does the VFI have any local and geographical dimension, or it is a universal idea?
•
What are the forms and fields of science
most susceptible to the VFI?
Any
other topics related to the VFI and VLI are
also welcome. As emphasized above, submitted
papers shall focus on science and values,
from a philosophical, historical,
sociological or integrated perspective.
Invited contributors:
Jordi Cat (Indiana University), Inmaculada de Melo-Martin (Cornell University), Heather Douglas and T.Y. Branch (Michigan State University and Universitat Köln), Kevin Elliott (Michigan State University), Sven Ove Hansson (Stockholm University), Kristen Intemann (Montana State University), Janet Kourany (University of Notre Dame), Kristina Rolin (University of Helsinki).
Manuscripts shall be submitted via Synthese’s online system (https://www.editorial- manager.com/synt/default.aspx), under the adequate topic collection heading, “The Legacy of the Value-Free Ideal of Science”. The deadline for submission is March 15, 2023.
For further information, please contact the guest editors: Philippe Stamenkovic (philippe.stamen- ko...@icloud.com) or Adam Tamas Tuboly (tubolya...@gmail.com).