260090 Science and Values (S) (WiSe 2023/2024)

This course will help the participant navigate a wide range of debates on science and values in the philosophy of science literature. The participant could then appreciate how philosophers of science have been thinking about questions like: To what extent should science be value-free? Do values undermine scientific objectivity? How to evaluate scientific progress? Which role values play in scientific research and its application is legitimate and which not?

The first part of this course is concerned more with how philosophers of science theorize about the relationship between science and values; the second part examines considerations about values in more specific contexts using examples of socially relevant science. This course is expected to equip the participant with a basic toolkit to approach various normative dimensions of science in practical contexts, such as climate change, wellbeing, and discrimination.

We are going to conduct an intensive online course, from Oct 20 to Dec 7, mostly two sessions per week.

For more info about this course, please take a look at the syllabus on eKVV Lernraum (e-Learning space).

Bibliography

1. Kuhn, T. S. (1977). Objectivity, value judgment, and theory choice. In “The Essential Tension: University of Chicago Press.”
2. Koertge, N. (2000). Science, Values, and the Value of Science. Philosophy of Science, 67, S45-S57.
3. Douglas, H. (2000). Inductive Risk and Values in Science. Philosophy of Science, 67(4), 559-579.
4. Betz, G. (2013). In defence of the value free ideal. European Journal for Philosophy of Science, 3(2), 207-220.
5. Elliott, K. C. (2019). Managing value-laden judgements in regulatory science and risk assessment. EFSA Journal 17 (S1):e170709.