Science, Virtues and Values

Ends and Means, Values and Virtues

Philosopher: It has taken me a while but I think I now see what social software is trying to get at. Its ultimate driving force seems to be a desire to help solve social problems. For this, one should of course understand these problems and get a good grasp of their structure. So, and that’s the second element, we focus on the analysis of such social problems. Finally, the way of going about in...

The virtues of mundane science

Sustainable resource management has become the most hotly debated and challenging concept in environmental research and development policy. Based largely on a notion defined by the Brundtland Commission a decade ago, calls for attention to sustainability have become de rigueur in the academic, conservation, and international development communities. Discussion of the issues involved have led to...

Epistemic Virtues and Epistemic Values: A Skeptical Critique1

Epistemic virtues or epistemic values, we are told, play a major role in our assessments of the bearing of evidence in science. There is something quite right about this notion; and there is something quite wrong about it. My goal in the chapter is to explain each. In brief, what is right about the notion of epistemic virtue or value is that criteria such as simplicity and explanatory power do ...

Society, science, and values.

Integrating Science and Human Values

The burden of cancer continues to increase globally, with substantial personal, societal, and economic consequences. Population growth and aging underlie this increase—a reflection of the effect of population health interventions in the last two centuries. Much of this gain has come through observation, derivation of evidence, and rigorous application of valid science to the public, both health...