Abstract
The goal of this paper is to articulate and advocate for an enhanced role for philosophers of science in the domain of science policy as well as within the science curriculum. I argue that philosophy of science as a field can learn from the successes as well as the mistakes of bioethics and begin to develop a new model that includes robust contributions to the science classroom, research collaborations with scientists, and a role for public philosophy through involvement in science policy development. Through an analysis of two case studies, I illustrate how philosophers of science can make effective and productive contributions to science education as well as to interdisciplinary scientific research, and argue for the essential role of philosophers of science in the realm of science policy.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adger W. N. (2004) The right to keep cold. Environment and Planning 36: 1711–1715
Alcamo, J., Shaw, R., Hordijk, L. (eds) (1990) The RAINS model of acidification: Science and strategies in Europe. Kluwer, Dordrecht
Benatar S., Fleischer T. (2006) Bioethics with blinders. Hastings Center Report 36(6): 4
Bernstein, L., Bosch, P., Canziani, O., Chen, Z., Christ, R., Davidson, O., et al. (Eds.). (2008). IPCC, 2007: Climate change 2007: Synthesis report. Contribution of working groups I, II and III to the fourth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Geneva, Switzerland: IPCC.
Broecker W. S. (1991) The great ocean conveyor. Oceanography 4: 79–89
Broome J. (1991) Weighing goods: Equality, uncertainty and time. Blackwell, Oxford
Broome J. (1992) Counting the cost of global warming. White Horse Press, Cambridge
Broome J. (1999) Ethics out of economics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA
Broome J. (2004) Weighing lives. Oxford University Press, Oxford; New York
Caney S. (2006) Global justice, rights, and climate change. Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence 18(2): 255–278
Cass D. (1965) Optimum growth in an aggregative model of capital accumulation. Review of Economic Studies 32(3): 233–240
Cranor C. F. (1993) Regulating toxic substances: A philosophy of science and the law. Oxford University Press, Oxford; New York
Daniels N. (2006) Equity and population health: Toward a broader bioethics agenda. Hastings Center Report 36(4): 22–35
Ehrlich P.R. (2003) Bioethics: Are our priorities right?. Bioscience 53(12): 1207–1216
Farmer P. (2004) Pathologies of power: Health, human rights, and the new war on the poor. University of California Press, Berkeley
Farmer P., Campos N. G. (2004) Rethinking medical ethics: A view from below. Developing World Bioethics 4(1): 17–41
Fletcher J. C. (1995) Clinical bioethics at the NIH: History and a new vision. Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 5(4): 355–364
Fuller S. (1993) Philosophy of science and its discontents. Guilford Press, New York
Gardiner S. M. (2006) A perfect moral storm: Climate change, intergenerational ethics and the problem of moral corruption. Environmental Values 15(3): 397–413
Goes, M., Keller, K., & Tuana, N. (forthcoming). The economics (or lack thereof) of aerosol geoengineering. Climatic Change.
IPCC. (2007). Summary for policymakers. In: S. Solomon, D. Qin, M. Manning, Z. Chen, M. Marquis, K.B. Averyt, et al. (Eds.), Climate change 2007: The physical science basis. Contribution of working group I to the fourth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA: Cambridge University Press.
Knorr Cetina K. D. (1999) Epistemic cultures. How the sciences make knowledge. Harvard University Press, Cambridge
Koopmans T. C. (1965) On the concept of optimal economic growth. Academiae Scientiarum Scripta Varia 28(1): 225–300
Leary N., Conde C., Kulkarni J., Nyong A., Pulhin J. (2008) Climate change and vulnerability. Earthscan Publications, London; Sterling, VA
Louis M. E. S., Hess J. J. (2008) Climate change impacts on and implications for global health. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 35: 527–538
Lowey E.H., Springer Lowey R. (2005) Use and abuse of bioethics: Integrity and professional standing. Health Care Analysis 13(1): 73–86
Mastrandrea M. D., Schneider S. H. (2004) Probabilistic integrated assessment of “dangerous” climate change. Science 304(5670): 571–575
McInerney D., Keller K. (2008) Economically optimal risk reduction strategies in the face of uncertain climate thresholds. Climatic Change 91(1–2): 29–41
Meehl G. A. et al (2007) Global Climate Projections. In: Solomon S., Qin D., Manning M., Chen Z., Marquis M., Averyt K. B., Tignor M., Miller H. L. (eds) Climate change 2007: The physical science basis. Contribution of working group I to the fourth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA
Mervis J. (2001) NSF scores low on using own criteria. Science 291(5513): 2533–2535
Mitcham C., Frodeman R. (2004) New directions in the philosophy of science: Toward a philosophy of science policy. Philosophy Today 48: 3–15
National Science Foundation. (1997). GPRA Strategic Plan, FY 1997-FY 2003. http://www.nsf.gov/od/gpraplan/gpraplan.htm
National Science Foundation. (2002). Important Notice No. 127, Implementation of new Grant Proposal Guide Requirements Related to the Broader Impacts Criterion.
Nordhaus W. D. (1992) An optimal transition path for controlling greenhouse gases. Science 258(5086): 1315–1319
Nordhaus W.D. (2007) A review of the stern review on the economics of climate change. Journal of Economic Literature 45(3): 686–702
Paavola J., Adger W. N. (2006) Fair adaptation to climate change. Ecological Economics 56(4): 594–609
Parks B., Roberts T. (2006) Globalization, vulnerability to climate change, and perceived injustice. Society and National Resources 19(4): 337–355
Ramsey F. (1928) A mathematical theory of saving. Economic Journal 38(152): 543–559
Sachs W. (2006) Climate change and human rights; Interactions between global change and human health. Scripta Varia 106 Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Vatican City
Sagoff M. (2004) Price, principle, and the environment. Cambridge University Press, Oxford
Schienke E.W., Tuana N., Brown D.A., Davis K.J., Keller K., Shortle J.S. et al (2009) The role of the NSF Broader Impacts Criterion in enhancing research ethics pedagogy. Social Epistemology 23(3–4): 317–336
Schienke, E. W., Baum, S., Tuana, N., Davis, K. J., & Keller, K. (2010). Intrinsic ethics regarding integrated assessment models for climate management. Science and Engineering Ethics doi:10.1007/s11948-010-9209-3.
Schneider S. H. (2001) What is ‘dangerous’ climate change?. Nature 411: 17–19
Schneider S. H., Semenov S., Patwardhan A., Burton I., Magadza C. H. D., Oppenheimer M. et al (2007) Assessing key vulnerabilities and the risk from climate change. In: Parry M. L., Canziani O. F., Palutikof J. P., Linden P. J. v. d., Hanson C. E. (eds) Climate change 2007: Impacts, adaptation and vulnerability contribution of working group II to the fourth assessment report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, pp 779–810
Sen A. (2000) The discipline of cost-benefit analysis. Journal of Legal Studies 29(2): 931–952
Shrader-Frechette K. S. (1993) Burying uncertainty: Risk and the case against geological disposal of nuclear waste. University of California Press, Berkeley
Shrader-Frechette K. S. (2007) Taking action, saving lives: Our duty to protect the environmental and public health. Oxford University Press, Oxford; New York
Shue H. (2003) Climate. In: Jamison D. (eds) A companion to environmental philosophy. Wiley-Blackwell, New York, pp 449–459
Solomon M. (2007) The social epistemology of NIH Consensus Conferences. In: Kincaid H., McKitrick J. (eds) Establishing medical reality: Methodological and metaphysical issues in philosophy of medicine. Springer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands, pp 167–177
Stern N. (2007) The economics of climate change: The Stern review. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Traweek S. (1988) Beamtimes and lifetimes: The world of high energy physicists. Harvard University Press, Cambridge
United Nations. (1992). United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Article 2. FCCC/INFORMAL/84 GE.05-62220 (E) 200705.
United States Congress. (2007). American Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science Act (America COMPETES Act).
Urban N. M., Keller K. (2009) Complementary observational constraints on climate sensitivity. Geophysical Research Letters 36: L04708
Vanderheiden S. J. (2008) Atmospheric justice: A political theory of climate change. Oxford University Press, New York
Weitzman M. L. (2007) A review of The Stern Review of the Economics of Climate Change. Journal of Economic Literature 43(3): 703–724
Weitzman M. L. (2009) On modeling and interpreting the economics of catastrophic climate change. Review of Economics and Statistics 91(1): 1–19
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tuana, N. Leading with ethics, aiming for policy: new opportunities for philosophy of science. Synthese 177, 471–492 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-010-9793-4
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-010-9793-4