Exploring Inductive Risk Case Studies of Values in Science

by Elliott, Kevin C.; Richards, Ted

• ISBN13: 9780190467722
• ISBN10: 019046772X
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2017-07-03
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Science is the most reliable means available for understanding the world around us and our place in it. But, since science draws conclusions based on limited empirical evidence, there is always a chance that a scientific inference will be incorrect. That chance, known as inductive risk, is endemic to science.

Though inductive risk has always been present in scientific practice, the role of values in responding to it has only recently gained extensive attention from philosophers, scientists, and policy-makers. Exploring Inductive Risk brings together a set of eleven concrete case studies with the goals of illustrating the pervasiveness of inductive risk, assisting scientists and policymakers in responding to it, and moving theoretical discussions of this phenomenon forward. The case studies range over a wide variety of scientific contexts, including the drug approval process, high energy particle physics, dual-use research, climate science, research on gender disparities in employment, clinical trials, and toxicology.

The book includes an introductory chapter that provides a conceptual introduction to the topic and a historical overview of the argument that values have an important role to play in responding to inductive risk, as well as a concluding chapter that synthesizes important themes from the book and maps out issues in need of further consideration.

Author Biography

Kevin C. Elliott is an Associate Professor with joint appointments in Lyman Briggs College, the Department of Fisheries & Wildlife, and the Department of Philosophy at Michigan State University. His publications include Is a Little Pollution Good for You? Incorporating Societal Values in Environmental Research (Oxford University Press, 2011) and A Tapestry of Values: An Introduction to Values in Science (Oxford University Press, 2017).

Ted Richards is the editor of Soccer and Philosophy: Beautiful Thoughts on the Beautiful Game (Open Court, 2010). Currently, he teaches philosophy at the University of Waterloo in Ontario.

Table of Contents

Foreword, Heather Douglas
Contributors

Introduction

Part I: Weighing Inductive Risk
Drug Regulation and the Inductive Risk Calculus Jacob Stegenga
Decisions, Decisions: Inductive Risk and the Higgs Boson Kent W. Staley

Part II: Evading Inductive Risk
Dual Use Research and Inductive Risk David B. Resnik
Making Uncertanties Explicit: The Jefferyan Value-Free Ideal and Its Limits David M. Frank
Inductive Risk, Deferred Decisions, and Climate Science Advising Matthew J. Brown and Joyce C. Havstad

Part III: The Breadth of Inductive Risk
Measuring Inequality: The Roles of Values and Inductive Risk Robin Andreasen and Heather Doty
Safe or Sorry? Cancer Screening and Inductive Risk Anya Plutynski
Inductive Risk and Values in Composite Outcome Measures Roger Stanev
Inductive Risk and the Role of Values in Clinical Trials Robyn Bluhm

Part IV: Exploring the Limits of Inductive Risk
The Geography of Epistemic Risk Justin B. Biddle and Rebecca Kukla
The Inductive Risk of "Demasculinization" Jack Powers

Exploring Inductive Risk: Future Questions
Index