Inductive risk and the contexts of communication

In recent years, the argument from inductive risk against value free science has enjoyed a revival. This paper investigates and clarifies this argument through means of a case-study: neonicitinoid research. Sect. 1 argues that the argument from inductive risk is best conceptualised as a claim about scientists’ communicative obligations. Sect. 2 then shows why this argument is inapplicable to “public communication”. Sect. 3 outlines non-epistemic reasons why non-epistemic values should not play a role in public communicative contexts. Sect. 4 analyses the implications of these arguments both for the specific case of neonicitinoid research and for understanding the limits of the argument from inductive risk. Sect. 5 sketches the broader implications of my claims for understanding the “Value Free Ideal” for science.

[1]  I. Levi.  Must the Scientist Make Value Judgments , 1960 .

[2]  S. John.  In Defence of Bad Science and Irrational Policies: an Alternative Account of the Precautionary Principle , 2010 .

[3]  Levi Spectre,et al.  Statistical Evidence, Sensitivity, and the Legal Value of Knowledge , 2012 .

[4]  Torsten Wilholt.  Epistemic Trust in Science , 2013, The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science.

[5]  Pj Philip Nickel.  TESTIMONIAL ENTITLEMENT, NORMS OF ASSERTION AND PRIVACY , 2013, Episteme.

[6]  J. Boesten,et al.  EFSA Guidance Document on the risk assessment of plant protection products on bees (Apis mellifera, Bombus spp. and solitary bees) , 2013 .

[7]  O. O’neill.  I. The Public use of Reason , 1986 .

[8]  Kevin C. Elliott,et al.  Direct and Indirect Roles for Values in Science* , 2011, Philosophy of Science.

[9]  Peter Lipton,et al.  Inference to the best explanation , 1993 .

[10]  K. Elliott,et al.  Nonepistemic Values and the Multiple Goals of Science , 2014, Philosophy of Science.

[11]  D. Steel,et al.  Environmental Justice, Values, and Scientific Expertise , 2012, Kennedy Institute of Ethics journal.

[12]  Cass R. Sunstein.  Laws of Fear: SOLUTIONS , 2005 .

[13]  D. Henderson.  Gate-Keeping Contextualism , 2011, Episteme.

[14]  Carl F. Cranor,et al.  Regulating Toxic Substances , 1993 .

[15]  Jeremy Fantl,et al.  Knowledge in an Uncertain World , 2009 .

[16]  D. Goulson,et al.  Neonicotinoid Pesticide Reduces Bumble Bee Colony Growth and Queen Production , 2012, Science.

[17]  Mickaël Henry,et al.  A Common Pesticide Decreases Foraging Success and Survival in Honey Bees , 2012, Science.

[18]  Vanessa Hertzog,et al.  What Is Enlightenment , 2016 .

[19]  Cass R. Sunstein,et al.  Laws of Fear: Beyond the Precautionary Principle , 2005 .

[20]  R. Kukla.  “Author TBD”: Radical Collaboration in Contemporary Biomedical Research , 2012, Philosophy of Science.

[21]  John Rawls,et al.  政治自由主义 = Political liberalism , 2000 .

[22]  P. D. Magnus,et al.  New Waves in Philosophy of Science , 2010 .

[23]  Richard S. Rudner.  The Scientist Qua Scientist Makes Value Judgments , 1953, Philosophy of Science.

[24]  J. Z. Bonilla.  Science, Policy, and the Value-Free Ideal , 2010 .

[25]  Daniel Steel,et al.  Epistemic Values and the Argument from Inductive Risk* , 2010, Philosophy of Science.

[26]  E. Stokstad.  Agriculture. Field research on bees raises concern about low-dose pesticides. , 2012, Science.

[27]  C. Sunstein.  Laws of Fear: Acknowledgments , 2005 .

[28]  S. John.  EXPERT TESTIMONY AND EPISTEMOLOGICAL FREE‐RIDING: THE MMR CONTROVERSY , 2011 .

[29]  K. Elliott.  Douglas on values: From indirect roles to multiple goals , 2013 .

[30]  Edward Craig,et al.  Knowledge and the State of Nature , 1990 .

[31]  Frances Howard-Snyder.  The Rejection of Objective Consequentialism , 1997, Utilitas.

[32]  Gregor Betz,et al.  In defence of the value free ideal , 2013 .

[33]  Mike Redmayne.  EXPLORING THE PROOF PARADOXES* , 2008, Legal Theory.

[34]  H. Grice.  Logic and conversation , 1975 .

[35]  James c. Gaa.  Moral Autonomy and the Rationality of Science , 1977, Philosophy of Science.

[36]  The example of the IPCC does not vindicate the Value Free Ideal: a reply to Gregor Betz , 2015 .

[37]  C. Hempel.  Science and Human Values , 1960 .

[38]  Eric Winsberg,et al.  Value judgements and the estimation of uncertainty in climate modeling , 2010 .

[39]  R. Jeffrey.  Valuation and Acceptance of Scientific Hypotheses , 1956, Philosophy of Science.

[40]  A. Trouwborst.  Evolution and Status of the Precautionary Principle in International Law , 2002 .

[41]  Philip Kitcher,et al.  Science in a Democratic Society , 2011 .

[42]  Eva Schaper,et al.  Kant's Political Writings , 1970 .

[43]  I. Kant,et al.  What Is Enlightenment? , 2015, What Is Enlightenment?.

[44]  D. Mccloskey,et al.  The Cult of Statistical Significance , 2009 .

[45]  Noa Simon Delso,et al.  Scientific Opinion on the science behind the development of a risk assessment of Plant Protection Products on bees (Apis mellifera, Bombus spp. and solitary bees) , 2012 .

[46]  Axel Decourtye,et al.  The sublethal effects of pesticides on beneficial arthropods. , 2007, Annual review of entomology.

[47]  Katie Steele,et al.  The Scientist qua Policy Advisor Makes Value Judgments , 2012, Philosophy of Science.