Three-fourths of scientific research in the United States is funded by special interests. Many of these groups have specific practical goals, such as developing pharmaceuticals or establishing that a pollutant causes only minimal harm. For groups with financial conflicts of interest, their scientific findings often can be deeply flawed. To uncover and assess these scientific flaws, award-winning biologist and philosopher of science Kristin Shrader-Frechette uses the analytical tools of classic philosophy of science. She identifies and evaluates the concepts, data, inferences, methods, models, and conclusions of science tainted by the influence of special interests. As a result, she challenges accepted scientific findings regarding risks such as chemical toxins and carcinogens, ionizing radiation, pesticides, hazardous-waste disposal, development of environmentally sensitive lands, threats to endangered species, and less-protective standards for workplace-pollution exposure. In so doing, she dissects the science on which many contemporary scientific controversies turn. Demonstrating and advocating "liberation science," she shows how practical, logical, methodological, and ethical evaluations of science can both improve its quality and credibility -- and protect people from harm caused by flawed science, such as underestimates of cancers caused by bovine growth hormones, cell phones, fracking, or high-voltage wires. This book is both an in-depth look at the unreliable scientific findings at the root of contemporary debates in biochemistry, ecology, economics, hydrogeology, physics, and zoology -- and a call to action for scientists, philosophers of science, and all citizens.
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This is the first book on practical philosophy of science and how to practically evaluate scientific findings that have life-and-death consequences. Showing how to uncover scores of scientific flaws typically used by special interests who try to justify their deadly pollution this book aims to liberate the many potential victims of environmentally-induced disease and death.
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Section 1: Conceptual and Logical Analysis Chapter 1: Speaking Truth to Power: Uncovering Flawed Methods, Protecting Lives and Welfare Chapter 2: Discovering Dump Dangers: Unearthing Hazards in Hydrogeology Chapter 3: Hormesis Harms: The Emperor Has No Biochemistry Clothes Chapter 4: Trading Lives for Money: Compensating Wage Differentials in Economics Section 2: Heuristic Analysis and Developing Hypotheses Chapter 5: Learning from Analogy: Extrapolating from Animal Data in Toxicology Chapter 6: Conjectures and Conflict: A Thought Experiment in Physics Chapter 7: Being a Disease Detective: Discovering Causes in Epidemiology Chapter 8: Why Statistics Is Slippery: Easy Algorithms Fail in Biology Section 3: Methodological Analysis and Justifying Hypotheses Chapter 9: Releasing Radioactivity: Hypothesis-Prediction in Hydrogeology Chapter 10: Protecting Florida Panthers: Historical-Comparativist Methods in Zoology Chapter 11: Cracking Case Studies: Why They Work in Sciences Such As Ecology Chapter 12: Uncovering Cover-up: Inference to the Best Explanation in Medicine Section 4: Values Analysis and Scientific Uncertainty Chapter 13: Value Judgments Can Kill: Expected-Utility Rules in Decision Theory Chapter 14: Understanding Uncertainty: False Negatives in Quantitative Risk Analysis Chapter 15: Where We Go from Here: Making Philosophy of Science Practical
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Part of the "Environmental Ethics and Science Policy" series, this book will be valuable for general science, legal, and public policy collections. Recommended
"Part of the "Environmental Ethics and Science Policy" series, this book will be valuable for general science, legal, and public policy collections. Recommended" --Choice "This book shows that practical philosophy of science is not only possible but also necessary if scientific research is to serve social needs. Using the tools of science and philosophy of science, of which she is a master, Shrader-Frechette examines scores of cases to demonstrate how science often has been used to mislead -- but should be used to guide -- public policy." --Mark Sagoff, Professor of Philosophy, George Mason University "Shrader-Frechette exhibits her mastery of multiple disciplines by applying the tools of philosophy and logic to examine 'science in practice.' She skillfully exposes flaws and unexamined assumptions in scientific claims that have impeded the advancement of human health and welfare." --Sheldon Krimsky, Professor of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, Tufts University "Shrader-Frechette argues effectively that 'neutrality is not objectivity' in either science or philosophy. She equips the reader to use rational, even-handed analysis to expose the kinds of poor science used to justify public harm for private benefit. The examples are compelling, drawn from a wide range of contemporary and historical issues. An accessible battle manual in the war against 'special interest science' and for the restoration of rationality in public discourse on science." -- Colleen F. Moore, Professor Emerita, University of Wisconsin-Madison "Kristin Shrader-Frechette discusses how science should be conducted so that it preserves its integrity in the face of pressures from corporate and government interests and, at the same time, contributes to human welfare. The book provides a veritable guide for those perplexed by the claims and counter-claims regularly made in the name of science and offers clear guidelines about how to detect and counter them." --Hugh Lacey, Scheuer Family Professor of Philosophy Emeritus and Senior Research Scholar, Swarthmore College "Kristin Shrader-Frechette, arguably the leading contemporary philosopher of science, bridges the gap between theoretical aspects and the necessity of viewing the philosophy of science as practiced in the real world in rigorous, analytic, humanistic, and justice-promoting terms. A must-read for anyone concerned with advancing science in the public interest and countering attacks on the integrity of science and the corruption of science by self-interest." --Nicholas A. Ashford, Professor of Technology and Policy, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology "Lit is hard to find anyone who has done more to apply philosophy of science to correct injustice than Shrader-Frechette. This book gathers together the fruits of her admirable intellectual and practical efforts over several decades, and gives them a unifying narrative capable of inspiring other philosophers of science to use their skills where they are urgently needed. For this it deserves considerable praise." -- The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science
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Selling point: An in-depth look at the unreliable scientific findings at the root of contemporary debates in biochemistry, ecology, economics, hydrogeology, physics, and zoology Selling point: A call to action for scientists, philosophers of science, and citizens
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Kristin Shrader-Frechette is O'Neill Professor at University of Notre Dame, where she teaches biological sciences, environmental sciences, and philosophy of science. With degrees in mathematics and in philosophy of science, she has done three post-docs -- in biology, economics, and hydrogeology -- and served on many boards/committees of the US National Academy of Sciences and international scientific or environmental groups. The first female president of 3 professional scientific associations, she has had her scientific research (on quantitative risk assessment in radiobiology, biostatistics, and energy modeling) funded for 27 years by the US National Science Foundation. Author of more than 400 articles and 16 books, including Taking Action, Saving Lives (2007, Oxford University), she writes for both scientific and medical journals, such as Science, BioScience, Health Physics, Conservation Biology, Quarterly Review of Biology, American Journal of Public Health, and Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, and philosophy journals such as Ethics, Journal of Philosophy, Philosophy of Science, and Synthese. Her books and articles have been translated into 13 languages and also appear in popular newspapers and magazines. In 2004 Shrader-Frechette became only the third American to win the World Technology Award in Ethics. In 2007, she was named one of 12 "Heroes for the US and the World" because of her pro-bono environmental-justice (EJ) work with minority and poor communities. In 2011, Tufts University gave her the Jean Mayer Global Citizenship Award for her pro-bono public-health and EJ Work.
Les mer
Selling point: An in-depth look at the unreliable scientific findings at the root of contemporary debates in biochemistry, ecology, economics, hydrogeology, physics, and zoology Selling point: A call to action for scientists, philosophers of science, and citizens
Les mer

Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9780190603816
Publisert
2016
Utgiver
Vendor
Oxford University Press Inc
Vekt
454 gr
Høyde
235 mm
Bredde
157 mm
Dybde
18 mm
Aldersnivå
U, P, 05, 06
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Heftet
Antall sider
312

Biographical note

Kristin Shrader-Frechette is O'Neill Professor at University of Notre Dame, where she teaches biological sciences, environmental sciences, and philosophy of science. With degrees in mathematics and in philosophy of science, she has done three post-docs -- in biology, economics, and hydrogeology -- and served on many boards/committees of the US National Academy of Sciences and international scientific or environmental groups. The first female president of 3 professional scientific associations, she has had her scientific research (on quantitative risk assessment in radiobiology, biostatistics, and energy modeling) funded for 27 years by the US National Science Foundation. Author of more than 400 articles and 16 books, including Taking Action, Saving Lives (2007, Oxford University), she writes for both scientific and medical journals. Her books and articles have been translated into 13 languages and also appear in popular newspapers and magazines. In 2004 Shrader-Frechette became only the third American to win the World Technology Award in Ethics. In 2007, she was named one of 12 "Heroes for the US and the World" because of her pro-bono environmental-justice (EJ) work with minority and poor communities. In 2011, Tufts University gave her the Jean Mayer Global Citizenship Award for her pro-bono public-health and EJ Work.