Archive: 2011

December 13, 2011 - In ‘Science, Religion, and Democracy’ Kitcher calls for us to ” do our best to tell schoolchildren the truth.”  This truth of course entails conveying scientifically based facts.  This also entails dismissing any religious beliefs that have been instilled in our students.  I wonder if Kitcher understands what an emotional blow this could represent for […]

December 13, 2011 - As I was initially interested in analyzing Heidegger’s philosophy of science with regards to the debate on values our discussions never lent themselves to a phenomenological approach to the question of science & values- particular the value of human freedom.  I hope to eventually give more time to this subject in later courses of my doctoral […]

December 8, 2011 - I must admit I have never really been inerested in the natural sciences.  I’ve always been more interested in the social sciences.  I guess it is because of  the bohemian and care-free lifestyle of the social scientist fits more my personality (yes, I can be sociable believe it or not).  I have ignorantly bought into the stereotype of the […]

December 8, 2011 - In class yesterday, I talked about the Doctrine of Religious Restraint (DRR) and I mentioned some of the liberal critics’ responses to the DRR. Due to time constraints, I was unable to include a discussion on the conservative critics’ responses (and in particular the “New Traditionalist” responses) to the DRR. I feel that it might […]

December 3, 2011 -

December 1, 2011 - I mentioned this article in class from Scientific American (Nov 2011) about genetically altered mosquitos as a means for fighting disease. Here is link to article: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=the-wipeout-gene This is interesting/ raises questions on many levels: – Private versus public research (both are represented here) – Ethical testing – the private firm is testing unapproved “technologies” […]

December 1, 2011 - This past Wednesday we attended a talk by Kim Stanley Robinson.  For those of you that couldn’t make it, the seminar was mostly about the future history of a post-capitalist world; this is not fantasy, it is in fact an exercise in futurology, because even the most ardent supporters of the Free Market and all […]

December 1, 2011 - Update: Deadline extended to Feb. 15. Center for Values in Medicine, Science, and Technology conference on Science-Policy Interactions and Social Values at the University of Texas at Dallas, April 13-14th, 2012. Keynote Speaker: Kevin C. Elliott, University of South Carolina. We welcome submissions of both individual paper proposals and proposals for symposia and other multi-participant panel formats. Submissions are due January 5.

November 27, 2011 - In his article, “Science, Expertise, and the Democratization of the Decision-Making Process,” Michael Carolan argues for a reconceptualization of the normal science/ post-normal science way of thinking about science and policy and argues, instead, for a shift toward considering expertise from many perspectives. I agree with this notion wholeheartedly. One of the challenges for me […]

November 27, 2011 - We recently had a very theatrical and entertaining presentation about the possibility of a pill to prolong life, and what that alternative could do to future generations.  It was a hypothetical situation, but it is one that we have returned to in class and speakers of the Centers for Values have also alluded to.  The […]