[MetaSTEM] Next week: Dan Hicks on the rival aims of science

[Tyler Marghetis]

Hi MetaSTEMmers,

Join us next week for the second talk of the year in our MetaSTEM research
seminar series. Info below. Thanks to Dan for speaking, and to Christian
for catering the lunchboxes.

See you there!

Best,
Tyler

*When:* Thursday, October 23, 12:30-1:30pm
*Where:* SSM 230
*Who:* Dan Hicks, presenting work with Emilio Lobato, Cosmo Campbell,
Joseph Dad
*What:* "Rival aims of science in an environmental controversy"
*Abstract: *

> Environmental controversies are often framed in terms of "science vs.
> anti-science," with leftists and progressives typically claiming the side
> of science. However, their opponents often appeal to science as well. Hicks
> (2022) proposed that two rival views of the aims of science might be at
> play in these kinds of controversies.  On the "narrow view" science has
> purely epistemic aims; while the "broad view" takes science to also have
> pragmatic or practical aims.


> We argue that these rival views can be seen in the controversy over the
> proposed US EPA open data rule "Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory
> Science." The original justification for the rule appealed to the narrative
> of a science-wide replication crisis and the open science movement. In
> public comments, supporters of the rule likewise appealed to the narrow
> view of science, criticizing the titular "regulatory science" in epistemic
> rather than practical terms. While opponents of the rule appealed to the
> broad view, connecting science to the practical aim of protecting human
> health.


> We analyze approximately 21,000 public comments on the proposed rule,
> combining manual coding with machine learning to classify every comment as
> supporting or opposing, and using natural language processing (NLP) and
> text mining methods to compare how supporters and opponents talk about
> science in their comments.



Reference: Hicks, Daniel J. 2022. “When Virtues Are Vices: ‘Anti-Science’
> Epistemic Values in Environmental Politics.” *Philosophy, Theory, and
> Practice in Biology* 14 (0). https://doi.org/10.3998/.2629.


-- 
Tyler Marghetis, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Cognitive & Information Sciences
University of California, Merced
www.tylermarghetis.com
tyler.marghetis at gmail.com | +1.619.252.7798
I use the pronouns: he, him, his
I have moderate face-blindness <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosopagnosia>;
if you see me out of context, I may not recognize you
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.ucmerced.edu/pipermail/metastem/attachments/20251017/19ecff3f/attachment.htm>