TY - JOUR

T1 - Looking beyond values

T2 - The legitimacy of social perspectives, opinions and interests in science

AU - Hilligardt, Hannah

N1 - Funding Information: I would like to thank Torsten Wilholt, Tobias Schönwitz, Mathias Frisch and members of my research group for their feedback and help. Thanks also to two anonymous reviewers who significantly improved this paper with their encouraging and thoughtful comments. And to David Versteeg for proofreading, coffee and discussions. Funding Information: Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL. Funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) – Project 254954344/GRK2073 “.

PY - 2022/12

Y1 - 2022/12

N2 - This paper critically assesses the current debates in philosophy of science that focus on the concept of values. In these debates, it is often assumed that all relevant non-epistemic influences on scientific research can be described as values and, consequently, that science carries social legitimacy if the correct values play their proper role in research. I argue that values are not the only relevant non-epistemic influences on research: not unless our definition of values is so broad that it becomes unmanageable. Other factors also affect the authority and social legitimacy of science. I employ political theorist Iris Marion Young’s concepts of social perspectives, opinions and interests to attempt a differentiation of contextual influences relevant to scientific research. While problems arising from these influences may overlap, they often differ in important ways too. As a consequence, I argue that contextual influences cannot be managed jointly but require distinct and complementary strategies.

AB - This paper critically assesses the current debates in philosophy of science that focus on the concept of values. In these debates, it is often assumed that all relevant non-epistemic influences on scientific research can be described as values and, consequently, that science carries social legitimacy if the correct values play their proper role in research. I argue that values are not the only relevant non-epistemic influences on research: not unless our definition of values is so broad that it becomes unmanageable. Other factors also affect the authority and social legitimacy of science. I employ political theorist Iris Marion Young’s concepts of social perspectives, opinions and interests to attempt a differentiation of contextual influences relevant to scientific research. While problems arising from these influences may overlap, they often differ in important ways too. As a consequence, I argue that contextual influences cannot be managed jointly but require distinct and complementary strategies.

KW - Authority

KW - Iris Marion Young

KW - Social legitimacy

KW - Social value management ideal

KW - Values in science

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85139461462&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s13194-022-00490-w

DO - 10.1007/s13194-022-00490-w

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85139461462

VL - 12

JO - European Journal for Philosophy of Science

JF - European Journal for Philosophy of Science

SN - 1879-4912

IS - 4

M1 - 58

ER -