Ward, Zina B. (2025) What does it mean to say that science is value-laden? [Preprint]

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Abstract

The literature on values in science contains countless claims to the effect that a particular type of scientific choice is or is not value-laden. This chapter exposes an ambiguity in the notion of a value-laden choice. In the first half, I distinguish four ways a choice can be said to be value-laden. In the second half, I illustrate the usefulness of this taxonomy by assessing arguments about whether the value-ladenness of science is inevitable. I focus on the “randomizer reply,” which claims that, in principle, scientists could always avoid value-laden choices by flipping a coin.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Ward, Zina B. zina.b.ward@gmail.com 0000-0003-0160-6656
Additional Information:	Preprint of a chapter to appear in The Routledge Handbook of Values and Science (Kevin C. Elliott and Ted Richards, editors)
Keywords:	values in science; value-ladenness; argument from inductive risk; randomization
Subjects:	General Issues > Science and Society General Issues > Science and Policy General Issues > Values In Science
Depositing User:	Zina B. Ward
Date Deposited:	27 Jul 2025 15:17
Last Modified:	27 Jul 2025 15:17
Item ID:	26034
Subjects:	General Issues > Science and Society General Issues > Science and Policy General Issues > Values In Science
Date:	2025
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/26034

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