Sample, Matthew (2016) Imagining Responsibility, Imagining Responsibly: Reflecting on Our Shared Understandings of Science. [Preprint]

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Abstract

If we cannot define science using only analysis or description, then we must rely on imagination to provide us with suitable objects of philosophical inquiry. This process links our findings to the particular ways in which we philosophers idealize scientific practice and carve out an experimental space between real world practice and thought experiments. As an example, I examine Heather Douglas’ recent work on the responsibilities of scientists and contrast her account of science with that of “technoscience,” as mobilized in nanotechnology, synthetic biology, and similar control-oriented fields. The difference between the two idealizations of science reveals that one’s preferred imaginary of science, even when inspired by real practices, has real implications for the distribution of responsibility. Douglas’ account attributes moral obligations to scientists, while a framework of “technoscience” spreads responsibility across the network of practice. I use this case to call for an ethics of imagination, in which philosophers of science hold themselves accountable for their imaginaries. We ought reflect on the idiosyncrasy of the philosophical imagination and consider how our idealizations, if widely held, would affect our fellow citizens.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Sample, Matthew mssample@gmail.com 0000-0001-5290-1458
Subjects:	General Issues > Ethical Issues General Issues > Science and Society General Issues > Values In Science
Depositing User:	Dr. Matthew Sample
Date Deposited:	14 Oct 2016 12:59
Last Modified:	14 Oct 2016 12:59
Item ID:	12476
Subjects:	General Issues > Ethical Issues General Issues > Science and Society General Issues > Values In Science
Date:	September 2016
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/12476

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• Imagining Responsibility, Imagining Responsibly: Reflecting on Our Shared Understandings of Science. (deposited 14 Oct 2016 12:59) [Currently Displayed]
  • Science, Responsibility, and the Philosophical Imagination. (deposited 11 Mar 2022 02:09)

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