Philosophy and Combat Stress

An interview with Rotman Institute Doctoral Entrance Scholarship recipient Andrew Peterson Andrew Peterson is one of two recipients of the 2011/12 Rotman Institute of Philosophy Doctoral Entrance Scholarship. Valued at $10,000, these scholarship assist some of the strongest doctoral candidates entering their study at Western with support for their innovative research in philosophy and science. [...]

Evidence and Governance (and Nietzsche)

I’ve been thinking more about the intersection of science and politics, somewhat unsure how to broach such a broad topic. The question I’m pondering is: why conflict? Why not smooth integration of scientific consensus into the decision-making process? Large, unwieldy question. Now the advice typically given in such a situation is to choose a specific [...]

2016-01-29T12:19:57-05:00February 16th, 2012|Science and Society|

Science & Values Link round-up — Nic McGinnis

Jesse Prinz (CUNY) asks "Why Are Men So Violent?" in Psychology Today, suggesting the answer is to be found in historical, and not biological, factors. (As a follow-up, I recommend Corey Robin's piece on arch-libertarian Ludwig von Mises' views of gender.) The journal Nature has a fascinating series of articles on the ethical and scientific [...]

2016-01-29T12:20:41-05:00February 16th, 2012|Climate Change, Science and Society|

Science, Values, and Democracy – Part 1

Science, Values, and Democracy In the next few posts I would like to examine the role of science in determining public policy.  Though I will be using current events as examples, the purpose is not to evaluate policies but to highlight the issues at play when thinking about the use of scientific evidence in democratic [...]

2016-01-29T12:21:14-05:00February 10th, 2012|Science and Society|

Who is Gestating my Baby? – Katherine Fulfer

In a recent Slate magazine article, Douglas Pet highlights several worries with the international surrogacy industry, particularly in respect to the poor women who contract out their gestational labor. Pet focuses on India, and rightfully so--one report predicts that by the end of 2012, the medical travel industry in India (also a hotspot for organ transplants) [...]

2013-10-11T13:57:44-04:00February 8th, 2012|Biomedical Ethics, Philosophy of Biology|

The Elsevier Boycott, Academic Publishing and the Future of Copyright – Nicholas McGinnis

Predatory pricing practices and support of draconian copyright 'reforms' have led to a boycott of academic publisher Elsevier, boycott which has been gathering a significant amount of momentum: about 3,000 academics have pledged to neither publish, referee, or do editorial work for journals associated with Elsevier (this article from the Guardian offers further background). The [...]

2016-07-19T15:54:53-04:00February 2nd, 2012|Education|
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