Science, Policy, and the Value-Free Ideal PDF
Preview Science, Policy, and the Value-Free Ideal
Science, Policy, and the Value-Free Ideal ScIence, PolIcy, and the Value-Free Ideal HeaTHer e . douGlaS L university of Pittsburgh Press Published by the University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15260 Copyright © 2009, University of Pittsburgh Press All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America Printed on acid-free paper 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Douglas, Heather E. Science, policy, and the value-free ideal / Heather E. Douglas. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-8229-6026-3 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-8229-6026-5 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Science—Social aspects. 2. Science—Moral and ethical aspects. 3. Scientists— Professional ethics. I. Title. Q175.5.D68 2009 174'.95—dc22 2009005463 conTenTS L lIST oF abbreVIaTIonS VII PreFace Ix cHaPTer 1. Introduction: Science Wars and Policy Wars 1 cHaPTer 2. The Rise of the Science Advisor 23 cHaPTer 3. Origins of the Value-Free Ideal for Science 44 cHaPTer 4. The Moral Responsibilities of Scientists 66 cHaPTer 5. The Structure of Values in Science 87 cHaPTer 6. Objectivity in Science 115 cHaPTer 7. The Integrity of Science in the Policy Process 133 cHaPTer 8. Values and Practices 156 ePIloGue 175 noTeS 179 reFerenceS 193 Index 205 v abbreVIaTIonS L AAAS American Association for the Advancement of Science AEC Atomic Energy Commission CPSC Consumer Product Safety Commission DOD Department of Defense EPA Environmental Protection Agency FACA Federal Advisory Committee Act FCST Federal Council for Science and Technology FDA Food and Drug Administration GAC General Advisory Committee IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change NACA National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics NDRC National Defense Research Committee NIH National Institutes of Health NRC National Research Council NRB National Resources Board NCB Naval Consulting Board NSF National Science Foundation OSHA Occupational Safety and Health Administration ODM Office of Defense Mobilization OMB Office of Management and Budget ONR Office of Naval Research OST Office of Science and Technology OSRD Office of Scientific Research and Development PSAC Presidential Science Advisory Committee SAB Science Advisory Board SAC Science Advisory Committee vii PreFace L This book has been a long time in the making. I first conceived of the project in 2001 as an arc through the historical, philosophical, and practical terrain of science in policymaking. It seemed to me that the chronic debates and misconceptions that plague this terrain stemmed from the embrace of a particular ideal for scientific reasoning, the value-free ideal. Articu- lated clearly and defended by philosophers of science for over forty years, it was also pervasive in the science policy communities with which I was in conversation, particularly the risk assessment community I found at the Society for Risk Analysis (SRA). At the SRA’s annual meetings, I found not only a dynamic and open set of people deeply committed to hashing out the scientific implications of toxicology, epidemiology, biochemistry, and other disciplines, but also a community that believed that social and ethical values were not supposed to be involved in the assessment of this science, even though they continually found themselves unable to do a complete assessment without those values. The tensions were palpable, even as the fundamental norms causing those tensions were not made explicit. I wanted to bring those norms out in the open, examine their historical roots, see if they were in fact the correct norms, and, if possible, attempt to resolve the tensions. This book is the result. As a consequence, I began the project with three distinct audiences in mind. First, the book was to make a contribu- tion to the philosophy of science, for that is the discipline that articulates most clearly and guards most zealously the norms of science. If I could not make arguments that were at least provocative, if not convincing, to this community, I would doubt the reliability of my own arguments. However, as I delved into the material, I began to see more clearly the historical roots ix
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