Specious Science

Specious Science
Author: C. Ray Greek
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 308
Release: 2002-01-01
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 9780826413987

Builds on the message of Sacred Cows and Golden Geese to understand why medical research on animals really harms humans.

Logical Studies of Paraconsistent Reasoning in Science and Mathematics

Logical Studies of Paraconsistent Reasoning in Science and Mathematics
Author: Holger Andreas
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 221
Release: 2016-12-02
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 331940220X

This book covers work written by leading scholars from different schools within the research area of paraconsistency. The authors critically investigate how contemporary paraconsistent logics can be used to better understand human reasoning in science and mathematics. Offering a variety of perspectives, they shed a new light on the question of whether paraconsistent logics can function as the underlying logics of inconsistent but useful scientific and mathematical theories. The great variety of paraconsistent logics gives rise to various, interrelated questions, such as what are the desiderata a paraconsistent logic should satisfy, is there prospect of a universal approach to paraconsistent reasoning with axiomatic theories, and to what extent is reasoning about sets structurally analogous to reasoning about truth. Furthermore, the authors consider paraconsistent logic’s status as either a normative or descriptive discipline (or one which falls in between) and which inconsistent but non-trivial axiomatic theories are well understood by which types of paraconsistent approaches. This volume addresses such questions from different perspectives in order to (i) obtain a representative overview of the state of the art in the philosophical debate on paraconsistency, (ii) come up with fresh ideas for the future of paraconsistency, and most importantly (iii) provide paraconsistent logic with a stronger philosophical foundation, taking into account the developments within the different schools of paraconsistency.

The Ethics of Animal Experimentation

The Ethics of Animal Experimentation
Author: Donna Yarri
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 235
Release: 2005-08-18
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 0195181794

Donna Yarri presents an overview of the current discussion on the ethics of animal experimentation from a Christian standpoint.

Probability's Nature And Nature's Probability - Lite

Probability's Nature And Nature's Probability - Lite
Author: Donald E. Johnson
Publisher: Big Mac Publishers
Total Pages: 133
Release: 2009-10
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0982355440

This is the sequel to the well received "Probability's Nature And Nature's Probability which was written in depth for Scientist and Professionals. This new book has the same wonderful foundation, but has been revised and put into layman's terms so anyone can understand it. The author once believed anyone not accepting the "proven" evolutionary scenario that was ingrained during his science education was of the same mentality as someone believing in a flat earth. With continued scientific investigation, paying closer attention to actual data (rather than speculative conclusions), he began to doubt the natural explanations that had been so ingrained in a number of key areas including the origin and fine-tuning of mass and energy, the origin of life with its complex information content, and the increase in complexity in living organisms. It was science, and not religion, that caused his disbelief in the explanatory powers of undirected nature. The fantastic leaps of faith required to accept the undirected natural causes in these areas demand a scientific response to the scientific-sounding concepts that in fact have no known scientific basis. Scientific integrity needs to be restored so that ideas that have no methods to test or falsify are not considered part of science. Too often "possible" is used by scientists without considering that "possible" has a scientific definition within the nature of probability. For example, one should not be able to get away with stating "it is possible that life arose from non-life by ..." or "it's possible that a different form of life exists elsewhere in the universe" without first demonstrating that it is indeed possible (non-zero probability) using known science. One could, of course, state "it may be speculated that ...," but such a statement wouldn't have the believability that its author intends to convey by the pseudo-scientific pronouncement. This book reviews the many prevalent scenarios that are widely accepted, but need closer examination of their scientific validity. It will also examine the scientific validity of Intelligent Design (ID) as a model that can be empirically detected and examined. For example, the book uses known science (including Shannon and Functional information principles) to prove that it is impossible (zero probability) for life's complex information system to have an undirected natural source. The usefulness of the ID model for furthering scientific inquiry is also analyzed. One chapter is devoted to exposing fallacies, presuppositions, and beliefs that attempt to prevent acceptance of ID as "science."

Good Science

Good Science
Author: Charis Thompson
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 354
Release: 2013-12-20
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 0262026996

An examination of a decade and a half of political controversy, ethical debate, and scientific progress in stem cell research. After a decade and a half, human pluripotent stem cell research has been normalized. There may be no consensus on the status of the embryo—only a tacit agreement to disagree—but the debate now takes place in a context in which human stem cell research and related technologies already exist. In this book, Charis Thompson investigates the evolution of the controversy over human pluripotent stem cell research in the United States and proposes a new ethical approach for “good science.” Thompson traces political, ethical, and scientific developments that came together in what she characterizes as a “procurial” framing of innovation, based on concern with procurement of pluripotent cells and cell lines, a pro-cures mandate, and a proliferation of bio-curatorial practices. Thompson describes what she calls the “ethical choreography” that allowed research to go on as the controversy continued. The intense ethical attention led to some important discoveries as scientists attempted to “invent around” ethical roadblocks. Some ethical concerns were highly legible; but others were hard to raise in the dominant procurial framing that allowed government funding for the practice of stem cell research to proceed despite controversy. Thompson broadens the debate to include such related topics as animal and human research subjecthood and altruism. Looking at fifteen years of stem cell debate and discoveries, Thompson argues that good science and good ethics are mutually reinforcing, rather than antithetical, in contemporary biomedicine.

Life Science Ethics

Life Science Ethics
Author: Gary L. Comstock
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 496
Release: 2010-08-24
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9048187923

Does nature have intrinsic value? Should we be doing more to save wilderness and ocean ecosystems? What are our duties to future generations of humans? Do animals have rights? This revised edition of "Life Science Ethics" introduces these questions using narrative case studies on genetically modified foods, use of animals in research, nanotechnology, and global climate change, and then explores them in detail using essays written by nationally-recognized experts in the ethics field. Part I introduces ethics, the relationship of religion to ethics, how we assess ethical arguments, and a method ethicists use to reason about ethical theories. Part II demonstrates the relevance of ethical reasoning to the environment, land, farms, food, biotechnology, genetically modified foods, animals in agriculture and research, climate change, and nanotechnology. Part III presents case studies for the topics found in Part II.

Between Science and Religion

Between Science and Religion
Author: Phillip M. Thompson
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 275
Release: 2009-08-15
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0739140205

In exploring the role of Catholic intellectuals in engaging science and technology in the twentieth century, this book initially provides a background context for this evolution by examining the Modernism crisis in the first chapter. In order to unpack the subsequent evolution, Thompson then concentrates in separate chapters on the distinctive contributions of four specific Catholic intellectuals, Jacques Maritain (1882D1973), Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881D1955), Bernard Lonergan (1904D1984), and Thomas Merton (1915D1968). All of these intellectuals experienced some degree of official restraint in their efforts but through their distinctive intellectual trajectories, they contributed to a different engagement of the Church with science and technology. In the final chapters, the book first reviews the changes within the institutional Church in the twentieth century toward science and technology. Finally, it then applies some key ideals of the four intellectuals to anneal and extend John Paul II's approach of 'critical openness' to suggest how the Church can now engage science and technology.

The Ethics of Animal Research

The Ethics of Animal Research
Author: Jeremy R. Garrett
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 357
Release: 2012-03-30
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0262300850

A balanced, accessible discussion of whether and on what grounds animal research can be ethically justified. An estimated 100 million nonhuman vertebrates worldwide—including primates, dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, birds, rats, and mice—are bred, captured, or otherwise acquired every year for research purposes. Much of this research is seriously detrimental to the welfare of these animals, causing pain, distress, injury, or death. This book explores the ethical controversies that have arisen over animal research, examining closely the complex scientific, philosophical, moral, and legal issues involved. Defenders of animal research face a twofold challenge: they must make a compelling case for the unique benefits offered by animal research; and they must provide a rationale for why these benefits justify treating animal subjects in ways that would be unacceptable for human subjects. This challenge is at the heart of the book. Some contributors argue that it can be met fairly easily; others argue that it can never be met; still others argue that it can sometimes be met, although not necessarily easily. Their essays consider how moral theory can be brought to bear on the practical ethical questions raised by animal research, examine the new challenges raised by the emerging possibilities of biotechnology, and consider how to achieve a more productive dialogue on this polarizing subject. The book's careful blending of theoretical and practical considerations and its balanced arguments make it valuable for instructors as well as for scholars and practitioners.