The beginning of the academic year always brings fresh ideas and new faces to SOCRATES, and we look forward for the innovative impulses brought by our current and upcoming fellows:
Doohyun Sung joined us in April of this year. He is a philosopher specializing in the social epistemology of the biomedical sciences. During his SOCRATES fellows, he is conducting a social-epistemological study of regulatory approvals and leading a project on the epistemology, ethics, and metaphysics of toxicology.
In August, we were joined by Anke Bueter (Aarhus University), who specialises in the philosophy of medicine and psychiatry and feminist philosophy of science. During her time at SOCRATES, she will work on a book exploring the trustworthiness of psychiatry, addressing the value-ladenness of psychiatric classifications, volition in trust, and epistemic injustice, and will finalize several articles on bias and the value-free ideal.
The SOCRATES group is excited to welcome six new fellows this month, all of whom will contribute to cutting-edge research in philosophy of science and social epistemology.
Jon Leefmann is a philosopher whose work lies at the intersection of the philosophy of science, social epistemology, and applied ethics. At SOCRATES, he will work on an account of public trust in science.
Ezgi Sertler’s research focuses on the epistemic impacts of institutional structures and administrative systems. During her fellowship, she aims to develop a form of institutional epistemology by looking into how different branches of Feminist Epistemologies and Science Studies to examine the relationship between institutions and knowledge.
Francesco Nappo (Politecnico di Milano) is working on research into the strengths and limitations of economic models in outlining plausible climate change mitigation pathways. He is also interested in questions concerning which disciplines, approaches, and methodologies can effectively contribute to rapid energy transitions.
Alice Wheatley is an epistemologist who works primarily on the nature and value of understanding. As a postdoctoral fellow at SOCRATES, she will conduct research concerning whether understanding is the aim of science communication, focusing on the argument that understanding has the potential to support trust in science.
Gabriel Târziu’s research focuses on the relationship between public understanding of science, trust in science, and the impact of non-epistemic values on laypeople’s epistemic stances. He plans to develop a novel framework to analyse how the public engages with scientific information, especially in the context of climate change.
Julie Zahle (University of Bergen) is specialised in the philosophy of the social sciences. During her time at SOCRATES, she will be working on how qualitative data may serve as evidence for causal and interpretive claims and the strategies that may be used to secure the trustworthiness of these claims.
We are also very happy that two fellows are returning to SOCRATES in the next weeks:
Kevin Elliott is a Red Cedar Distinguished Professor at Michigan State University. He studies values in science, open science, and science communication. In Hannover, he is working on a new book on institutions and values, addressing epistemic injustice and science education.
Roderik Rekker is an Assistant Professor of Comparative Politics at Radboud University. His research focuses on political attitudes, polarization, and trust in experts and science. At SOCRATES, he will study how trust in science has become politicized and how politicians and scientists may influence this process.
These fellows all bring diverse expertise and perspectives, strengthening SOCRATES’ mission to explore trust in science from multiple, interdisciplinary perspectives.
