Science as a Communal Practice: Practice Theory, Virtue Ethics, and the Study of Science
In this talk, I'll present a chapter from my current book project that draws on joint work with ND alum Dan Hicks. The chapter uses both practice theory and the virtue ethics of Alasdair MacIntyre to construct an explicitly ethical, analytic framework for studying science. I will develop this framework in some detail and discuss how it fits within the book project, an effort to improve democratic control over government statistics without subverting the political function of those statistics.