Developing Virtues in the Practice of Science

Project Aim
- To investigate the virtues cultivated by scientific practice, namely, the cognitive, behavioral, and emotional dispositions to act in ways that advance the good of the individual and a given community.
Project Activities
- Colloquium at the University Notre Dame
- Colloquium at Durham University
- Workshop at the University of Notre Dame
- Conference at the Notre Dame London Global Gateway
- Postdoctoral Fellowships
- Graduate Student Fellowships
Project Summary
The project team of faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students from a variety of fields – psychology, anthropology, philosophy, theology, and history – uses broad surveys and intensive ethnographic studies to examine dispositions correlated with laboratory research in biology. Drawing on existing literature and original research, the team considers how these dispositions might sustain or impede human flourishing in both science and other contexts, including familial, religious, and civic communities. A smaller study of musical ensembles provides a contrasting look at highly-trained, cooperative teamwork in a non-scientific field. Research will be conducted at both the University of Notre Dame and Durham University.
Project News & Media
Project Events
Past
Aug 11 2018
Aug 10 2018
Andrew Pinsent, A Fragile Inheritance: Science, Truth, and the Broken Covenant
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Lecture – London Global Gateway
Aug 10 2018
Michael Spezio, Value in Virtuous Community: Insights about Valuing the Self and Other from Computational Cognitive and Brain Sciences
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Lecture – London Global Gatewat
Aug 9 2018
Matthew Stanley, The Virtue of Productive Uncertainty, or, What to Do When You Don’t Know Something
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Lecture – London Global Gateway
Aug 9 2018
Apr 5 2018
Steven Shapin, Doing the Right Thing in Science: A History of a Moving Target
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Lecture – Auditorium, Eck Visitors Center
Apr 5 2018
Science, Technology, and the Good Life: Perspectives on Virtue in Science & Technology Studies
Workshop – 200 McKenna Hall
Sep 7 2017
Sep 2 2016
Michael Spezio, Forming Identities of Grace: Cognitive and Neural Models of a Self-for-Others
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Lecture – 210-214 McKenna Hall
Sep 1 2016
Apr 19 2016
Robert Pennock, The Curious Character of the Scientist: Preliminary Results of a National Study of the Scientific Virtues
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Lecture – 207 DeBartolo Hall
Research Publications
Bezuidenhout, Louise, Sabina Leonelli, Ann H. Kelly, and Brian Rappert. " '$100 Is Not Too Much to You': Open Access and Neglected Accessibilities for Scientific Research in Africa." Critical Public Health 27.1 (2017): 39–49.
Bezuidenhout, Louise, and M. Morrison. "Between Scylla and Charybdis: Reconciling Competing Data Management Demands in the Life Sciences." BMC Medical Ethics 17.1 (2016): 29.
Bezuidenhout, Louise, Sabina Leonelli, Ann H. Kelly, and Brian Rappert. "Beyond the Digital Divide: Towards a Situated Approach to Open Data." Science and Public Policy 44.1 (2016): 464–75.
Bezuidenhout, Louise, Emanuele Ratti, Nathaniel Warne, and Dori Beeler. "Docility as a Primary Virtue in Scientific Research." Minerva (2018): 1–18.
Bezuidenhout, Louise. "The Relational Responsibilities of Scientists: (Re) considering Science as a Practice." Research Ethics 13.2 (2017): 65–83.
Bezuidenhout, Louise, and Nathaniel Warne. "Should We All be Scientists? Re-thinking Laboratory Research as a Calling." Science and Engineering Ethics (2017): 1–19.
Bezuidenhout, Louise. "Technology Transfer and True Transformation: Implications for Open Data." Data Science Journal 16 (2017): 26.
Deane-Drummond, Celia. "Empathy and the Evolution of Compassion: From Deep History to Infused Virtue." Zygon 52:1 (2017): 258–78.
Deane-Drummond, Celia, and Michael Spezio. "Philosophy, Virtue, and the Practices of Science." Philosophy, Theology and the Sciences 5.1 (2018) 1–4.
Dumler-Winckler, Emily. "Can Genius be Taught? Emerson’s Genius and the Virtues of Modern Science." Journal of Moral Education 47.3 (2018): 272–88.
Dumler-Winckler, Emily. "Distinguishing Intellectual and Moral Virtues in the Practices of Modern Science." Philosophy, Theology and the Sciences 5.1 (2018): 80–103.
Dumler-Winckler, Emily. "Emersonian Virtues of the Anthropocene: Faith, Hope, and Love." Zygon 53.4 (2018) 971–91.
Dumler-Winckler, Emily. "The Virtue of Emerson’s Imitation of Christ." Journal of Religious Ethics 45.3 (2017): 510–38.
Ratti, Emanuele. "The End of “Small Biology”? Some Thoughts about Biomedicine and Big Science." Big Data & Society 3.2 (2016): 1–6.
Ratti, Emanuele. " ‘Models of’ and ‘Models for’: On the Relation between Mechanistic Models and Experimental Strategies in Molecular Biology." The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science (2018).
Ratti, Emanuele. "Unity of Science and Ethics of Belief." Philosophy, Theology and the Sciences 5.1 (2018): 5–27.
Reilly, Timothy, and Darcia Narvaez. "Character, Virtue, and Science: Linking Psychological and Philosophical Views." Philosophy, Theology and the Sciences 5.1 (2018): 51–79.
Reilly, Timothy, and Thomas A. Stapleford. "Science, Virtue, and Moral Formation." Journal of Moral Education 47.3 (2018): 267–71.
Stapleford, Thomas. "Making and the Virtues: The Ethics of Scientific Research." Philosophy, Theology and the Sciences 5.1 (2018): 28–50.
Warne, Nathaniel. "Forward on Shared Paths: Josef Pieper on the Importance of Common Language for Justice and Interdisciplinary Learning." Philosophy, Theology and the Sciences 5.1 (2018): 589–601.
Warne, Nathaniel. "Learning to See the World Again: Josef Pieper on Philosophy, Prudence, and the University." Journal of Moral Education 47.3 (2018): 289–303.
Warne, Nathaniel. "Of All Things, Seen and Unseen: Josef Pieper’s Negative Philosophy, Science, and Hope." Theological Studies 79.2 (2018): 294–313.