Why does science today need to be feminist?
Thurs 2 June 2022, 14.00-15.30
Speaker: Valentina Carlone, TU Dublin
Discussant: Dr Nóirín McNamara, TU Dublin
Abstract:
This contribution offers a critical analysis of feminist epistemological thought to allow for a proposal of positioning it within contemporary philosophy of science. This presentation aims to address some of the central issues under consideration in contemporary feminist literature and some of the classic problems of traditional epistemology. In particular, it will be noted that individual background assumptions, values and interests can introduce subjectivistic elements into the cognitive process. The knowing subject must deal not only with the world but also with other knowing subjects to defend, modify or reject their own beliefs through a confrontation with the views of others. Finally, there will be an attempt to answer the following question: can there be a feminist science, or is this expression an oxymoron linking non-epistemic values with the idea of impersonal and objective enquiry?