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Virtue of Curiosity

An Instinct for Truth:
The Virtue of Scientific Curiosity

EvoS Seminar
Monday April 20, 2020
5:15 PM
https://binghamton.zoom.us/j/724131695

 

About the Seminar

Charles Darwin wrote that he felt within himself “an instinct for truth, or knowledge or discovery” that was “of the same nature as the instinct of virtue.” This talk unpacks Darwin’s radical idea, arguing that organisms have an instinctual curiosity, which has both epistemic and ethical aspects. It introduces the notion of vocational virtues as practiced dispositions and argues that science has a deep moral structure that arises in relation to its central, guiding purpose of discovering empirical truths about the natural world. Understanding science in virtue-theoretic terms may help us find ways to communicate across the gaps that seem to divide it from the humanities and other practices.

 

About the Speaker

Robert T. Pennock is University Distinguished Professor at Michigan State University, where he is on the faculty of Lyman Briggs College, the Departments of Philosophy and Computer Science & Engineering, and the Ecology, Evolutionary Biology and Behavior program. His research involves both empirical and philosophical questions that relate to evolutionary biology, cognitive science, and the scientific character virtues. A national leader in evolution education, he was an expert witness in the historic Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School Board Intelligent Design creationism case, and he develops software and curricula to help students learn about evolution and the nature of science using digital organisms. He is a PI of the Scientific Virtues Project and of BEACON, an NSF Center for the Study of Evolution in Action. His books include Tower of Babel: The Evidence against the New Creationism and An Instinct for Truth: Curiosity and the Moral Structure of Science.

 

All are welcome. For more information, contact Dr. Rolf Quam, EvoS Director, rquam (@) binghamton.edu, or Susan Ryan, EvoS Coordinator, sryan (@) binghamton.edu

Last Updated: 12/4/20