Abstract
Scholarship on values in science has exploded in recent years. Nevertheless, with the exception of some work on topics like patent policies, funding structures, and corporate influences on science, most scholarship on science and values has focused on the influences of values on individual scientists. The time is now ripe for philosophers of science to turn greater attention to the ways that institutional structures shape values in science. This symposium approaches the topic of values in scientific institutions from four different angles. First, it provides an overview of the variety of different ways in which institutions can influence values in science. Second, it explores how organizations can influence the values embedded in scientific research through their aims, structure, and culture. Third, it considers the kinds of institutions that are best suited to fostering and supporting ethical research. Fourth, it examines the ways in which many different kinds of institutions (e.g., funding, regulatory, political, and academic) all tend to promote private, commercial interests in scientific research. Together with a commentary provided from the perspective of political philosophy, the papers in this symposium provide a roadmap for future efforts to broaden the literature on values in science to encompass the institutional level.
