To appear in Quarterly Review of Biology (accepted June 20
th
2007)
Biohumanities: Rethinking the relationship between
biosciences, philosophy and history of science, and society*
Karola Stotz
Paul E. Griffiths
____________________________________________________________________
Karola Stotz, Cognitive Science Program, 810 Eigenmann, Indiana University,
Bloomington, IN 47408, USA, kstotz@indiana.edu
Paul Griffiths, School of Philosophical and Historical Inquiry, University of Sydney,
NSW 2006, Australia, P.E.Griffiths@exeter.ac.uk
*This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under
Grants #0217567 and #0323496. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or
recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not
necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. Griffiths work on the
paper was supported by Australian Research Council Federation Fellowship FF0457917.
Abstract
We argue that philosophical and historical research can constitute a `Biohumanities'
which deepens our understanding of biology itself; engages in constructive 'science
criticism'; helps formulate new 'visions of biology'; and facilitates 'critical science
communication'. We illustrate these ideas with two recent 'experimental philosophy'
studies of the concept of the gene and of the concept of innateness conducted by ourselves
and collaborators. We conclude that the complex and often troubled relations between