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SUMMARY:Not-knowing about the aetiology of cervical cancer: a puzzle about
  absence of evidence - Brendan Clarke (University College London)
DTSTART:20141127T163000Z
DTEND:20141127T180000Z
UID:TALK54696@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Richard Staley
DESCRIPTION:What's the difference between _absence of evidence_ and _evide
 nce of absence_? This paper explores this question via a biomedical case t
 hat involved a protracted absence of evidence. Cervical cancer is now thou
 ght to be caused by infection with _human papillomavirus_ (HPV). However\,
  for the two decades between about 1965 and 1984\, cervical cancer was tho
 ught to be caused by infection with an unrelated virus known as _herpes si
 mplex virus_ (HSV). From the first suggestion that HSV might cause cervica
 l cancer\, its causal role was thought to be highly plausible\, largely be
 cause of the roles played by herpes viruses in causing cancers in animals.
  By analogy with these animal tumours\, an extensive research programme de
 veloped around HSV that was predicated on investigating its (possible) aet
 iological role in cervical cancer. While this research led to many publica
 tions\, few of them appeared to implicate HSV in the genesis of cancer of 
 the cervix. Despite this\, HSV remained by far the most plausible cause of
  cervical cancer to cancer-virus researchers at the time.\n\nThe aim of th
 is paper is come to an understanding of this persistent absence of evidenc
 e in the context of recent research into agnotology – culturally induced
  ignorance or doubt. However\, the emphasis in much of this work is firmly
  on ignorance as 'something that is made\, maintained\, and manipulated' (
 Proctor and Schiebinger 2008:8). Typical cases discussed in the agnotology
  literature – such as military classification of documents\, or the doub
 t deliberately cast on the causal link between smoking and lung cancer –
  are characterised by the deliberate obscuring of knowledge by individuals
  or organisations. This is not so for cervical cancer\, in which a persist
 ent absence of knowledge seems to have been ignored\, rather than manufact
 ured. Here\, I therefore explore an epistemic thesis concerning agnotology
 : 'when should persistent absence of evidence make us think sceptically ab
 out a particular hypothesis?'
LOCATION:Seminar Room 2\, Department of History and Philosophy of Science
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