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SUMMARY:The Role of Values in Animal Cognition Research - Dr Marta Halina\
 , Dept of History &amp\; Philosophy of Science\, University of Cambridge
DTSTART:20161201T190000Z
DTEND:20161201T200000Z
UID:TALK69030@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:John O'Toole
DESCRIPTION:Dr Marta Halina\, Lecturer in Philosophy of Psychology and Cog
 nitive Science\, will share her thoughts in this fascinating research area
 .\n\nThe role of social and ethical values in accepting scientific hypothe
 ses has long been recognized. As Rudner (1953) observes\, “how sure we n
 eed to be before we accept a hypothesis will depend on how serious a mista
 ke would be”. Values play a role whenever the hypothesis under considera
 tion has practical or ethical consequences. Despite this\, discussions aim
 ed at evaluating scientific evidence often fail to take these values into 
 account. This is particularly true in comparative psychology\, which is su
 rprising\, given the vast implications that accepting or rejecting hypothe
 ses in this field might have – hypotheses such as whether fish feel pain
  or chimpanzees have self-awareness. In this talk\, I argue for the import
 ance of social and ethical values in evaluating claims about animal cognit
 ion. Taking these values into account reveals that the consequences of fal
 se negatives are worse than traditionally conceived.\n\nDr Halina's recent
  publications include 'There Is No Special Problem of Mindreading in Nonhu
 man Animals'\, and 'What Apes Know About Seeing'.
LOCATION:Pfizer Lecture Theatre\, Department of Chemistry\, Lensfield Road
 \, Cambridge
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