Holman to speak at PSA 2014
Holman to speak at PSA 2014
- July 2, 2014
- LPS graduate student is author or co-author on two accepted papers
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Seventh year LPS graduate student Bennett Holman is author or co-author on two papers
to be presented at the 2014 Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association. The
first paper, on which Holman is sole author, is entitled "Why Most Sugar Pills are
not Placebos." Holman argues that the standard definition of "placebo" in the philosophy
of medicine literature is incompatible with the role that placebos play in realistic
experiments. He goes on to offer a new definition of "placebo" that more accurately
reflects practice. The second paper, which will be presented by Justin Bruner, a recent
LPS alumnus (now at Australia National University) and Holman's co-author, is called
"The Problem of Intransigently Biased Agents." Here Holman and Bruner present a formal
model suggesting that biased scientists may prevent the community of researchers from
ever converging to optimal solutions to problems. They suggest that this model may
accurately represent the situation in current medical research. Both papers have also
been accepted for publication a special proceedings issue of the journal Philosophy
of Science.
Held biennially, the PSA meetings are the largest and most prestigious conferences in philosophy of science in North America. This year's meeting will be held November 6-8, in Chicago.
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