{"title":"Objectivity and objectification. On the ethics and epistemologies of skin colour measurements in the social sciences","authors":"Sarah Abel","doi":"10.1016/j.shpsa.2025.102112","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.shpsa.2025.102112","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":49467,"journal":{"name":"Studies in History and Philosophy of Science","volume":"115 ","pages":"Article 102112"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145918940","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"On the uses and abuses of biomarkers in clinical reasoning","authors":"Benjamin Chin-Yee","doi":"10.1016/j.shpsa.2025.102108","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.shpsa.2025.102108","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Biomarkers are central to the practice of precision oncology, which looks to novel biomarkers to ‘personalize’ cancer care. Philosophers have highlighted epistemic issues surrounding biomarkers but a general account of their role in clinical reasoning is lacking. This article examines biomarker use in clinical reasoning through the lens of abstraction. I propose <em>clinical abstraction</em> as a descriptive and normative account of reasoning with biomarkers that overcomes epistemic and ethical problems raised in the literature.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49467,"journal":{"name":"Studies in History and Philosophy of Science","volume":"115 ","pages":"Article 102108"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145884708","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Nothing comes from nothing but the rho meson: The origin of the bootstrap concept in particle physics","authors":"Alexander S. Blum , Jens Salomon","doi":"10.1016/j.shpsa.2025.102082","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.shpsa.2025.102082","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We present a historical and philosophical analysis of the bootstrap concept as it was first introduced in the context of particle physics by Geoffrey Chew and Stanley Mandelstam in the years 1959–1961. By providing a detailed contextual and technical analysis of the work of Chew and Mandelstam, we show that the circular causality implied by the term “bootstrap” was more than just metaphor and rhetoric, but was in fact deeply rooted in the general approach and the mathematical techniques brought to bear on the problem of high-energy scattering processes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49467,"journal":{"name":"Studies in History and Philosophy of Science","volume":"114 ","pages":"Article 102082"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145365195","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Are Saudi classrooms ready for an interdisciplinarity that utilizes evolutionary biology in teaching fiction?","authors":"Khadijah A. Aljabri","doi":"10.1016/j.shpsa.2025.102074","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.shpsa.2025.102074","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>With the growing interest in updating different programs across Saudi universities so that they could allow for more interdisciplinary research, a question emerged regarding the manner by which literary programs are going to be restructured. As such, this research was tackled with the aim to find how a group of Saudi undergraduate students are going to respond to an engagement with science, specifically biology, in the teaching of fiction. The idea seemed particularly interesting considering the fact that science classes in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) do not endorse or engage with the theory of evolution in an overt manner. One reason why this is the case is that the theory of evolution is perceived as a blatant contradiction to the Islamic account of creation and the story of Adam and Eve. Psychology classes at the Kingdom's secondary schools are also approached in the same manner. While they do endorse the interactionist approach, they do not engage with any notions derived from evolutionary or biological psychology in any way. The research shows that there is a level of acceptance and even readiness among Saudi students regarding the employment of the bio-cultural approach or evolutionary literary theory in the teaching of literature. However, certain considerations need to be taken into account before opening the literary field up to the sciences in Saudi universities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49467,"journal":{"name":"Studies in History and Philosophy of Science","volume":"114 ","pages":"Article 102074"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145365198","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Tables turned on table talk","authors":"Majid D. Beni","doi":"10.1016/j.shpsa.2025.102081","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.shpsa.2025.102081","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Eliminative structural realism is in line with mereological nihilism. This contrasts with reconciliatory, non-eliminativist versions of structural realism, such as rainforest realism, which aim to accommodate quotidian ontology. Recently, the ordinary object ontology of rainforest realism has been defended by drawing on cognitive sciences. This paper critically examines philosophical arguments and scientific evidence, particularly from predictive processing, to argue that these sources do not support the ontology of ordinary objects but instead favour an organism-oriented form of eliminativist structural realism.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49467,"journal":{"name":"Studies in History and Philosophy of Science","volume":"114 ","pages":"Article 102081"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145349593","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"French on London and Bauer, and QBism","authors":"Jacques L. Pienaar","doi":"10.1016/j.shpsa.2025.102084","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.shpsa.2025.102084","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In this article I compare two interpretations of quantum mechanics (QM) that draw inspiration from phenomenology: the London–Bauer–French interpretation (hereafter LBF) as articulated by Steven French (French, 2024), and QBism (Fuchs, 2010; Fuchs and Stacey, 2019; Fuchs et al., 2014) . I give special attention to certain disagreements between QBism and LBF identified in French (2023, 2024), as well as French’s related claims that QBism may be at odds with key ideas in phenomenology. My main finding is that QBism does not fare so badly with phenomenology as French makes out; in particular it <em>can be</em> made compatible with Zahavi’s <em>correlationism</em> and Husserl’s notion of intersubjectivity, both of which strongly inform LBF. Nevertheless, I concur with French’s argument that QBism is incompatible with the conception of quantum measurement in LBF, hence also with that of Merleau–Ponty, as the latter based his own analysis on that of London & Bauer. I explain why I find QBism’s account preferable in this case.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49467,"journal":{"name":"Studies in History and Philosophy of Science","volume":"114 ","pages":"Article 102084"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145356662","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A pink lie in French medicine","authors":"Juliette Ferry-Danini","doi":"10.1016/j.shpsa.2025.102075","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.shpsa.2025.102075","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper sets to explain how one of the most prescribed and sold pharmaceutical drugs in France – Spasfon (phloroglucinol), introduced on the French market in the 1960s, became and remained so successful in the absence of solid scientific evidence. Integrating the epistemology of ignorance and a feminist approach to the history of medicine, my goal is to understand how this case of ignorance was initially constructed and how it has maintained itself to this day. I argue that sexism is one key factor explaining how ignorance was constructed around this very popular – and incidentally pink – pharmaceutical drug.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49467,"journal":{"name":"Studies in History and Philosophy of Science","volume":"114 ","pages":"Article 102075"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145419171","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Intertheoretical relationships based on three-model framework","authors":"Kohei Morita","doi":"10.1016/j.shpsa.2025.102077","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.shpsa.2025.102077","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Intertheoretical relationships have been traditionally investigated through the notions of reduction and emergence. Recently, the focus has shifted towards the relationship between models for elaborating intertheoretical relationships in physics. This article demonstrates that three, rather than two, types of models are essential for elucidating some intertheoretical relationships. Beyond the conventional higher- and lower-level models, an intermediate-level model is crucial for establishing connections between the theories. This framework is not only applicable to some practical cases but also effectively captures the characteristics of two significant intertheoretical relationships: between classical and quantum mechanics, and between thermodynamics and statistical mechanics. By applying this framework to these cases, this study highlights both the similarity and the difference in these intertheoretical relationships.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49467,"journal":{"name":"Studies in History and Philosophy of Science","volume":"114 ","pages":"Article 102077"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145419172","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Buffon's new concept of history","authors":"Raphaël Authier","doi":"10.1016/j.shpsa.2025.102078","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.shpsa.2025.102078","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This article raises the question of the meaning given by Buffon to the notion of history, through a reexamination of three aspects of a problem which has become traditional in a series of critical discussions: to what extent can Buffon's Histoire naturelle be considered as historical? This article aims to clarify Buffon's position by specifying the reasons for which his study of living beings cannot be considered as transformist or evolutionist, by showing that his work nevertheless constitutes a decisive milestone in a movement towards a historical understanding of the objects of natural sciences, and by highlighting the transformation of the very meaning of the concept of history in Buffon's texts. The gap between the Buffonian conception of the living world and that of inorganic nature, as well as the evolution of his thought from 1749 to 1778, cannot be underestimated<em>.</em></div></div>","PeriodicalId":49467,"journal":{"name":"Studies in History and Philosophy of Science","volume":"114 ","pages":"Article 102078"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145349568","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Kevin C. Elliott , David B. Resnik , Wendy Lipworth
{"title":"Subconscious value influences on science","authors":"Kevin C. Elliott , David B. Resnik , Wendy Lipworth","doi":"10.1016/j.shpsa.2025.102079","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.shpsa.2025.102079","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Philosophical scholarship on science and values has gradually shifted away from asking whether values have any legitimate role to play in scientific judgment and decision-making and toward considering how to responsibly manage value influences to protect the integrity, rigor, reliability, and trustworthiness of science. This scholarship has focused primarily on helping individual scientists deal with cases in which they are aware of the values at stake and are able to make conscious choices about whether to incorporate them into their judgment and decision-making. This means that accounts of the relationship between science and values tend to focus on <em>consciously perceived</em> values and value influences and tend to overlook the effects of <em>subconscious</em> values on scientific judgment and decision-making. In this paper, we aim to show how greater attention to subconscious value influence on judgment and decision-making can deepen our understanding of the relationship between science and values and provide useful guidance for managing value influences. To achieve our goal, we first examine the literature on values, interests, and conflicts of interest (COI) to demonstrate the potential for values to be subconscious and/or to exert subconscious influences on scientific judgment and decision-making. Next, we discuss some of the specific ways those subconscious influences could affect scientific reasoning. Finally, we show that most contemporary proposals for managing values in science are not well-suited to handling subconscious values or value influences, and we briefly point to some management strategies that merit further development.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49467,"journal":{"name":"Studies in History and Philosophy of Science","volume":"114 ","pages":"Article 102079"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145349559","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}