Article ID: CBB000770703

Hormone Research as an Exemplar of Underdetermination (2005)

unapi

Debates about the underdetermination of theory by data often turn on specific examples. Cases invoked often enough become familiar, even well worn. Since Helen Longino's discussion of the case, the connection between prenatal hormone levels and gender-linked childhood behaviour has become one of these stock examples. However, as I argue here, the case is not genuinely underdetermined. We can easily imagine a possible experiment to decide the question. The fact that we would not perform this experiment is a moral, rather than epistemic, point. Finally, I suggest that the `underdetermination' of the case may be inessential for Longino to establish her central claim about it.

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Authors & Contributors
Stewart, Larry R.
Dyck, Erika
Nanninga, John B.
Weindling, Paul
Zwicker, Katherine Jane
West, Doe
Concepts
Science and ethics
Human experimentation
Experiments and experimentation
Ethics
Human body
Electricity; magnetism
Time Periods
20th century
18th century
19th century
21st century
17th century
20th century, late
Places
United States
Charing Cross (London)
England
London (England)
Germany
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