Rethinking the political philosophy of science

Emma's research sits at the intersection of democratic theory, philosophy of science and critical theory. In particular, it contributes to the political philosophy of science, which is a burgeoning literature that discusses the political implications of the philosophy of science argument that science is value-laden, particularly regarding its impacts on democracy. Emma's research aims to challenge several assumptions in this discipline. First, it argues that a more expansive notion of democracy, which contends that all those affected by a decision should be able to equally affect that decision, should be adopted. Secondly, it claims that the science-democracy nexus is not just located at the site of representative politics that is advised by experts after scientific production has taken place, but at a myriad of other sites of society and stages of scientific development. Thirdly, it develops a taxonomy of the different potential influences of capitalism, as defined through its constituent features of the market, private property and profit, on scientific production. After this critique, the PhD aims to propose several non-reformist reforms, including a democratic precautionary principle for scientific and technological development and a global mini-public for setting research priorities.