Fake Research: How Can We Recognize it and Respond to it?

APSE-CEU-IVC Talks
The Philosophy Department of the Central European University, the Institute Vienna Circle and the Unit for Applied Philosophy of Science and Epistemology (of the Department of Philosophy of the University of Vienna) are jointly organizing a series of talks this term

Date: 27/01/2022

Time: 15h00

Online Plattform: The meeting will be online via Zoom | Talks in Philosophy of Science and Epistemology PSE

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https://univienna.zoom.us/j/95738643015?pwd=UFFsKzFxaHJVUEtWc1dPWEFrWmxyUT09

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Abstract:

Fake research produces results that are invalid from the start. I take such research to be characterized by three features. It is methodologically defective, and the relevant defects support certain nonepistemic (social, economic, political) interests and objectives, while the relevant objectives typically concern the inhibition or disruption of attempts at political regulation. I deal with two kinds of claimed fake research. One is agnotological ploys in which scientific dissent is created by interested circles from industry or politics in order to promote their own partisan goals. Another one is the populist antiscience movement that suspects fake research in the scientific mainstream. I suggest three remedies to reduce or eliminate the impact of fake research: disclosing fallacies, improving the understanding of scientific methods, and disconnecting science from political values and political decisions.