Practicing Science:

Virtues, Values, and the Good Life

Sponsored by the Templeton Religion Trust

August 9-12, 2018

University of Notre Dame London Gateway

London, UK

Call for Papers

Over the last several decades, virtue has attracted increased attention from philosophers, theologians, and psychologists. However, little of this research on virtue has attended to the development and function of virtue within scientific research and practice.

Since 2016, a multi-disciplinary research team at the University of Notre Dame, and funded by the Templeton Religion Trust, has been exploring the relationship between virtue and scientific practice with a particular focus on laboratory research in biology.  (http://ctshf.nd.edu/research/virtues-and-the-practice-of-science/) As that project draws to a close, we invite other interested scholars to join us for a conference on Practicing Science: Virtues, Values, and the Good Life to be held  9–12 August at the University of Notre Dame Gateway in London, UK. The project team welcomes proposals for contributed papers addressing any aspect of the conference theme.

Potential research questions include:

• How can the language of virtue enrich, change, or challenge our understanding of science?

• Does the contemporary practice of scientific research require or bolster certain virtues (or vices)?

• How can ideas drawn from virtue ethics or virtue epistemology illuminate (and perhaps improve) the training and mentoring of scientists?

Paper presentations will be 15 minutes, with an additional 10 minutes for discussion.

To submit a proposal, please send a title, abstract (no more than 250 words), and short c.v. to Christina.M.Leblang.6@nd.edu by February 2, 2018. Decisions about contributed proposals will be communicated to applicants by March 1, 2018.

Further details of the conference program can be found online at http://ctshf.nd.edu/news/call-for-papers-practicing-science-virtues-values-and-the-good-life/.