Helen Longino

Current Research and Scholarly Interests

1) There are multiple ways a collection (whether of objects of people) are required to produce a phenomenon. We tend to lump all of these under the label "interaction." But some instances are instances of statistical interaction; others of joint action, and still others of mutual influence. Building on my previous work in social epistemology and on the analysis of the study of behavior, this project aims at a philosophical cataloguing and distinquishing of the various forms of interaction, focusing on the implications of the pervasiveness of interaction as mutual influence or exchange.

2) As standard epistemology has become engaged with questions labelled as social epistemology, it has maintained its focus on the individual cognitive agent. I argue that a real social epistemology focuses on the interactions among cognitive agents. Such a perspective has informed my previous work in philosophy of science. My current work aims at bringing this perspective to bear on the questions taken to be paradigmatic of social concerns in standard epistemology: disagreement and testimony; "network epistemology".

3) Where can western and non-western feminisms converge? What contributions can feminist philosophy of science make to understanding science and sustainability policy in so-called developing countries? I am pursuing this question in a research collaboration with Dr. Rajeswari Raina, National Institute for Science, Technology and Development Studies, Delhi, India.

4) Philosophers of science are increasingly pursuing engagement with communities seeking to use scientific data and analysis to address local problems, such as water distribution, environmental pollution, etc. How can we make such engagement mutual?, How can philosophers learn from activists, even as we seek to strengthen their informational and analytic base?

Projects

• Philosophy and Interaction, Stanford University and Institut d'Histoire et Philosohie des Sciences et Techniques, Paris

  Interaction is an understudied concept in recent Anglo-American analytic philosophy, and has undergone something of an eclipse in the social sciences more generally. This, even as the concept is increasingly invoked in biological contexts. Continental philosophers have a tradition of working with social theorists for whom forms of interaction are central to social theory. Thus, I am developing a collaboration among philosophers working in the two traditions who seek both to articulate concepts of interaction adequate to research in natural and social sciences.

  Location

  Rue du Four, Paris 6, France

  Collaborators

  • Philippe Huneman, Professor,, Institut d'Histoire et Philosohie des Sciences et Techniques
• Strengthening the Research Ecosystem for Sustainability Research in India, Stanford University

  This interdisciplinary research project is prompted by the persistent neglect of environmental sustainability by nationally and regionally sponsored agricultural research programs designed to enhance food security in India. This project goes outside the usual sources of analysis and uses feminist philosophy of science to draw lessons and build capacities for the integration of climate policy with agriculture-food development policy in India. It analyses the environmental values and conceptualisations in science, development interventions and outcomes. The purpose is to demonstrate and enable climate-friendly problem statements and participatory knowledge-policy continuums in India’s agri-food system.
  The project will have two main foci: a critical one and a constructive one. The critical task will be the examination of calls for research and other policy documents generated by national and regional bodies. The aim will be to identify how climate insensitivity gets built into research through its framing by calls for proposals. Our assumption is that when environmental sustainability is not incorporated explicitly into calls, the result is research that continues the same climate unfriendly practices. The questions, assumptions, spcifications of goals of applied research are all infused with values. The challenge is identifying those values and discerning how they are shaping the research that results. The constructive focus will be the articulation of research frameworks that simultaneously address food security and environmental sustainability. To this end, the principal investigators will conduct capacity building workshops with multiple constituencies, including policy makers, researchers, and NGOs, S&T write-shops, policy dialogues, and produce research publications. This process will focus on building anticipatory, responsive and reflective capacities within Block level S&T-policy-practice communities in two farming systems for climate friendly agricultural development.

  Location

  National Institute for Science, Technology, and Development Studies, New Delhi, India

  Collaborators

  • Rajeswari Raina, Dr., National Institute for Science, Technology, and Development Studies (NISTADS), New Delhi, India
  • Vijay Shankar, Director, Samaj Prgati Sahyog (SPS), Madhya Pradesh, India

2024-25 Courses

• Independent Studies (6)
  • Graduate Independent Study
    MTL 398 (Win, Spr)
  • Individual Work for Graduate Students
    PHIL 240 (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum)
  • Individual Work, Undergraduate
    PHIL 197 (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum)
  • Qualifying Paper
    MTL 390 (Win, Spr)
  • Reading for Orals
    MTL 399 (Win, Spr)
  • Tutorial, Senior Year
    PHIL 196 (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum)
• Prior Year Courses

  2021-22 Courses

  • Literature and Philosophy of Place
    OSPPARIS 77 (Spr)

Stanford Advisees

• Doctoral Dissertation Reader (AC)
  Caitlin Brust, Greg Priest
• Doctoral Dissertation Advisor (AC)
  Marianna Bible, Sarah Brophy, Lara Spencer