Research integrating the perspectives of different disciplines, or interdisciplinary research, has become increasingly common in academia and is considered important for its ability to address complex questions and problems. This mode of research aims to leverage differences among disciplines in generating a more complex understanding of the research landscape. To interact successfully with other disciplines, researchers must appreciate their differences, and this requires recognizing how the research landscape looks from the perspective of other disciplines. One central aspect of these disciplinary (...) perspectives involves values, and more specifically, the roles that values do, may, and should play in research practice. It is reasonable to think that disciplines differ in part because of the different views that their practitioners have on these roles. This paper represents a step in the direction of evaluating this thought. Operating at the level of academic branches, which comprise relevantly similar disciplines (e.g. social and behavioral sciences), this paper uses quantitative techniques to investigate whether academic branches differ in terms of views on the impact of values on research. Somewhat surprisingly, we find very little relation between differences in these views and differences in academic branch. We discuss these findings from a philosophical perspective to conclude the paper. (shrink)

PursuitA seductive word which sparks images of animals chasing down prey, of relentless motion towards a goal or purpose. On first picking up In Pursuit of Nanoethics [1], I found myself asking if, seven years after the advent of this journal, we are still chasing down a definition for “nanoethics”? On first glance, I would expect that a title such as this one gives the reader a similar impression; however, the introduction to this volume makes it clear that this is (...) not the definition of “pursuit” from which Bert Gordijn and Anthony Mark Cutter are operating. Instead, they trace the lineage of the word from its first usages to its use in the title of this journal. They then move towards the debates around “nanoethics” and how these debates have transformed with time. In order to explore the continuing debate around interactions of nanotechnology and ethics, this book is divided into four topical areas: Concepts and Novelty, Opportunities and Challenges, Risks and Precaution, and Public .. (shrink)