Janet D. Stemwedel
Janet D. Stemwedel (whose nom de blog is Dr. Free-Ride) is an associate professor of philosophy at San Jose State University. Before becoming a philosopher, she earned a Ph.D. in physical chemistry.
jstemwedel
Posts by this author
April 20, 2009
As we continue our look at ways that attempted dialogues about the use of animals in research run off the rails, let's take up one more kind of substantial disagreement about the facts. Today's featured impediment:
Disagreement about whether animals used in research experience discomfort, distress…
April 19, 2009
As with yesterday's dialogue blocker (the question of whether animal research is necessary for scientific and medical advancement), today's impediment is another substantial disagreement about the facts. A productive dialogue requires some kind of common ground between its participants, including…
April 18, 2009
Today we continue our look at the reasons that attempts to have a dialogue about the use of animals in scientific research routinely run aground.
Dialogue, you'll remember, involves the participants in the dialogue offering not just their views but also something like their reasons for holding…
April 17, 2009
I've been noticing a little spike in traffic from search engine searches on "Luk Van Parijs" (about whom I have blogged here and here and here and here).
So of course, I wonder: why the sudden spike in interest? Has there been a new development since the Office of Research Integrity "final action…
April 17, 2009
In a post last month about an animal rights group targeting a researcher's car with an incendiary device, I closed by expressing my profound pessimism at the prospects of having a serious dialogue about animal rights:
As a philosophical position, the case for animal rights is not completely empty…
April 17, 2009
This morning, over breakfast, the Free-Ride offspring and I discussed the environment. You can hear the conversation (that crunching is from English muffins). The transcript is below.
Dr. Free-Ride: So I was going to ask you guys this morning to talk a little bit about the environment, and I…
April 15, 2009
A bunch of people (including Bora) have pointed me to Clay Shirky's take on #amazonfail. While I'm not in agreement with Shirky's analysis that Twitter users mobilized an angry mob on the basis of a false theory (and now that mob is having a hard time backing down), there are some interesting…
April 13, 2009
Those of you on Twitter yesterday probably noticed the explosion of tweets with the hashtag #amazonfail. For those who were otherwise occupied carving up chocolate bunnies or whatnot, the news spread to the blogs, Facebook, and the traditional media outlets. The short version is that on Easter…
April 11, 2009
Tomorrow being Easter, a day on which there is some expectation that there will eggs for which to hunt in the backyard (weather permitting), the Free-Ride offspring and I decorated some eggs. We had an old package of oil-based dyes to make "swirled" eggs (the basic idea being that you float drops…
April 11, 2009
One arena in which members of the public seem to understand their interest in good and unbiased scientific research is drug testing. Yet a significant portion of the research on new drugs and their use in treating patients is funded by drug manufacturers -- parties that have an interest in more…
April 10, 2009
This morning, I came upon the younger Free-Ride playing a game.
Younger offspring: I'm playing "launch the bear".
Dr. Free-Ride: Oh, really?
Younger offspring: Yeah. I put the bear on the edge of the piece of cardboard and hold my hands on the other end with the fingers on top, and then I flip it…
April 9, 2009
Frequent commenter, sibling, and bon vivant Uncle Fishy recently set up a backyard beehive, but lately he's been worried about the bees. This came up in a recent online chat:
Dr. Free-Ride: So, what's worrisome about your bees?
Uncle Fishy: i dont know if they'll make it
Dr. Free-Ride: :-(
Uncle…
April 9, 2009
Earlier this week, Ed Yong posted an interesting discussion about psychological research that suggests people have a moral thermostat, keeping them from behaving too badly -- or too well:
Through three psychological experiments, Sonya Sachdeva from Northwestern University found that people who are…
April 8, 2009
The Independent reports that drug giant Pfizer has agreed to pay a $75 million settlement nine years after Nigerian parents whose children died in a drug trial brought legal action against the company.
It's the details of that drug trial that are of interest here:
In 1996, the company needed a…
April 3, 2009
Since we're trying to get out of town for the weekend, Casa Free-Ride is a hive of activity. (As we seem to be passing another cold back and forth, it's also a hive of mucus. Ew.) But we have time to update you on recurrent topics of conversation this week around the Free-Ride kitchen table.…
April 2, 2009
At Aardvarchaeology, Martin describes an ethical conundrum:
Let's say that Jenny's in bed with a cold and asks her partner Anne to take out a book for her from the library. This Anne does, but on the way home she loses the book. Maybe she absentmindedly puts it on a shelf in the grocery store and…
April 1, 2009
I've gotten word that another blogger who has been tracking IP addresses associated with comments (on his own blog and on the blogs of others) is preparing to blow the whistle on what he is inclined to view as sock-puppetry. I'm not sure how complete this blogger's information is, nor whether it…
March 31, 2009
In a pair of earlier posts, I looked at the ethical principles Matthew C. Nisbet says should be guiding the framing of science and at examples Nisbet discusses of ethical and unethical framing. Here, consider some lessons we might learn from the framing wars. I'm hopeful that we can gain insight…
March 30, 2009
As promised, a picture from the elder Free-Ride offspring:
There's a sale on Chinese dragons and hypogryffs! I don't know if it's related to the economic downturn, though.
March 30, 2009
In my last post, I looked at a set of ethical principles Matt Nisbet asserts should be guiding the framing of science. In this post, I consider the examples Matt provides as the "DO" and "DON'T" pictures for the application of these guiding ethical principles.
First, Matt examines an example of…
March 30, 2009
If it's spring, it must be time for another round of posts trying to get clear on the framing strategies advocated by Matthew C. Nisbet, and on why these communications seem to be so controversial among scientists and science bloggers.
My past attempts to figure out what's up with framing can be…
March 29, 2009
And sometimes it happens right across the street from my favorite aquarium. With a smack that's slightly squishy.
Sea Notes provides the details:
Suddenly, out of the blue, you're whacked on the head -- hard. You reach up to touch the tender spot and your hair is wet, but not with blood.
You look…
March 29, 2009
It would appear that our rainy season is really over until next winter (which is not to say that it won't rain at all between now and then, just that things will be more dry than wet). So, it seemed like a good time to document some recent developments in the Free-Ride garden.
Today, I'm…
March 29, 2009
Generating Ideas vs. Harshing Your Mellow « Off Our Pedestals
LiveJournal as many-to-many communication where "big blogs" are one-to-many (and what that does to the dynamics of the conversation).
(tags: blogosphere communication)
Social Science Research News: Guest Post Friday - Coercion in…
March 27, 2009
When, speaking to journalists about the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa, you make a claim that the epidemic is:
a tragedy that cannot be overcome by money alone, that cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which can even increase the problem
those listening who assume you are…
March 27, 2009
Well, the school science fair looms (as school science fairs are wont to do). While the actual event isn't until May, we have reached the point at which the science teacher is vetting the proposed projects.
Presumably the vetting is to ensure that the kids are directing their efforts toward a…
March 27, 2009
A Natural Scientist: In Which All's Well That Ends Well (At Work)
1. Get it in writing! 2. If you didn't get it in writing, be stubborn!
(tags: work lab-life women-in-science)
The Junction Potential: Electrophysiology isn't a technique you add to your CV; it's a state of being!
"Not a bad idea…
March 26, 2009
DrugMonkey responds to the outgoing Drug Czar's deep concerns about research with illegal drugs conducted with subjects who are addicted to those drugs, those concerns reported in an article in the Washington Examiner. From that article:
The federal government is giving crack and powder cocaine,…
March 26, 2009
Maria Mitchell and the Sexing of Science: An Astronomer among the American Romantics
by Renée Bergland
Boston: Beacon Press
2008
What is it like to be a woman scientist? In a society where being a woman is somehow a distinct experience from being an ordinary human being, the answer to this…
March 25, 2009
First about those carnivals:
*The deadline for submission to the second installment of the Diversity in Science carnival is midnight (EST) tonight. It's being hosted at Thus Spake Zuska and this month's topic is "Women Achievers in STEM - Past and Present."
I myself am trying to get a post up…