[SydPhil] HPS Research Seminar, Monday 3 March 2025 at 5:30pm

[HPS Admin]

School of History and Philosophy of Science
RESEARCH SEMINAR
[The University of Sydney]
[https://d31hzlhk6di2h5.cloudfront.net/20250216/af/96/96/26/45f22d9f22506abd28053146_1276x850.jpg]
Counting and Classifying Causes:
What causes of death can teach us about values in science

Kate Lynch (University of Sydney)


Dates: Monday, 03/03/2025
Time: 5:30pm
Venue: F09.331. Madsen Building. Madsen Seminar Room 331
How to register: Free, no registration required

Abstract: Philosophers of science have highlighted how values shape scientific inquiry, influencing observations, concepts, standards of evidence, and data interpretation. While causal explanations are central to science, how values influence causal explanations remains largely unexplored. In this talk, I will show how the determination and documentation of causes of death serves as a case study for understanding how values influence causal explanations in science.

When a person dies, a cause is assigned and recorded on a death certificate. These causal explanations serve multiple purposes: informing loved ones of hereditary health risks, aiding the grieving process, identifying patient safety concerns in hospitals, and compiling mortality statistics, which are used to inform the allocation of health resources, public health initiatives, and research priorities. While this wide range of purposes speaks to the importance of recording causes of death, a single causal explanation serving multiple purposes can be problematic.

Various purposes align with a variety of values influencing which causes are documented and compiled. Sometimes these values are in tension with one another. For causal explanations of death, this becomes particularly evident in cases of causal complexity and uncertainty. The potential for value conflict, along with the context dependency of values involved, has the potential to reduce the consistency of mortality data, undermining its utility as a valuable scientific explanation and public health resource.


Bio: Kate is a philosopher of science specializing in causation, explanation, and causal reasoning in biology and medicine. Her research explores the nature of causal relationships investigated through different scientific methods and examines how causal claims are constructed and interpreted by scientists, practitioners, the media, and the public. Her work has been featured on ABC News, Triple J, Radio National, and the LA Times and was recently awarded the 2024 Australian Association of Philosophy Media Prize



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