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A “cohesive moral community” is already patrolling behavioral science1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 September 2015

George Ainslie
George Ainslie*
Affiliation:
School of Economics, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7710, South Africa; and Department of Veterans Affairs, Coatesville Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Coatesville, PA 19320. George.Ainslie@va.gov http://www.picoeconomics.org
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Abstract

Authors of non-liberal proposals experience more collegial objections than others do. These objections are often couched as criticism of determinism, reductionism, or methodological individualism, but from a scientific viewpoint such criticism could be easily answered. Underneath it is a wish to harness scientific belief in service of positive social values, at the cost of reducing objectivity.

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Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 38 , 2015 , e131
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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Footnotes

1.

This material is the result of work supported with resources and the use of facilities at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Coatesville, PA, and is thus not subject to copyright in the United States. The opinions expressed are not those of the Department of Veterans Affairs or of the U.S. Government.

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