For our last meeting, I'd like to wrap up our discussion of the distinction between pure and applied science and how to approach the issue of how to respond to the conclusion that scientific inquiry should not be completely "free". Whether Kitcher is right that certain kinds of bans or moratoriums would be counterproductive.
But I'd like to spend the majority of our short time remaining reflecting on the big picture that I think may be emerging about science. So instead of asking you to read something new, I'd ask you instead to thumb through our previous readings a bit and think about the different subjects we've covered, our tentative conclusions, and how the whole thing fits together. Then we'll compare notes (as it were) and see if the same sort of picture — or any picture — is emerging for each of us.
Accordingly, your final Short Writing Assignment is simply to record some reflections on your view of science and how it may have changed over the term.
