Sean Valles | Michigan State University (original) (raw)

Papers by Sean Valles

Ethics, Policy & Environment, 2019

This paper presents a new model for how to jointly analyze the ethical and evidentiary dimensions... more This paper presents a new model for how to jointly analyze the ethical and evidentiary dimensions of environmental science cases, 10 with an eye toward making science more participatory and pub-lically accountable. To do so, it adapts and expands the existing model of 'coupled ethical-epistemic analysis,' developed by Tuana and extended by Katikireddi and Valles. This model is contrasted with the existing literature on the relationship between ethical and 15 epistemic features of philosophical analysis. The model is then applied to two case studies, the Flint, Michigan water contamination crisis and the Menabe, Madagascar Payment for Ecosystem Services conservation program. Complex socio-environmental problems, such as climate change and biodiversity con-20 servation, are notoriously vexing: unique, context-dependent challenges that resist formulation and defy solution. They typically manifest in the context of coupled human and natural systems, replete with 'nonlinear dynamics with thresholds, reciprocal feedback loops, time lags, resilience, heterogeneity, and surprises' (Liu et al., 2007, p. 1513). In these systems there is no straightforward right/wrong solution to problems. 25 Interventions in them promise to generate a plethora of changes to the many interconnected components; desirable and undesirable, expected and unexpected. At best, responses to a problem in such systems can be distinguished as 'better' or 'worse', with the pivotal difference often being a matter of whose values-i.e. whose assessments of what matters-are being considered. 30 Recognition of this dependence on values highlights a relationship that complicates socio-environmental problems, viz., the coupling of these problems' ethical and episte-mic features. Elliott has expounded how even the choice of terminology can raise weighty and closely linked ethical and epistemic issues. Disputes over whether to use the term 'hormonally active agent' or the term 'endocrine disruptor' are rooted in 35 disputes over whether all agents that alter hormone dynamics in the body should be classified together under the endocrine disruption concept, or only the subset of agents that 'cause adverse health effects' (Elliott, 2009, p. 159). Those epistemic disputes over terminology and over the research priorities of the scientific community link with ethical

Science & Engineering Ethics, 2016

Professionals in environmental fields engage with complex problems that involve stakeholders with... more Professionals in environmental fields engage with complex problems that involve stakeholders with different values, different forms of knowledge, and contentious decisions. There is increasing recognition of the need to train graduate students in interdisciplinary environmental science programs (IESPs) in these issues, which we refer to as ''social ethics.'' A literature review revealed topics and skills that should be included in such training, as well as potential challenges and barriers. From this review, we developed an online survey, which we administered to faculty from 81 United States colleges and universities offering IESPs (480 surveys were completed). Respondents overwhelmingly agreed that IESPs should address values in applying science to policy and management decisions. They also agreed that programs should engage students with issues related to norms of scientific practice. Agreement was slightly less strong that IESPs should train students in skills related to managing value conflicts among different stakeholders. The primary challenges to incorporating social ethics into the curriculum were related to the lack of materials and expertise for delivery, though challenges such as ethics being marginalized in relation to environmental science content were also prominent. Challenges related to students' interest in ethics were considered less problematic. Respondents believed that social ethics are most effectively delivered when incorporated into existing courses, and they preferred case studies or problem-based learning for delivery. Student competence is generally not assessed, and respondents recognized a need for both curricular materials and assessment tools.

Reprints can be ordered at http://www.ajph.org by clicking the "Reprints" link.

Bioethics, 2014

Cheryl Cox MacPherson recently argued, in an article for this journal, that 'Clim... more Cheryl Cox MacPherson recently argued, in an article for this journal, that 'Climate Change is a Bioethics Problem'. This article elaborates on that position, particularly highlighting bioethicists' potential ability to help reframe the current climate change discourse to give more attention to its health risks. This reframing process is especially important because of the looming problem of climate change skepticism. Recent empirical evidence from science framing experiments indicates that the public reacts especially positively to climate change messages framed in public health terms, and bioethicists are particularly well positioned to contribute their expertise to the process of carefully developing and communicating such messages. Additionally, as climate framing research and practice continue, it will be important for bioethicists to contribute to the creation of that project's nascent ethical standards. The discourse surrounding antibiotic resistance is posited as an example that can lend insight into how communicating a public health-framed message, including the participation of bioethicists, can help to override public skepticism about the findings of politically contentious scientific fields.

Preventive medicine, 2012

Targeting high-risk populations for public health interventions is a classic tool of public healt... more Targeting high-risk populations for public health interventions is a classic tool of public health promotion programs. This practice becomes thornier when racial groups are identified as the at-risk populations. I present the particular ethical and epistemic challenges that arise when there are low-risk subpopulations within racial groups that have been identified as high-risk for a particular health concern. I focus on two examples. The black immigrant population does not have the same hypertension risk as US-born African Americans. Similarly, Finnish descendants have a far lower rate of cystic fibrosis than other Caucasians. In both cases the exceptional nature of these subpopulations has been largely ignored by the designers of important public health efforts, including the recent US government dietary recommendations. I argue that amending the publicly-disseminated risk information to acknowledge these exceptions would be desirable for several reasons. First, recognizing low-risk subpopulations would allow more efficient use of limited resources. Communicating this valuable information to the subpopulations would also promote truth-telling. Finally, presenting a more nuanced empirically-supported representation of which groups are at known risk of diseases (not focusing on mere racial categories) would combat harmful biological race essentialist views held by the public.

Biology & Philosophy, 2012

Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 2012

Direct-to-consumer personalized genomic medicine has recently grown into a small industry that se... more Direct-to-consumer personalized genomic medicine has recently grown into a small industry that sells mail-order DNA sample kits and then provides disease risk assessments, typically based upon results from genome-trait association studies. The companies selling these services have been largely exempted from FDA regulation in the United States. Testing kit companies and their supporters have defended the industry's unregulated status using two arguments. First, defenders have argued that mere absence of harm is all that must be proved for mail-order tests to be acceptable. Second, defenders of mail-order testing have argued that there is an individual right to the tests' information. This article rebuts these arguments. The article demonstrates that the direct-to-consumer market has resulted in the sidelining of clinical utility (medical value to patients), leading to the development of certain mail-order tests that do not promote customers' interests and to defenders' downplaying of a potentially damaging empirical study of mail-order genomic testing's effects on consumers. The article also shows that the notion of an individual right to these tests rests on a flawed reading of the key service provided by mail-order companies, which is the provision of medical interpretations, not simply genetic information. Absent these two justifications, there is no reason to exempt direct-to-consumer personalized genomic medicine from stringent federal oversight.

Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, 2012

Lionel Penrose (1898-1972) was an important leader during the mid-20th century decline of eugenic... more Lionel Penrose (1898-1972) was an important leader during the mid-20th century decline of eugenics and the development of modern medical genetics. However, historians have paid little attention to his radical theoretical challenges to mainline eugenic concepts of mental disease. Working from a classification system developed with his colleague, E. O. Lewis, Penrose developed a statistically sophisticated and clinically grounded refutation of the popular position that low intelligence is inherently a disease state. In the early 1930s, Penrose advocated dividing "mental defect" (low intelligence) into two categories: "pathological mental defect," which is a disease state that can be traced to a distinct genetic or environmental cause, and "subcultural mental defect," which is not an inherent disease state, but rather a statistically necessary manifestation of human variation in intelligence. I explore the historical context and theoretical import of this contribution, discussing its rejection of typological thinking and noting that it preceded Theodosius Dobzhansky's better-known defense of human diversity. I illustrate the importance of Penrose's contribution with a discussion of an analogous situation in contemporary medicine, the controversial practice of using human growth hormone injections to treat "idiopathic short stature" (mere diminutive height, with no distinct cause). I show how Penrose's contributions to understanding human variation make such treatments appear quite misguided.

Biology & Philosophy, 2010

Page 1. The mystery of the mystery of common genetic diseases Sean A. Valles Received: 19 Decembe... more Page 1. The mystery of the mystery of common genetic diseases Sean A. Valles Received: 19 December 2008 / Accepted: 1 October 2009 / Published online: 15 October 2009 Ó Springer Science+Business Media BV 2009 Abstract ...

Books by Sean Valles

Ethics, Policy & Environment, 2019

This paper presents a new model for how to jointly analyze the ethical and evidentiary dimensions... more This paper presents a new model for how to jointly analyze the ethical and evidentiary dimensions of environmental science cases, 10 with an eye toward making science more participatory and pub-lically accountable. To do so, it adapts and expands the existing model of 'coupled ethical-epistemic analysis,' developed by Tuana and extended by Katikireddi and Valles. This model is contrasted with the existing literature on the relationship between ethical and 15 epistemic features of philosophical analysis. The model is then applied to two case studies, the Flint, Michigan water contamination crisis and the Menabe, Madagascar Payment for Ecosystem Services conservation program. Complex socio-environmental problems, such as climate change and biodiversity con-20 servation, are notoriously vexing: unique, context-dependent challenges that resist formulation and defy solution. They typically manifest in the context of coupled human and natural systems, replete with 'nonlinear dynamics with thresholds, reciprocal feedback loops, time lags, resilience, heterogeneity, and surprises' (Liu et al., 2007, p. 1513). In these systems there is no straightforward right/wrong solution to problems. 25 Interventions in them promise to generate a plethora of changes to the many interconnected components; desirable and undesirable, expected and unexpected. At best, responses to a problem in such systems can be distinguished as 'better' or 'worse', with the pivotal difference often being a matter of whose values-i.e. whose assessments of what matters-are being considered. 30 Recognition of this dependence on values highlights a relationship that complicates socio-environmental problems, viz., the coupling of these problems' ethical and episte-mic features. Elliott has expounded how even the choice of terminology can raise weighty and closely linked ethical and epistemic issues. Disputes over whether to use the term 'hormonally active agent' or the term 'endocrine disruptor' are rooted in 35 disputes over whether all agents that alter hormone dynamics in the body should be classified together under the endocrine disruption concept, or only the subset of agents that 'cause adverse health effects' (Elliott, 2009, p. 159). Those epistemic disputes over terminology and over the research priorities of the scientific community link with ethical

Science & Engineering Ethics, 2016

Professionals in environmental fields engage with complex problems that involve stakeholders with... more Professionals in environmental fields engage with complex problems that involve stakeholders with different values, different forms of knowledge, and contentious decisions. There is increasing recognition of the need to train graduate students in interdisciplinary environmental science programs (IESPs) in these issues, which we refer to as ''social ethics.'' A literature review revealed topics and skills that should be included in such training, as well as potential challenges and barriers. From this review, we developed an online survey, which we administered to faculty from 81 United States colleges and universities offering IESPs (480 surveys were completed). Respondents overwhelmingly agreed that IESPs should address values in applying science to policy and management decisions. They also agreed that programs should engage students with issues related to norms of scientific practice. Agreement was slightly less strong that IESPs should train students in skills related to managing value conflicts among different stakeholders. The primary challenges to incorporating social ethics into the curriculum were related to the lack of materials and expertise for delivery, though challenges such as ethics being marginalized in relation to environmental science content were also prominent. Challenges related to students' interest in ethics were considered less problematic. Respondents believed that social ethics are most effectively delivered when incorporated into existing courses, and they preferred case studies or problem-based learning for delivery. Student competence is generally not assessed, and respondents recognized a need for both curricular materials and assessment tools.

Reprints can be ordered at http://www.ajph.org by clicking the "Reprints" link.

Bioethics, 2014

Cheryl Cox MacPherson recently argued, in an article for this journal, that 'Clim... more Cheryl Cox MacPherson recently argued, in an article for this journal, that 'Climate Change is a Bioethics Problem'. This article elaborates on that position, particularly highlighting bioethicists' potential ability to help reframe the current climate change discourse to give more attention to its health risks. This reframing process is especially important because of the looming problem of climate change skepticism. Recent empirical evidence from science framing experiments indicates that the public reacts especially positively to climate change messages framed in public health terms, and bioethicists are particularly well positioned to contribute their expertise to the process of carefully developing and communicating such messages. Additionally, as climate framing research and practice continue, it will be important for bioethicists to contribute to the creation of that project's nascent ethical standards. The discourse surrounding antibiotic resistance is posited as an example that can lend insight into how communicating a public health-framed message, including the participation of bioethicists, can help to override public skepticism about the findings of politically contentious scientific fields.

Preventive medicine, 2012

Targeting high-risk populations for public health interventions is a classic tool of public healt... more Targeting high-risk populations for public health interventions is a classic tool of public health promotion programs. This practice becomes thornier when racial groups are identified as the at-risk populations. I present the particular ethical and epistemic challenges that arise when there are low-risk subpopulations within racial groups that have been identified as high-risk for a particular health concern. I focus on two examples. The black immigrant population does not have the same hypertension risk as US-born African Americans. Similarly, Finnish descendants have a far lower rate of cystic fibrosis than other Caucasians. In both cases the exceptional nature of these subpopulations has been largely ignored by the designers of important public health efforts, including the recent US government dietary recommendations. I argue that amending the publicly-disseminated risk information to acknowledge these exceptions would be desirable for several reasons. First, recognizing low-risk subpopulations would allow more efficient use of limited resources. Communicating this valuable information to the subpopulations would also promote truth-telling. Finally, presenting a more nuanced empirically-supported representation of which groups are at known risk of diseases (not focusing on mere racial categories) would combat harmful biological race essentialist views held by the public.

Biology & Philosophy, 2012

Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 2012

Direct-to-consumer personalized genomic medicine has recently grown into a small industry that se... more Direct-to-consumer personalized genomic medicine has recently grown into a small industry that sells mail-order DNA sample kits and then provides disease risk assessments, typically based upon results from genome-trait association studies. The companies selling these services have been largely exempted from FDA regulation in the United States. Testing kit companies and their supporters have defended the industry's unregulated status using two arguments. First, defenders have argued that mere absence of harm is all that must be proved for mail-order tests to be acceptable. Second, defenders of mail-order testing have argued that there is an individual right to the tests' information. This article rebuts these arguments. The article demonstrates that the direct-to-consumer market has resulted in the sidelining of clinical utility (medical value to patients), leading to the development of certain mail-order tests that do not promote customers' interests and to defenders' downplaying of a potentially damaging empirical study of mail-order genomic testing's effects on consumers. The article also shows that the notion of an individual right to these tests rests on a flawed reading of the key service provided by mail-order companies, which is the provision of medical interpretations, not simply genetic information. Absent these two justifications, there is no reason to exempt direct-to-consumer personalized genomic medicine from stringent federal oversight.

Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, 2012

Lionel Penrose (1898-1972) was an important leader during the mid-20th century decline of eugenic... more Lionel Penrose (1898-1972) was an important leader during the mid-20th century decline of eugenics and the development of modern medical genetics. However, historians have paid little attention to his radical theoretical challenges to mainline eugenic concepts of mental disease. Working from a classification system developed with his colleague, E. O. Lewis, Penrose developed a statistically sophisticated and clinically grounded refutation of the popular position that low intelligence is inherently a disease state. In the early 1930s, Penrose advocated dividing "mental defect" (low intelligence) into two categories: "pathological mental defect," which is a disease state that can be traced to a distinct genetic or environmental cause, and "subcultural mental defect," which is not an inherent disease state, but rather a statistically necessary manifestation of human variation in intelligence. I explore the historical context and theoretical import of this contribution, discussing its rejection of typological thinking and noting that it preceded Theodosius Dobzhansky's better-known defense of human diversity. I illustrate the importance of Penrose's contribution with a discussion of an analogous situation in contemporary medicine, the controversial practice of using human growth hormone injections to treat "idiopathic short stature" (mere diminutive height, with no distinct cause). I show how Penrose's contributions to understanding human variation make such treatments appear quite misguided.

Biology & Philosophy, 2010

Page 1. The mystery of the mystery of common genetic diseases Sean A. Valles Received: 19 Decembe... more Page 1. The mystery of the mystery of common genetic diseases Sean A. Valles Received: 19 December 2008 / Accepted: 1 October 2009 / Published online: 15 October 2009 Ó Springer Science+Business Media BV 2009 Abstract ...