Abstract
AbstractSome scientific models and some claims about model–target relations are fruitfully diagnosed as dogwhistles. Dogwhistles, broadly speaking, are speech acts that send different, conflicting, and often differentially inflammatory messages to listeners. I distinguish two ways in which scientific models can be dogwhistles: representational dogwhistling and fit-for-purpose dogwhistling. I illustrate both kinds of dogwhistling using an example from computational social science, the diversity trumps ability theorem. I argue that dogwhistling threatens the objectivity of science, and I propose some ameliorative strategies.
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Subject
History and Philosophy of Science,Philosophy,History