Moira Howes

Associate Professor and Chair of Philosophy

Office	EC S118.4
Phone	(705) 748-1011 x 7108
Fax	(705) 748-1693
Email	mhowes@trentu.ca
Secretary	Kathy Fife

Professor Howes' areas of specialization include philosophy of science (especially biology), epistemology, and metaphysics. Her research addresses biological self identity, the role of values and philosophical concepts in the field of immunology, and conceptual issues related to gender in evolutionary biology and immunology. Currently, she is writing about intellectual virtues and intellectual emotions in scientific reasoning, using work in immunology, evolutionary biology, and environmental science as case examples. The goal of this research is to improve the quality of debate concerning science and science policy in the public domain.

Recent and Selected Publications:

2011. “Managing Salience: The Importance of Intellectual Virtue in Analyses of Biased Scientific Reasoning.”  Hypatia, on-line early view.

2011. Review of Feminist Technology, L. Layne, S. Vostral, and K. Boyer (eds.), 2010.  Hypatia, 26 (3).

2010. “Menstrual Function, Menstrual Suppression and the Immunology of the Human Female Reproductive Tract.” Perspectives in Biology and Medicine. 53: 16-30.

2008. “Conceptualizing the Maternal-Fetal Relationship in Reproductive Immunology,” in Kenton Kroker, Jennifer Keelan and Pauline Mazumdar (eds.) Crafting Immunity: Working Histories of Clinical Immunology, Aldershot: Ashgate. pp. 247-271.

2008. “Self and Nonself,” in Sahotra Sarkar and Anya Plutynski (eds.) A Companion to the Philosophy of Biology. Malden, MA: Blackwell. pp. 271-286.

2007. “Maternal Agency and the Immunological Paradox of Pregnancy.” In Harold Kincaid and Jennifer McKitrick (eds.), Establishing Medical Reality: Essays in the Metaphysics and Epistemology of Biomedical Science, Springer. pp. 179-198.

2006. “On the Very Idea of a Feminist Epistemology for Science,” Review Symposium Contribution for Clough, S. Beyond Epistemology: A Pragmatist Approach to Feminist Science Studies. 2003, Rowman and Littlefield. Metascience, 15(1): 8-15.