Dan Hicks

Associate Professor of Philosophy

University of California, Merced

Areas of interest

Philosophy: philosophy of science, ethics, social and political philosophy

Science and Technology Studies: science policy, environmental policy

Data Science: text mining, bibliometrics, philosophy of statistical modeling

Professional appointments

2024- Department Chair University of California, Merced (Department of Philosophy)

2023- Associate Professor of Philosophy University of California, Merced (Department of Philosophy; Affiliate Faculty, Public Health Graduate Group; Affiliate Faculty, Health Sciences Research Institute)

2019-2023 Assistant Professor of Philosophy University of California, Merced (Department of Cognitive Science)

2017-2019 Postdoctoral Researcher University of California, Davis (Data Science Intiative)

2015-2017 Science and Technology Policy Fellow American Assocation for the Advancement of Science (2015-16: Hosted by the Environmental Protection Agency, Chemical Safety for Sustainability Program; 2016-17: Hosted by the National Science Foundation, National Robotics Initiative)

2013-2015 Postdoctoral Fellow University of Western Ontario (Rotman Institute of Philosophy)

2012-2013 Postdoctoral Fellow University of Notre Dame (College of Arts and Letters and Department of Philosophy)

Education

2012 PhD, Philosophy University of Notre Dame (Notre Dame, IN)

2003 MS, Mathematics University of Illinois, Chicago (Chicago, IL)

2002 BS, Mathematics + Politics and Government University of Puget Sound (Tacoma, WA)

Peer-reviewed publications

1.
Pence, C. H., & Hicks, D. J. (2023). Challenges for “Community” in Science and Values. HUMANA.MENTE Journal of Philosophical Studies, 16(44, 44), 1–32. https://www.humanamente.eu/index.php/HM/article/view/385
2.
Hicks, D. J. (2023). Open science, the replication crisis, and environmental public health. Accountability in Research, 30(1), 34–62. https://doi.org/10.1080/08989621.2021.1962713
3.
Contreras Kallens, P., Hicks, D. J., & Jennings, C. D. (2022). Networks in philosophy: Social networks and employment in academic philosophy. Metaphilosophy, 53(5), 653–684. https://doi.org/10.1111/meta.12591
4.
Hicks, D. J. (2022). When Virtues are Vices: ’Anti-Science’ Epistemic Values in Environmental Politics. Philosophy, Theory, and Practice in Biology, 14(0, 0). https://doi.org/10.3998/.2629
5.
Hicks, D. J. (2022). The P value plot does not provide evidence against air pollution hazards. Environmental Epidemiology, 6(2), e198. https://doi.org/10.1097/EE9.0000000000000198
6.
Hicks, D. J., & Lobato, E. J. C. (2022). Values disclosures and trust in science: A replication study. Frontiers in Communication, 7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2022.1017362
7.
Hicks, D. J. (2021). Productivity and interdisciplinary impacts of Organized Research Units. Quantitative Science Studies, 2(3), 990–1022. https://doi.org/10.1162/qss_a_00150
8.
Hicks, D. J., Magnus, P. D., & Wright, J. (2020). Inductive Risk, Science, and Values: A Reply to MacGillivray. Risk Analysis, 40(4), 667–673. https://doi.org/10.1111/risa.13434
9.
Hicks, D. J. (2020). Census Demographics and Chlorpyrifos Use in California’s Central Valley, 2011–15: A Distributional Environmental Justice Analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(7, 7), 2593. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17072593
10.
Hicks, D. J., Coil, D. A., Stahmer, C. G., & Eisen, J. A. (2019). Network analysis to evaluate the impact of research funding on research community consolidation. PLOS ONE, 14(6), e0218273. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0218273
11.
Fernández Pinto, M., & Hicks, D. J. (2019). Legitimizing Values in Regulatory Science. Environmental Health Perspectives, 127(3), 035001. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP3317
12.
Hicks, D., & Simmons, R. (2019). The National Robotics Initiative: A Five-Year Retrospective. IEEE Robotics Automation Magazine, 26(3), 2–9. https://doi.org/10.1109/MRA.2019.2912860
13.
Hicks, D. J. (2018). The Safety of Autonomous Vehicles: Lessons from Philosophy of Science. IEEE Technology and Society Magazine, 37(1), 62–69. https://doi.org/10.1109/MTS.2018.2795123
14.
Hicks, D. J., Stahmer, C., & Smith, M. (2018). Impacting Capabilities: A Conceptual Framework for the Social Value of Research. Frontiers in Research Metrics and Analytics. https://doi.org/10.3389/frma.2018.00024
15.
Hicks, D. J. (2018). Inductive Risk and Regulatory Toxicology: A Comment on de Melo-Martín and Intemann. Philosophy of Science, 85(1), 164–174. https://doi.org/10.1086/694771
16.
Hicks, D. J. (2017). Genetically Modified Crops, Inclusion, and Democracy. Perspectives on Science, 25(4), 488–520. https://doi.org/10.1162/POSC_a_00251
17.
Hicks, D. J. (2016). Bibliometrics for Social Validation. PLOS ONE, 11(12), e0168597. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0168597
18.
Hicks, D. J., & Stapleford, T. A. (2016). The Virtues of Scientific Practice: MacIntyre, Virtue Ethics, and the Historiography of Science. Isis, 107(3), 449–472. https://doi.org/10.1086/688346
19.
Hicks, D. J. (2015). Epistemological depth in a GM crops controversy. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, 50, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsc.2015.02.002
20.
Hicks, D. J. (2015). On Okin’s critique of libertarianism. Canadian Journal of Philosophy, 45(1), 37–57. https://doi.org/10.1080/00455091.2014.996118
21.
Hicks, D. J. (2014). A new direction for science and values. Synthese, 191(14), 3271–3295. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11229-014-0447-9
22.
Hicks, D. (2011). On the Ideal of Autonomous Science. Philosophy of Science, 78(5), 1235–1248. https://doi.org/10.1086/662255
23.
Hicks, D. J. (2011). Is Longino’s Conception of Objectivity Feminist? Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy, 26(2), 333–351. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1527-2001.2010.01160.x

Other scholarly products

1.
Hicks, D. J. (2023). Review of Cartwright, A Philosopher Looks at Science. Philosophy of Science, 90(3), 756–760. https://doi.org/10.1017/psa.2023.63
2.
Hicks, D. J. (2023, May 2). Tmfast fits topic models fast. http://arxiv.org/abs/2305.01535
3.
Hicks, D. (2022, March 16). Young’s P-Value Plot as an Agnogenic Technique, Dan Hicks. Social Epistemology Review; Reply Collective. https://social-epistemology.com/2022/03/16/youngs-p-value-plot-as-an-agnogenic-technique-dan-hicks/
4.
Stapleford, T. A., & Hicks, D. J. (2021). Seeing Science as a Communal Practice: MacIntyre, Virtue Ethics, and the Study of Science. In E. Ratti & T. A. Stapleford (Eds.), Science, Technology, and Virtues: Contemporary Perspectives. Oxford University Press. https://books.google.com?id=R30_EAAAQBAJ
5.
Hicks, D. J. (2020, May 20). Comment submitted by Daniel J. Hicks, Department of Cognitive and Information Sciences, University of California, Merced. Regulations.gov. https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=EPA-HQ-OA-2018-0259-11405
6.
Brister, E., & Hicks, D. J. (2020). Contributions of Women to Philosophy of Science: A Bibliometric Analysis. In S. Crasnow & K. Intemann (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Feminist Philosophy of Science. Routledge.
7.
Hicks, D. J., Morris, R., & Brister, E. (2018). Computational History of Philosophy of Science (Comp HOPOS) Dataset [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1400633
8.
Hicks, D. J. (2018, June 19). Kevin C. Elliott and Ted Richards, Exploring Inductive Risk. BJPS Review of Books. https://bjpsbooks.wordpress.com/2018/06/19/elliott-richards-exploring-inductive-risk
9.
Hicks, D., & Elliott, K. (2018). A Framework for Understanding Wishful Thinking. http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/14348/
10.
Hicks, D. (2017, December 18). The Underproduction of Philosophy PhDs. Daily Nous. http://dailynous.com/2017/12/18/underproduction-philosophy-phds-daniel-hicks/
11.
Hicks, D. J., & Millstein, R. L. (2016). GMOs: Non-health Issues. In P. B. Thompson & D. M. Kaplan (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics (pp. 1–11). Springer Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6167-4_545-1
12.
Hicks, D. J. (2015). Myles Jackson, The Genealogy of a Gene. Monash Bioethics Review, 34, 88–91. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40592-015-0043-x
13.
Hicks, D. (2013). Paul Pojman (ed): Food ethics, Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, Boston, Massachusetts, 2012, 199 pp, ISBN 9781111772307 David Kaplan (ed): The philosophy of food, University of California Press, Berkeley, California, 2012, 320 pp, ISBN 9780520269330. Agriculture and Human Values, 30(4), 657–658. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-013-9468-0
14.
Hicks, D. J. (2012). Scientific Practices and Their Social Context. U. of Notre Dame.

General interest publications

1.
Hicks, D. (2021). Comment on Mills, ’Unmasking Scientific Expertise’. Issues in Science and Technology, 38. https://issues.org/veneer-objectivity-unmasking-expertise-mills-forum/
2.
Hicks, D. J. (2017, January). Scientific Controversies as Proxy Politics. Issues in Science and Technology, 33, 67–72. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24891967
3.
Hicks, D. J. (2013). If You Can’t Beat ’Em, Eat ’Em! Edible Michiana.
4.
The WaPo Blow-Up And the Ongoing Riddle of Newspaper Decline. (n.d.). TPM – Talking Points Memo. Retrieved June 6, 2024, from https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/the-wapo-blow-up-and-the-on-going-riddle-of-newspaper-decline

Scholarly talks

April 2024 Dewey Center, Southern Illinois State University Carbondale Defusing the Democracy Defense: Scientists as Epistemic Representatives (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tKTnaKNt0Y)

  • Invited

May 2024 Knowledge, Science, and Society Developing a Values in Science Scale (VISS) (UC San Diego)

May 2023 11th Values in Medicine, Science, and Technology Conference Anarchism, Cynicism, and Public Critique of Science (UT Dallas)

  • Invited

November 2022 Philosophy of Science Association (2022 Biennial Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA)

  • Symposium organizer: Race, Science, and Race Science
    Presentation (with Emilio Lobato): Mainstreaming Race Science

May 2022 Conference on Values in Medicine, Science, and Technology Developing Measures of Public Perceptions of Values in Science (UT Dallas)

April 2022 Center for Values in Medicine, Science, and Technology The Crisis of Trust in Science, and Other Myths (UT Dallas)

  • Invited

April 2022 Values in Science and Political Philosophy Developing Measures of Public Perceptions of Values in Science (Claremont McKenna College)

November 2021 Philosophy of Science Association Critical Theory for Science (2020/21 Meeting, Baltimore, MD)

  • Symposium: Science and Justice

March 2021 Digital Studies of Digital Science (DS²) Open science can’t solve the replication crisis (UCLouvain)

July 2020 Consortium for Socially Relevant Philosophy of/in Science and Engineering (2020 Conference, East Lansing, MI)

  • Individual Presentation: When Virtues are Vices: The Weaponization of Epistemic Values
    Panelist: Philosophy of Science Of/In Artificial Intelligence
    Conference cancelled due to Covid-19

May 2020 Symposium on Values in Medicine, Science, and Technology When Virtues are Vices: “Anti-Science” Epistemic Values in Environmental Politics (UT Dallas)

May 2020 10th Annual Conference on Values in Medicine, Science, and Technology (title TBD) (UT Dallas)

  • Invited
    Conference cancelled due to Covid-19

May 2020 Workshop on Public Engagement and Philosophy of Science (Center for Public Engagement with Science, University of Cincinatti)

  • Working Group Leader: Science Communication

April 2020 Doing Science in a Pluralistic Society When Virtues are Vices: The Weaponization of Scientific Norms (University of Dayton)

May 2019 2019 Conference on Values in Medicine, Science, and Technology Recruiting Underrepresented Groups in Philosophy (University of Texas at Dallas)

February 2019 University of California, Merced Explainable Machine Learning: An Integrated Epistemic-Ethical Analysis (Department of Cognitive and Information Sciences)

  • Invited

January 2019 University of Oregon Explainable Machine Learning: An Integrated Epistemic-Ethical Analysis (Department of Philosophy)

  • Invited

November 2018 Philosophy of Science Association (2018 Biennial Meeting, Seattle, WA)

  • Symposium co-organizer (with Maya Goldenberg): Trust and the Feminist Politics of Science
    Individual presentation: Why Baier? Feminism, Trust, and Power
    Poster (with Evelyn Brister): Contributions of Women to Twentieth Century Philosophy of Science

August 2018 Association for Feminist Epistemologies, Methodologies, Metaphysics, and Science Studies Contributions of Women to Philosophy of Science (FEMMSS 7, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR)

  • With Evelyn Brister

June 2018 AAAS Pacific Division Weaponized Virtues and Deregulatory “Anti-Science” (2018 Annual Meeting, Pasadena, CA)

June 2018 Consortium for Socially Relevant Philosophy of/in Science and Engineering The Triple Movement of Research Metrics (Fourth Annual Conference, Atlanta, GA)

May 2018 2018 Conference on Values in Medicine, Science, and Technology The Triple Movement of Research Metrics (University of Texas at Dallas)

April 2018 Science, Technology, and the Good Life Toleration, Dangerous Research, and the Goods of Scientific Conflict (University of Notre Dame)

  • Invited

May 2017 2017 Conference on Values in Medicine, Science, and Technology The Safety Argument for Autonomous Vehicles (University of Texas at Dallas)

February 2017 University of Florida Explainable Artificial Intelligence: A Coupled Epistemic-Ethical Analysis ()

  • Invited

November 2016 Philosophy of Science Association (2016 Biennial Meeting, Atlanta, GA)

  • Session organizer: “Science, Values, and Wishful Thinking”
    Presentation (with Kevin Elliott): Political Dimensions of Wishful Thinking

October 2016 Association for Feminist Epistemologies, Methodologies, Metaphysics, and Science Studies Does this study make me look fat? A critical examination of BMI categories, research, and public perception of weight (FEMMSS 6, University of Notre Dame)

  • With Catherine Womack

June 2016 Fifth Summer Symposium on Science Communication Democracy, Inclusion, and Bad Actors (Iowa State University)

May 2016 Consortium for Social Relevant Philosophy of/in Science and Engineering (Third Annual Conference, University of Texas at Dallas)

  • Workshop organizer: Consultant, Clinician, Wonk, Philosopher: Non-Academic Careers for Philosophers
    Individual presentation: The Philosopher Bureaucrat’s Dilemma

February 2016 Kennedy Institute of Ethics Genetically Modified Crops, Inclusion, and Democracy ()

  • Invited

July 2015 International Society for the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology Feeding the World: Epistemically Significant Decisions in Statistical Modeling (2015 Meeting, Montréal, QC)

June 2015 Society for Philosophy of Science in Practice A Satanic Mill for Science? (Fifth Biennial Conference, Aarhus, DK)

May 2015 2015 Conference on Values in Medicine, Science, and Technology Communicative Democracy and the GM Crops Controversy (University of Texas at Dallas)

May 2015 Third Annual Workshop on Food Justice and Peace Communicative Democracy and the GM Crops Controversy (Michigan State University)

May 2015 Algorithms and Complexity in Mathematics, Epistemology and Science Statistical Practice as Model-Based Science (University of Western Ontario)

February 2015 Providence College The Epistemological Depth of a GM Crops Controversy ()

  • Invited

January 2015 California State University, Northridge The Epistemological Depth of a GM Crops Controversy ()

  • Invited

November 2014 History of Science Society Practices as a Framework for History and Social Science (2014 Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL)

November 2014 Philosophy of Science Association Genetically Modified Crops and the Underdetermination of Evidence by Epistemology (2014 Biennial Meeting, Chicago, IL)

August 2014 Science, Technology, and Gender: Challenges and Opportunities Do GMOs Increase Crop Yields? It Depends Who You Trust (Canadian Society for Women in Philosophy, University of Waterloo)

July 2014 North American Society for Social Philosophy Depoliticization and Genetically Modified Foods (31st International Social Philosophy Conference, Ashland, OR)

June 2014 Socially Relevant Philosophy of/in Science and Engineering (First Annual Conference, University of Waterloo)

  • Symposium organizer: Questioning the Neutrality of Science for Policy
    Presentation: Do GMOs Increase Crop Yields? It Depends Who You Trust

June 2014 Fourth Summer Symposium on Science Communication Do GMOs Increase Crop Yields? It Depends Who You Trust (Iowa State University)

May 2014 Canadian Philosophical Association Dual-Use Research and the Scientific Community (Congress 2014, Brock University)

  • With Charles Pence

May 2014 Science-Policy Interactions Do GMOs Increase Crop Yields? It Depends Who You Trust (University of Texas at Dallas)

February 2014 American Association for the Advancement of Science Why is the GMOf Debate so Intractable? (2014 Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL)

  • General Poster Session

October 2013 Association for Feminist Ethics and Social Theory On Okin’s Critique of Libertarianism (2013 Conference, Tempe, AZ)

May 2013 Third Summer Symposium on Science Communication The Two Dimensional Values Gap in the GMOf Controversy (Iowa State University)

April 2013 Food Justice and Peace Workshop Neoliberalism or Polis: The Politics of a Local Food Movement (Michigan State University)

March 2013 American Philosophical Association, Committee on the Teaching of Philosophy A Class on Philosophy and Food: Groping towards Service Learning for Philosophy of Science (Pacific Division Meeting, San Francisco, CA)

  • Session on Academic Service-Learning

March 2013 Public Philosophy Network A Class on Philosophy and Food: Groping towards Service Learning for Philosophy of Science (Advancing Public Philosophy Conference, Atlanta, GA)

December 2012 Departments of Philosophy and Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies Two Views of Scientific Practice (University of Connecticut)

July 2012 North American Society for Social Philosophy Rawls’s Rationalist Conception of Personhood (29th International Social Philosophy Conference, Northeastern University)

April 2012 Science-Policy Interactions Conference Two Conceptions of Scientific Practice (University of Texas at Dallas)

March 2012 University of Texas at Dallas Two Conceptions of Scientific Practice ()

  • Invited

December 2011 American Philosophical Association Rawls’s Rationalist Conception of Personhood (Eastern Division Meeting, Washington, DC)

April 2011 Science, Knowledge, and Democracy On the Ideal of Autonomous Science (Three Rivers Philosophy Conference 2011, University of South Carolina)

November 2010 Philosophy of Science Association On the Ideal of Autonomous Science (2010 Biennial Meeting, Montréal, QC)

May 2009 Science and Values: The Politicization of Science Is Longino’s Conception of Objectivity Feminist? (Zentrum für interdisziplinäre Forschung, Universität Bielefeld)

April 2009 International Association for Science, Technology, and Society The Value of Explanation (25th Annual Conference, Rochester, NY)

Public and cross-disciplinary talks

April 2024 HPS Podcast (https://www.hpsunimelb.org/the-hps-podcast/episode/7fae0eeb/s3-ep-4-dan-hicks-on-public-scientific-controversies)

  • Interview

February 2022 Sci Phi Podcast (https://sciphipod.org/podcast/2022/2/8/episode-73-dan-hicks)

  • Interview

April 2017 Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues Science, Policy, and Controversy: The Scylla of Scientism and the Charybdis of Alternative Facts (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9m4qvTrHBK0)

  • Invited public talk

January 2017 Arizona State University DC Center Confronting Scientific Controversies: Do Facts Matter? (http://cspo.org/event/cs012717/?mc_cid=449413048c&mc_eid=c7495401c5)

  • Invited public dialogue with science journalist Keith Kloor

September 2016 Hofstra University The Myth of Science-Based Policy ()

  • Invited public talk

November 2015 Society for the Social Studies of Science 6S [Student Section] Career Development Panel (Denver, CO)

  • Panelist

April 2015 Humanist Association of London and Area The GMO Controversy: Health, Safety, … and What Else? (London, Ontario)

  • Invited public talk

February 2014 ScienceNow Q&A: Why Are We Still Shouting about GMOs? (https://www.science.org/content/article/qa-why-are-we-still-shouting-about-gmos)

  • Interview

April 2013 Saint Mary’s College Local is Everywhere (Notre Dame, IN)

  • Invited public talk

Students and mentees

  • Emilio Lobato (UC Merced, Ph.D., co-advisor)
  • Daisy Underhill (UC Davis, Ph.D., prospectus committee member)
  • Aaron Chavez (UC Davis, Ph.D., prospectus committee member)
  • Dennis Perez (UC Merced, M.A., committee member)
  • Anthony Sainez (UC Merced, undergraduate, research supervisor)
  • Kaeda Sabrewing (UC Merced, undergraduate, research supervisor)
  • Rebecca Korf (UC Irvine, Ph.D., committee member)
  • Cosmo Campbell (UC Merced, undergraduate, research supervisor)
  • Joseph Dad (UC Merced, undergraduate, research supervisor)

I have also mentored graduate students through the Underrepresented Philosophy of Science Scholars (UPSS) initiative of the PSA.

  • Kino Zhao (UC Irvine, Ph.D.)
  • Michelle Pham (Univ. of Washington, 2020)

Service

2019- Curriculum Committee Departmental representative (CIS: 2019-2023; Philosophy: 2023-2024); Co-chair (2021-22); Chair (Fall 2022) (UC Merced SSHA)

2023 Workshop on Science, Values, and Policy Organizer (UC Merced)

2022-2023 Philosophy of Science Association Program committee member ()

2021-2023 Instructional Computing Committee Member (UC Merced CIS)

2020-2022 Faculty Advisory Committee on Sustainability (UC Merced)

2014-2022 Annual Values in Medicine, Science, and Technology Conferences Program committee member (2014-2016, 2018-2019, 2022); Drafter, Statement of Aims, Values, and Norms (2017); Ombud (2017-2019) (University of Texas at Dallas)

2018-~2020 Consortium for Socially Relevant Philosophy of/in Science and Engineering Board member and website maintainer ()

2018 FEMMSS 7 Ombud (Oregon State University)

2017 Showing Up for Racial Justice Deep Canvassing Project Co-lead, Script Team; Co-lead, Data and Analysis Team; Author, project theory of change (DC Chapter)

2013-2015 Science, Policy, and Philosophy Working Group Co-organizer (University of Western Ontario)

2012-2013 Purple Porch Co-op Member and secretary, Board of Directors; Chair, Membership Committee; Member, Community Relations Committee (South Bend, IN)

2012 Ethics Training Workshop for New Graduate Students Facilitator (University of Notre Dame)

2011, 2012 New T.A. Training Workshop Mentor (University of Notre Dame Department of Philosophy)