Intro -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- I: IGNORANCE: A NEW FOCUS OF INQUIRY -- 1: Introducing the Issues -- 1. Agnotology: The Study of Ignorance as Socially Constructed -- 2. The Relation between Agnotology and Philosophy -- 3. Ignorance as Bliss -- 4. Ignorance as Passive Construction -- 5. A Preview of What Is to Come -- 6. The Role of Philosophy in Exploring Agnotology -- References -- 2: Agnotology in Action: A Dialogue -- 1. Ignorance as a Topic of Investigation -- 2. The Ignorance Produced by Industrial Science -- 3. Ignorance as a By-product of the Media and Publishing

4. The Ignorance Produced by Governments -- 5. Virtuous Ignorance -- 6. Final Thoughts -- References -- II: IGNORANCE AS ACTIVE CONSTRUCTION -- For Harmful Ends -- 3: Agnotological Challenges: How to Capture the Production of Ignorance in Science -- 1. Agnotology and Scientific Method -- 2. Characterizing Agnotological Maneuvers -- 3. The Impact-Centered Approach: Agnotology as the Shift of Inductive Risks -- 4. Agnotology and False Advertising -- 5. Generalizing the False Advertising Account -- 6. Identifying and Coping with Agnotological Machinations -- 7. Conclusion -- References

4: Can We Sustain Democracy and the Planet Too? -- 1. Introduction -- 2. The Climate Consensus -- 3. Failure to Act -- 4. Conceptions of Democracy -- 5. Free Debate and the Millian Arena -- 6. It Gets Worse -- 7. Hope? -- References -- For Virtuous Ends -- 5: Might Scientific Ignorance Be Virtuous? The Case of Cognitive Differences Research -- 1. The Right to Freedom of Scientific Research -- 2. A Case Study: The Right to Equality versus the Right to Freedom of Research -- 3. Past Precedents -- 4. The Third Precedent -- 5. How Much Freedom Do Scientists Really Need or Deserve? -- References

6: Agnotology, Hermeneutical Injustice, and Scientific Pluralism: The Case of Asperger Syndrome -- 1. The Canonical Examples -- 2. The Case of Asperger Syndrome -- 3. Pluralism -- 4. Is the Case of Asperger Syndrome Unusual? -- References -- III: IGNORANCE AS PASSIVE CONSTRUCTION -- Focus-Generated Ignorance -- 7: How the Law Promotes Ignorance: The Case of Industrial Chemicals and Their Risks -- 1. Hypothetical Story of an Industrial Chemical: Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers -- 2. Laws Governing Chemical Creations -- 3. Back to PBDE Flame Retardants -- 4. Agnotology

5. The Failed Promise of Quick Risk Assessments -- 6. Reenter Agnotology -- 7. Overcoming Ignorance about Toxicants and a Way Forward -- References -- Framework-Centered Ignorance -- 8: On Knowing What One Does Not Know: Ignorance and the Aims of Research -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Conscious Ignorance -- 3. Conditions of Conscious Ignorance -- 4. Wilholt, Philosopher of Great Ignorance -- 5. Bromberger, Great Philosopher of Ignorance -- 6. Beyond Normal: Kinds of Opaque Ignorance -- 7. Ignorance: A Construction Manual -- References -- 9: Strong Incommensurability and Deeply Opaque Ignorance

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An introduction to the new area of ignorance studies that examines how science produces ignorance--both actively and passively, intentionally and unintentionally. We may think of science as our foremost producer of knowledge, but for the past decade, science has also been studied as an important source of ignorance. The historian of science Robert Proctor has coined the term agnotology to refer to the study of ignorance, and much of the ignorance studied in this new area is produced by science. Whether an active or passive construct, intended or unintended, this ignorance is, in Proctor's words, "made, maintained, and manipulated" by science. This volume examines forms of scientific ignorance and their consequences. A dialogue between Proctor and Peter Galison offers historical context, presenting the concerns and motivations of pioneers in the field. Essays by leading historians and philosophers of science examine the active construction of ignorance by biased design and interpretation of experiments and empirical studies, as seen in the "false advertising" by climate change deniers; the "virtuous" construction of ignorance--for example, by curtailing research on race- and gender-related cognitive differences; and ignorance as the unintended by-product of choices made in the research process, when rules, incentives, and methods encourage an emphasis on the beneficial and commercial effects of industrial chemicals, and when certain concepts and even certain groups' interests are inaccessible in a given conceptual framework.

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