ABSTRACT
Particle physicists must decide how much evidence to collect before announcing the discovery of a new particle like the Higgs Boson, balancing reasonable caution about premature or erroneous discovery claims against the value of a successful discovery claim. The value-ladenness of science is unavoidable. The closest scientists can get to doing work that is value free is to either ignore the consequences of their work, or to do work that has few consequences for things that care about. Far from realizing a scientific ideal, both of these approaches amount to massive irresponsibility on the part of the scientists. One might be tempted to think that “objectivity” is a merely honorific term, an “empty compliment” paid to good ideas or procedures. Another way to put it is that “objectivity” serves the rhetorical purpose of lumping together a variety of virtues for scientific theories, ideas, methods, or techniques. “Objective” is just a highfalutin way of saying that something is epistemically good.
