Juan Larraín
Full Professor, joint appointment with the Faculty of Biological Sciences UC and the Institute of Applied Ethics
Education
Juan Larraín is Director of the Institute of Applied Ethics UC. He is a biochemist (1993) and holds a PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology (1998) from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship in developmental biology at the University of California, Los Angeles (1998–2002). He also holds a Master’s degree in Philosophy, Science and Religion from the University of Edinburgh and a Master’s in Philosophy from the Universidad Austral de Argentina. He served as Vice-Rector for Research (2010–2015) and Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs (2015–2020) at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.
Research
He is currently pursuing two lines of research in applied ethics. In the area of animal ethics, he is developing an interdisciplinary project aimed at examining the contribution of cognitive sciences and ethology to defining our relationship with non-human animals. His second line of work is related to the philosophy and ethics of science, examining in particular how virtue epistemology can contribute to the development of a research ethics.
Experience in Applied Ethics
Actualmente está trabajando en dos líneas de investigación en el área de las éticas aplicadas. Por una parte, en el área de la ética animal, está desarrollando un proyecto interdisciplinario que tiene por objetivo estudiar el aporte de las ciencias cognitivas y la etología en la definición de nuestra relación con los animales no humanos. Su segunda línea de trabajo está relacionada con la filosofía y ética de la ciencia, en particular viendo cómo una epistemología de la virtud puede contribuir al desarrollo de una ética de la investigación.
Publications
- Larraín, J. (2024). “Integrity and Ethics in Research: A Challenge for Universities.” In Ideas en Educación IV: Impact and Consequences of Changes in Education. Ed. I. Sánchez D. Ediciones UC, pp. 587–611. [Full chapter]
- Larraín, J. (2024). “Should We Believe in Cells, or Just Remain Agnostic about Them? A Critical Analysis through Bas van Fraassen’s Lenses.” Principia, 28: 247–264. (Q2)
- Larraín, J. (2024). “Exploration and Perspectival Modelling with Model Organisms: Developmental Biology as a Case Study.” Biology & Philosophy, 39: 24. (Q1)
- Larraín, J. (2024). “Corruption: The Boundaries of Ethics and Trust.” Revista Universitaria, 175: 47–51.
- Larraín, J. (2024). “Trust and the Ethics of Care for Good Coexistence.” Humanitas, 106: 78–87.
- Larraín, J. & Franck, J.F. (2021). “Second-Person Perspective and Rationality in Moral Decisions: Scientific Evidence and the Limits of Emotivism.” Philosophia, 81: 39–71. (Latindex)
- Larraín, J. (2021). “Causality and Contingency in Saint Thomas Aquinas: A Proposal for Consonance Between Divine Action and Evolution.” Humanitas, 98: 618–631.
