John Evans

John Evans is the Tata Chancellor’s Chair in Social Sciences, Professor of Sociology, Associate Dean of the Social Sciences and Co-Director of the Institute for Practical Ethics at the University of California, San Diego.

He has focused his research on a number of overlapping areas, all of which concern the foundational humanistic questions behind scientific and technological development. He is an expert on the ethics of human gene editing, and more generally in the ethics of science and technology Following this research interest he co-directs the Institute for Practical Ethics at UC, San Diego. He is also a leader in the sociological study of the relationship between religion and science, an area in which he co-leads a small scholarly network and a 2.9 million dollar re-granting project. A number of his research projects are sociological studies of the public’s views of the foundational questions in technology such as “what is a human?” and “what is enhancement?” He has a long time interest and expertise in explaining the forms of argument that are dominant in the field now called bioethics. His most recent book is The Human Gene Editing Debate (2020).