Professional Documents
Culture Documents
A general reflection
First submitted on 12th of January 2011, adapted and extended on 27th of September 2015
Dr. Florian Neukart
Abstract
Ethics in science has not always been an issue for the
public or even scientists conducting research. In
former times, science was considered to be value-free
and a lot of research projects were conducted without
taking ethical aspects into consideration. At least
since was shown that scientific research does not
necessarily bear only good (i.e. the Manhatten
projects atomic bomb) the public not only began to
be interested in scientific methods and how results
are achieved, but also in the purpose of doubtful
projects. Since there is no blind trust in science any
longer and the one and only belief that science only
bears good is out dated, ethics in scientific research
is, in no case, de rigueur and has moreover become
something comparable to an instrument that
scientists can and have to use wisely in questionable
situations. One might argue that the reflection on
ethics is limited to researchers like physicians or
veterinarians as their actions directly affect living
beings. On closer examination the majority of
scientists work in several fields inflicts consequences
for third parties. Despite the generally admitted
position that ethics is inseparably bound to scientific
research, the science community still exhibits some
sort of incapability in dealing with ethically
significant situations.
I.
ETHICS IN SCIENCE
II.
REFERENCES
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
[5]
Clark, Ronald W. (1994): Einstein: The Life and Times; New York:
Avon; p. 247
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]
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