The Values of Scientists and Technologists
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Transcript The Values of Scientists and Technologists
The Values of Scientists and
Technologists
How and Why
Philosophy and theology = knowing why
(purpose). The study of purpose in
philosophy is called teleology.
Science = knowing why (causes of events)
= knowing how (mechanisms)
Technology = knowing how (to do things)
Science and Technology can exist
separate from one another
• Until the Renaissance, almost all
technology was divorced from science
• Ancient Greeks did science without
applying it to technology
• Modern “pure research” may not have any
immediate application to technology
Scientists and Technologists have
all the value drives of normal
human beings
Some Values of Scientists
Autonomy
Being allowed to work in science
Freedom to Choose Research
"Ethical Neutrality" - findings should not be
tailored to fit a particular value system
This is anything but an ethically neutral
position!
Some Values of Scientists
Intellectual Integrity and Methodology
Confirmation, repeatability
Reduction, isolation, superposition,
idealization
Conceptual precision
Symbolic thinking, mathematics, analogy
Empiricism, positivism
Caution about claims of absolute truth
Some Values of Scientists
Esthetics
Ingenuity, conciseness, elegance
Value of past achievements of science
Value of facts per se
Some Values of Scientists
Social Interactions as Scientists
Chance to contribute, prestige, relevance
Scientists invest time the way financiers invest
money--for return.
Professional ethics
Acknowledge work of others
Courtesy even in controversy or dispute
Faking results, if exposed, will usually wreck a
career - but "fudging” happens
Some Values of Technologists
For the most part, technologists and
scientists share many core values.
Ingenuity
Sometimes fascination with complexity or
bigness for its own sake
Sometimes an inferiority complex with
regard to science
Technical competence
Professional advancement
Reductionism
• Treat Components of Problem in Isolation
• Reduce Scope of Problem to More
Manageable Level
• Reduce the Number of Variables
• Restrict Concern to Scientific or Technical
Issues
Reductionism: Restrict Concern
to Scientific or Technical Issues
• Scientists can sometimes let
fascination override other
considerations
• Scientists can seek refuge from moral
issues in abstract research
• Does technology create moral
problems or reveal them?
Values of Science and
Technology Change with Time
and Culture
Growth of "Big Science"
Growing dependence on government
support
Publish or perish
Grantsmanship
Science, Technology and the Public
• Feeling of impotence--technology out of
control
Cognitive dissonance--math and science
anxiety
The appeal of pseudoscience
Unreasonable expectations
Technology will bring the "good life"
We can make value decisions "scientifically"