Transcript Ungewissheit als empirisches und normatives Problem in den

Some points to consider
Thomas Potthast
Interdepartmental Centre for Ethics in the
Sciences and Humanities (IZEW)
Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen
Workshop “Seeking an Agenda: Environmental
and technology ethics – Relevant research themes
ASFPG Hamburg, 27.-29. June 2005
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1 The Tübingen Program of “Ethik in den
Wissenschaften” and some problems
2 Precautionary Science and/vs Relativism
3 Epistemic-Moral Hybrids
4 Inclusive Environmental Ethics
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The Tübingen Program of
“Ethik in den Wissenschaften”
• ‘Ethik in den Wissenschaften’ relating to Sciences
and Humanities! However: Focus on biomedical and
environmental sciences for contingent reasons
• Discussing ethical issues of science and technology
already in the process of research, not only when it
comes to “application”
• Discussion among scientists and ethicists on
scientific and ethical and political issues of the
problem(s): Interdepartmental and interdisciplinary
• Ethicist are not the born experts for moral decisions
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The Tübingen Program of “Ethik in den
Wissenschaften” and some problems
• Driven by priority of sciences/ technology, not by societal
problems - “GMOs are the answer but what was the
question?” (Christine von Weizsäcker)
• Not possible asking the tough questions: Legitimacy of
whole fields of research (Agro-GM, Theology?)
• Priorities: First getting the facts straight (who decides?),
then doing an evaluation (by whom?)
• Explication of implicit values within science and technology
• Interdisciplinarity between participants and/or within one
researcher? => both needed
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Precautionary Sciences and/vs
Relativism
• Precautionary Principle as ethical, political and legal
principle, more than just heuristic of fear (Jonas)
• Multitudes of “uncertainties”, multitude of sciences
shaping background information of PP
=> New post-normal Expertocracy?
• How to deal with it in world not only of scientific
uncertainty but of plural moral norms
just returning to general prudence and thereby
loosing societal perspective of good life and justice
issues?
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Ambivalent structure of environmental
and technology ethics (and bioethics)
• Combining empirical scientific and moral Aspects –
as both cause and resolution/ remedy of a problem:
• New and old moral questions facing new
technologies/scientific practices (GMO, …)
• Scientific theories as background of moral
judgements and ethical theories (ecological nonequilibria; behavioural ecology; climate models, …)
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Epistemic-moral Hybrids
Specific Conjunction of:
• Scientific Concepts/Theories
• Scientific Practices
• Ethically normative Judgements
• Ethical Implications/Norms for Action
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Epistemic-moral Hybrids
• „Hybrid“ presupposes (analytically, ex post)
separable „original” tokens
• Not necessarily in the form of Is-ought or
Naturalistic Fallacy
• Not often in the form of hypothetical
sentences: „If E and N are given, then M
should be done“ as „mixed judgements”
• Often only implicit and application oriented
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Epistemic-moral Hybrids
Agenda:
• Explication of the implicit
• Transformation of fallacious judgements into
hypothetical „If E and N are given, then M
should be done“
• Analysing and critically evaluating different
ethos (ethoi?) and normative powers of the
context(s)
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Environmental Values: a conceptual
mess
• Inherent Value = Selbstwert = Member of moral
community:
=> Value lies within the object
(other terms: intrinsic value, Eigenwert)
• Intrinsic Value = (anthroporelational Value)
Eigenwert:
=> externally designated (by humans)
(other terms: extrinsic value, inherent value)
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Environmental Values: False alternatives
• Either Physiocentric
or
• Anthropocentric Value
as a false alternative
• Interaction between humans and nature as a valuegenerating process inclusing both
(cf. Friedrich Engels: Dialectic of Nature)
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Environmental Ethics: Beyond Axiology
• Value Theories pushing both deontological and
virtue ethics approaches on the side
• Deontological ethics: Precautionary principle,
environmental justice issues etc.
• Virtue Ethics: getting beyond only external
obligations, recognizing good life and
environment
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2 Zur Natur der Ungewissheit
Allgemein
• Abwesenheit der Möglichkeit „sicheren
Wissens“ im Sinne eines eindeutigen
Für-wahr-Haltens
• Bezug auf
- Vergangenes (Kausalerklärungen)
- Aktuelles (Geltung und Gültigkeit)
- Zukünftiges (Prognosen)
• Jeder Wahrscheinlichkeitswert p < 1
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2 Zur Natur der Ungewissheit
Ebenen der Ungewissheit
• Ontologische Ebene:
Kein Prozess in der Welt ist vollständig gewiss=
determiniert, Zukunft ist immer (auch) ungewiss
• Epistemologische Ebene:
Wissen kann – im Gegensatz zu Glaubenssätzen –
prinzipiell nicht gewiss sein, Erkenntnis ist fallibel
(Popper) bzw. historisch situiert (Adorno, Kuhn)
• Stochastische bzw. individuelle Ebene:
Selbst bei sicherem statistischem Wissen ist das
Einzelereignis ungewiss, z.B. radioaktiver Zerfall
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