The ethics in science and technology is present at the same as in other areas that are developed in modern life. It is basically a normative (non-formal) science that deals with the norms of human behavior in society.
In addition, it is considered as a branch of philosophy that is related to the nature of moral judgment, since it analyzes what is correct or incorrect. On the other hand, ethics has a close relationship with morality, and although they have the same essence, they are different.
Ethics, for its part, is the set of norms that come from the inside, they are personal norms, while morality are those norms that come from the outside, or rather from society.
Science and technology are not exempt from ethics. Although it is true that both fields have made great contributions to the benefit of society, the truth is that many times they end up being unethical.
And it is not that science and technology are harmful per se, because in fact they are not. The world is aware that advances in science and technology have vastly improved people's lives.
So can science and technology be immoral and unethical? Not at the beginning. At least according to Einstein, Poincaré and Russell, who have argued that science does not make value judgments from a moral or ethical point of view, since it only limits itself to reporting facts. The same conception could be applied to technology.
Thus, in general, the formal and natural sciences do not deal with values. Which means that both science and technology are ethically neutral.
It is for this reason that both disciplines can be used both to do good and to do evil. Or what is the same, to heal or to kill, to recover or to destroy, to give freedom or to enslave, etc.
It may also interest you: what is ethics for?
Ethical dilemmas in science and technology
With the advancement of science and technology in recent years, it is normal for ethical dilemmas to arise on a daily basis.
Despite the benefits that these fields have generated in human life, they cannot by themselves indicate what human beings should do. Which means that somehow disciplines are at the mercy of what man wants to do with them.
It is also important to note that although the scientific method tries to free itself from prejudices, the use that is given to science and technology has implications both in the environmental and social aspects.
The abuse in the use of these two fields has generated much destruction in its wake. The problem lies in the fact that the scientific-technological field tends to face the problems that it generates as if they were inevitable effects when they are not.
But when the catastrophic effects that science and technology have generated on the planet with the application of certain advances are taken into account, it becomes clear that there has not been an ethical component in it.
That is why it is stated that science and technology do not represent a problem per se. In other words, the disaster that they can cause has more to do with those who implement them.
For example, if it is well known that the radioactive waste generated by nuclear plants affects the health of individuals, why are solutions not implemented before using these harmful technologies?
Many times these health or ecological problems are fought with other technologies that are just as harmful to life. Or it even makes it look as if these consequences are inevitable when they really are not.
Moral agents
Natural disasters are the only problems that are truly unavoidable. When it comes to this type of problem, there are no moral agents that are responsible for the negative event.
However, in the case of negative effects caused by the use of science and technology, there are moral agents responsible for the damages. The problem is that nobody assumes ethical responsibility for the damage caused by the premature implementation of certain technologies.
Science and technology are assigned a double role that is often contradictory.
On the one hand, they have been presented as indispensable fields for human survival, which will help people to have better control of their time, their intellectual capacities and in general their life.
But on the other hand, when observing science and technology in practice, it is possible to notice that both human survival and the life of the planet are being threatened by scientific and technological advances.
The biggest drawback regarding ethics in science and technology is in the way of understanding the negative causes generated by both disciplines. The damaging effects of science and technology are attributed to themselves and not to their promoters, which is as it should be.
By doing it in this way, people are exempted from being ethical regarding the application of certain technologies on the planet. Which in turn means that people, instead of appearing responsible for the disaster, present themselves as victims.
The truth is that the harmful effects that science and technology can generate can be prevented or avoided as long as there is a sense of ethics in those who apply them.
In this then lies the importance of developing a concept of ethics and morals among the scientists of this era.
References
- Lara, N. (1999). Technology and ethics. Technology: concepts, problems and perspectives. Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Sciences and Humanities. National Autonomous University of Mexico. Recovered from computo.ceiich.unam.mx.
- Schulz, P. (2005). Ethics in science. Iberoamerican Magazine of Polymers. Volume 6. Department of Chemistry. National University of the South, Bahía Blanca, Argentina. Recovered from ehu.eus.