Transcript Document

Daniel R. Vasgird, PhD
West Virginia University
Stephanie J. Bird, PhD
Science and Engineering Ethics
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Enhance human capabilities and
function, for example, by improving
health, productivity, and
relationships.
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Integrity in research practice and
socially responsible research are
two sides of the same coin
Microethics
Macroethics
“Good science” – can be a source
of misunderstanding
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The responsibility of scientists to
refrain from, and oppose, weapons
research and other scientific research
with potentially harmful consequences
for the environment, and for present
and future generations.
- Gustafsson et al. 1984
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Special knowledge
Funding
Work is done in the name
of society
Social contract
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Uphold the integrity of the profession
Uphold the ethical standards of society
Foreseeable consequences of their work
Employ special knowledge re
 limitations
 misuse or abuse of work
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Oppose misuse or abuse of science
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“have the ability to gather and interpret
relevant data…to inform judgments that
include reflection on relevant social, scientific
or ethical issues.”
 “have the ability to integrate knowledge…
and formulae judgments…that include
reflecting on social and ethical responsibilities
linked to the application of their knowledge
and judgements.”
 Contribute to creation of informed citizenry
 “Big picture” is necessary but not sufficient
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capacity for hope is the most
significant fact of life. It provides
human beings with a sense of
destination, and the energy to get
started.
Norman Cousins, American journalist
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A member of the Positive Psychology family
which can be described as “the scientific study
of what makes life most worth living. It is a call
for psychological science and practice to be as
concerned with strength as with weakness; as
interested in building the best things in life as in
repairing the worst; and as concerned with
making the lives of normal people fulfilling as
with healing pathology”. C. Peterson, OHPP, 2008.
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Put simply, based on Charles Snyder’s
Hope Theory, hope involves the will to get
there, and different ways to get there.
Hope is not just a feel-good emotion, but a
dynamic cognitive motivational system.
People with hope have will, pathways &
strategies necessary to achieve goals.
Science is on the side of hope.
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Hope Theory argues that there are three main factors
that make up hopeful thinking:
1. Goals – Approaching life in a goal-oriented way.
2. Pathways – Finding different ways to achieve your
goals.
3. Agency – Believing that you can instigate change
and achieve these goals.
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Hopeful thinkers are people who are able to establish
clear goals, imagine multiple workable pathways
toward those goals, and persevere, even when
obstacles get in their way.
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Science and the global public can be seen in a contract
relationship.
 Humans for the most part are restless seekers, and scientists are
their trailblazers.
 Research generally flourishes when the public which supports it
and ultimately makes use of its products has high regard for its
ways and means.
 The global public bestows on science the pathway responsibility
for hope as it relates to the extended future.
 Therefore, every effort must be made to bolster the invaluable
commodities of respect, truth, and trust as they relate to
science.
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Hope Theory helps to explain the importance of
social responsibility in science.
Understanding the importance of hope to the
human condition and how important science is
to enhancing feelings of hope should lead
scientists to 2 primary conclusions:
 The practice of science must be done with integrity;
 Scientists should be proactive in communicating
about the relationship of their disciplines’ products to
positive human social evolution.
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Worldwide, respondents to the Science
& Society survey overwhelmingly
agreed that scientists are more
trustworthy than other public figures
and that investment in science is the
key to future well-being and economic
growth.
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 Overall,
most Americans feel
long-term optimism that the
scientific developments of the
coming half-century will have a
net positive impact on society.
- National survey by the Pew Research Center and the
Smithsonian, 2014
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