Heather Douglas (University of Waterloo) "THe Moral Terrain of Science"

 Abstract:

Most accounts of research ethics have two unfortunate characteristics: 1) the account of the responsibilities of scientists is a long list of various responsibilities, often with tensions among them, with little or no substantive guidance for how to consider such tensions (e.g. Resnick 1998, cha. 4, IoM/NRC 2002); and 2) the discussion of the responsibilities of scientist with respect to society is woefully thin and inadequate (as noted by Pimple 2002). This talk aims to correct both of these flaws by providing a more map of the moral terrain for scientists. Such a map reveals the complexity of the moral landscape in which scientists work, but also can provide clearer guidance for when some responsibilities trump other responsibilities. For example, it makes clearer what responsibilities scientist have to the general society in which they work, and thus what kind of limitations on doing science can legitimately arise from such responsibilities.