science and ethicsThursday, March 08, 2007
What do you understand by the term, ethic? Is it merely just a complex philosophical term that seems irrelevant in your mundane life or have you encountered such a term before? Most people would give the common answer that ethic is all about good and evil or right and wrong. Less people would delve into the relatively unknown realms of meta-ethics and its analysis, which would totally sweep me off my feet.
In any case, the topic of discussion here is about ethic and science, or rather ethic and knowledge acquiring. In the modern world today, where acquiring knowledge is intensive, important and integral to the progress of our society, the line between ethic and knowledge acquiring is often blurred. Take the example of
The Stanford Prison Experiment. In a quest to gain knowledge about the psychology of prison, a real-life stimulation was carried out to observe the struggle between the prisoners(powerless) and the guards(empowered). During this experimental process, it appears that ethic was sacrificed in order to obtain greater knowledge.
When is it necessary to make such a bold sacrifice and can this sacrifice ever be justified? I do acknowledge the value of the knowledge gain in the field of study, but the violation of human rights in this case offsets the gain in knowledge. Yes, avid supporters could argue on the side of utilitarian theory, since this knowledge gain could potentially benefit a large population with its adverse effects concentrated on a small group of victims. Yet, the distress and impacts on the participants are painstakingly obvious for all to notice and we can only blame this on our innate curiosity.
The desire for perfect knowledge, to satisfy all our doubts, and to gain supremacy is driving us into a perverse obsession. We need to stop dead in our tracks, and critically reflect on our actions before this impulsive drive for knowledge brings us all the way to a point of no return. By then, it would already to be too late to spare a thought for ethic, which seems so idealistic.
