Less than 500 years ago, science was a dangerous business. In 1600, the Italian monk Giordano Bruno was sentenced to death and burned at the stake because he believed in free-thinking in philosophy and science. Galileo Galilei narrowly avoided the same fate but only by publicly renouncing his support of Copernicus’ heliocentric view. Of course, the days of autodafés are over and modern science has an important influence on the development of society as a whole, compared with the days of the ill-fated Bruno. But while scientific progress has been rapid and astonishing, it is still disturbing for those people who feel excluded from the debate surrounding the application of science in new technologies and products. Furthermore, as scientific progress becomes increasingly fundamental to society, it is constantly challenging if not completely clashing with long-held beliefs concerning our ethical values. It is, therefore, necessary to conduct ethical discussions in order to adapt the use of scientific knowledge—namely new forms of technology—to a general context that is in agreement with the basic principles of our civilization. Scientists should be concerned about the use of scientific knowledge and they should address the ensuing ethical questions, both in general terms and in terms of their own work.
Indeed, discussions about the ethical foundations of society and their re-interpretation usually take place when traditional customs or behaviours are challenged by new developments. In a static society, values are well codified, usually by religion or by tradition. This is true for numerous ancient societies, which remained unchanged for centuries. But wars, invasions or a new culture or religion usually prompt the evaluation of the traditional values. For instance, the French and Russian revolutions in Europe as well as colonialism on other continents effectively upset and irrevocably changed society’s traditional values to varying degrees. Later in the 20th century, the creation of new technologies through scientific progress had a profound effect on society, public opinion and our way of life and has thus sparked discussion on how to use this knowledge. In the 1950s and 1960s, ethical discussions dealt mainly with the use of physics and engineering for the construction of new weapons. In the 1970s and 1980s, the focus was on environmental problems. Today, most ethical discussions deal with the progress in biology and its consequences for society.
Scientific progress, the driving force for the majority of the changes witnessed in the 20th century, requires a critical mind, free of prejudice and open to new ways of thinking. The rapid development of modern science since the Renaissance is due mainly to the postulate that scientific theories should be independent of theological or religious beliefs. In the 17th and 18th centuries, knowledge was mainly exchanged through scientific academies which disseminated new theories and thus accelerated scientific progress. At the beginning of the 19th century, there was a remarkable rise in academic research at universities, also labelled ‘pure’ research. Scientists were not interested in practicalities and were not concerned with the technological applications of the results of their endeavours. They proclaimed the neutrality of science, stating that the advancement of knowledge could not be considered good or bad. In this context, science was not responsible for its applications, and even less for their subsequent use.
Industrial research, on the other hand, was radically different. Although based on the same knowledge, it had completely different aims and rules. Results were not owned by scientists but were the property of the industries financing the research. The aim was not to acquire new knowledge but to invent new products in order to increase profits. Ethical problems were considered to be the responsibility of the company and not of the scientists.
As a result, discussions concerning ethical problems were more or less absent from both realms. In academia, scientists were indifferent to the possible consequences of their work and in industry, employers did not consider it appropriate for scientists to worry about ethical problems. Of course, this description of academic and industrial research is schematic and does not truly represent the real world. Nevertheless, it still exists and sways the minds of those who have the greatest influence on our contemporary scientific culture.
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov