Science Ethics

Mindfulness is a burgeoning field of study and practice within mental health care and medicine. Yet ethical codes, and the philosophy of the therapist-client relationship, differ greatly between disciplines, and even more between those disciplines and mindfulness-based approaches. The potential for ethical dilemmas is therefore significant.

The book breaks new ground by taking a focused look at an ethics derived from contemporary clinical mindfulness practice itself. What does a secular ethics of mindfulness look like? Who is competent to work therapeutically with mindfulness, and how does one delimit areas and levels of competence? How do clinicians ethically understand the therapist-client relationship from the therapeutic position of mindfulness? And how do clinicians respond when the necessary restraints of their professional role and ethics code come into conflict with the mindfulness-based relationship and therapeutic position?

This book makes a vital contribution to the understanding of ethics as the cornerstone of mindfulness-based practice, and will be of interest to all those involved in delivering mindfulness-based interventions, including psychologists, counselors, spiritual directors, occupational therapists, physicians, nurses, and educators.

This presentation was delivered at the First Annual Conference on the Governance of Emerging Technology organized by the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at Arizona State University. The presentation makes a case for extending rights to artificial autonomous agents, AIs, and robots. It is based on research published in "The Machine Question: Critical Perspectives on AI, Robots, and Ethics" (MIT 2012).

English Abstract: "Current status of ethical discussions surrounding synthetic biology" (chapter 7; Johannes Achatz, Martin O’Malley, Peter Kunzmann)
In their contribution, Johannes Achatz, Martin O’Malley and Peter Kunzmann describe the areas of ongoing conflict in synthetic biology that are worthy of concrete ethical consideration. So just what is new in terms of the ethical challenges facing synthetic biology? Firstly, an epistemic interest in the function and standardising of biological components and systems, whose ultimate goal is to duplicate and redesign any step that further propels synthetic biology in the direction of engineering science, as well as to integrate other ancillary sciences ranging from computer science to medicine. It follows that any creation of new forms of life and new applications, if successful, would no longer be subject to concrete gene technology regulations. Governments have assumed a hopeful wait-and-see stance in this regard, but are also monitoring developments in the field of synthetic biology, as in the case in Germany with its Central Committee on Biological Safety of the Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety. Secondly, the open nature of synthetic biology and numerous laypersons conducting research in private are indeed remarkable innovations. Both represent opportunities for free and transparent science endeavours, but also entail the risk of abuse. The opportunities and risks associated with these new technologies include issues of biosafety, biosecurity, and maintaining equitable access to new scientific knowledge and related economic benefits. Thirdly, the two intuitive approaches of “bioconservatism” and “bioliberalism” can be distinguished as the most extreme positions. In the context of the ongoing transformation of bioscience into synthetic biology, there are factions that either reject such developments outright or that embrace them with open arms, with the standpoints of the various interest groups falling within these two poles. Both are incompatible positions. Nevertheless, they remain the core elements of any assessment of philosophical concept- of-life questions and endeavours to ensure the equitable distribution of both the benefits and disadvantages of synthetic biology; they are also the key points for discussions on such issues as the patentability of forms of life. Fourthly, the descriptions and assessments of synthetic biology are still in the framing stage, with the various actors determined to gain interpretational sovereignty over this new research field. The same points cited above in “Thirdly” are also the focus of the necessary social process of delineating a framework for this new research and application area of synthetic biology. In order to properly face the ethical challenges posed in these early stages of synthetic biology, it is recommended that all the different interest groups be taken into account and that a minimum of transparency be established, which will give both opponents and supporters an exact picture of the actual state of research. It is also recommended that the standpoints of the involved interest groups be fully documented, for instance through suitable discursive measures, before agreeing to any restrictive regulations for  synthetic biology. In this way it can be ensured that the promising prospects of synthetic biology are implemented safely and that the related advantages and disadvantages are well understood by the general public."

There are few issues more emotional and divisive than what has become known as “the right to die.” One camp advocates the “death with dignity” approach, according to which the patient is an autonomous being who can form his or her own judgment on the timing and process of dying. The other camp advocates the sanctity of life approach, in which life is intrinsically valuable and should be sustained as long as possible. Is
there a right answer?
    In The Right to Die With Dignity, Raphael Cohen-Almagor takes a balanced approach in analyzing this emotionally charged debate, viewing the dispute uniquely from public policy and international perspectives. This book offers an interdisciplinary, compelling study in medicine, law, religion and ethics. It is, arguably, the most comprehensive book yet to be written on the fascinating question of whether physician-assisted suicide should be allowed. Cohen-Almagor delineates the distinctions between active and passive euthanasia and discusses some of the legal measures that have been invoked in the United States and abroad. He outlines the reasons non-blood relatives should be given a role in deciding a patients’ last wishes. He examines euthanasia policies in the Netherlands and the 1994 Oregon Death with Dignity Act, suggesting improvements to each. Finally, he makes a circumscribed plea for voluntary physician-assisted suicide.

香港中文大學天主教研究中心本年度期刊將致力討論科學與信仰的關係，這亦是一個具爭議且棘手的議題。無容置疑，隨著科技進步，現代世界不斷改變，這議題十分重要。與此同時，不管好壞，宗教經常被新聞報導成為一個文化及社會上的主要勢力。科學與宗教曾經一度成為伴侶，現在他們卻被理解為經常在
道德以及意識形態層面上發生衝突的競爭者。
This year’s publication by the Centre for Catholic Studies at the Hong Kong Chinese University is dedicated to the thorny question of the relationship between science and faith. One cannot deny the importance of this very current topic, since the modern world is constantly changing as a result of the advances of science and technology. At the same time, for better or for worse, religion frequently appears in the news as a major force in culture and society. While science and religion were one-time partners, they are now perceived as competitors with frequent clashes at the ethical and ideological levels.

"The article includes a short reflection on the ethical aspects of cooperation between researchers and business owners in the context of the absorption of EU structural funds.
The result of the article are practical guidelines for such cooperation, based on a set of principles promoted by the Committee on Ethics in Science of the Polish Academy of Sciences."

This paper argues in favor of more widespread and systematic applications of a virtue-based normative framework to questions about the ethical impact of information technologies, and social networking technologies in particular. The first stage of the argument identifies several distinctive features of virtue ethics that make it uniquely suited to the domain of IT ethics, while remaining complementary to other normative approaches. I also note its potential to reconcile a number of significant methodological conflicts and debates in the existing literature, including tensions between phenomenological and constructivist perspectives. Finally, I claim that a virtue-based perspective is needed to correct for a strong utilitarian bias in the research methodologies of existing empirical studies on the social and ethical impact of IT. The second part of the paper offers an abbreviated demonstration of the merits of virtue ethics by showing how it might usefully illuminate the moral dimension of emerging social networking technologies. I focus here on the potential impact of such technologies on three virtues typically honed in communicative practices: patience, honesty and empathy.

In publication since 1906, the venerable American Men and Women of Science remains without peer as a chronicle of scientific endeavor and achievement ..." -- WorldTrade Review Essays 

"The Cadillac of scientific biography" -- Booklist. Selected for collections at Princeton, Harvard,  MIT,  JPL/ Caltech; the Wellcome Trust Collection, and more 

K. Lee Lerner has served on the Advisory Board for American Men and Women of Science for the last 20 editions (21st through 40th edition;  2003-0222),  He is currently working as an advisor for the 41st edition due to be published in 2023.

First published as American Men of Science by J. McKeen Cattell in 1906, throughout its 116 year history American Men and Women of Science has recognized both men and women scientists who have made significant contributions in their field.  In 1971, the name of the series was changed to American Men and Women of Science.

American Men and Women of Science includes scientists selected for their contributions to science as measured by their publications in reputable scientific journals and media. Also included are those whose work cannot be published due to governmental or industrial security. Inclusion criteria include awards, grants and other forms of recognition, publication record, attainment of a position of substantial scientific responsibility, and nomination by peers in their respective fields. Scientists who are not citizens of the United States or Canada are included if a significant portion of their work was performed in North America.

"Lace-making" and issuization of vivisection in Lewis Carroll's and Henry Holiday's "The Hunting of the Snark". --- Appendix: Lewis Carroll, “Some Popular Fallacies About Vivisection”, Fortnightly Review 17 (1875 Jun), 847-854

See also:
The 1875 antivivisection controversy in https://www.academia.edu/4707358/Dog_fight_Darwin_as_animal_advocate_in_the_antivivisection_controversy_of_1875

Changes:
2015-04-03: I added the titles of two more publications on vivisection by C. L. Dodgson (published under the name "Lewis Carroll") to the article.
2015-05-31: Changes on page 2 (links, shorter conclusion). I added exerpts from "THE LIFE AND LETTERS OF CHARLES DARWIN" (Volume II, By Charles Darwin, http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2088/2088-h/2088-h.htm) to the article.
2015-06-08: Small inventory on the 1st page.
2015-06-14: Layout changes in Darwin's letters on vivisection. Link added: https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/advanced-search#type=letters&keyword=vivisection

2015-06-21: 1874 (instead of 1974)

2016-01-11: Correction of item 1 in Lewis Carroll's "Fallacies..." (page 4)

The Schön misconduct case has been widely publicized in the media and has sparked intense discussions within and outside the scientific community about general issues of science ethics. This paper analyses the Report of the official
Committee charged with the investigation in order to show that what at first seems to be a quite uncontroversial case, turns out to be an accumulation of many interesting
and non-trivial questions (of both ethical and philosophical interest). In particular, the paper intends to show that daily scientific practices are structurally permeated by
chronic problems; this has serious consequences for how practicing scientists assess their work in general, and scientific misconduct in particular. A philosophical
approach is proposed that sees scientific method and scientific ethics as inextricably interwoven. Furthermore, the paper intends to show that the definition of coauthorship
that the members of the Committee use, although perhaps clear in theory, proves highly problematic in practice and raises more questions that it answers. A
final plea is made for a more self-reflecting attitude of scientists as far as the moral and methodological profile of science is concerned as a key element for improving not
only their scientific achievements, but also their assessment of problematic cases.

Since its first publication in 1818, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus has transcended genres and cultures to become a foundational myth about science and technology across a multitude of media forms and adaptations. Following in the footsteps of the brilliant yet troubled Victor Frankenstein, professionals and practitioners have been debating the scientific ethics of creating life for decades, never before have powerful tools for doing so been so widely available. This paper investigates how engaging with the Frankenstein myth may help scientists gain a more accurate understanding of their own beliefs and opinions about the social and ethical aspects of their profession and their work. The paper presents findings from phenomenological interviews with twelve scientists working on biotechnology, robotics, or artificial intelligence projects. The results suggest that the Frankenstein myth, and the figure of Victor Frankenstein in particular, establishes norms for scientists about what is considered unethical and dangerous in scientific work. The Frankenstein myth both serves as a social and ethical reference for scientists and a mediator between scientists and the society. Grappling with the cultural ubiquity of the Frankenstein myth prepares scientists to face their ethical dilemmas and create a more transparent research agenda. Meanwhile, by focusing on the differences between real scientists and the imaginary figure of Victor Frankenstein, scientists may avoid being labeled as dangerous individuals, and could better conceptualize the potential societal and ethical perceptions and implications of their research. 2

Ethics have received increased attention from the media and academia in recent years. Most reports suggest that one form of unethical conduct – plagiarism – is on the rise in the business schools. Stereotypes of Asian students as being more prone to plagiarize are frequently found in the literature, though not concretely substantiated. This study used a behavioral criterion to examine the relationships among ethnicity, acculturation, and plagiarism in a sample of 158 undergraduate and graduate students. Significant differences in plagiarism behavior were found based on level of student acculturation, but not ethnicity. Considerations and implications for training and managing international students and workers are discussed.

The concept of distributed moral responsibility (DMR) has a long history. When it is understood as being entirely reducible to the sum of (some) human, individual, and already morally loaded actions, then the allocation of DMR, and hence of praise and reward or blame and punishment, may be pragmatically difficult, but not conceptually problematic. However, in distributed environments it is increasingly possible that a network of agents, some human, some artificial (e.g. a program) and some hybrid (e.g. a group of people working as a team thanks to a software platform) may cause distributed moral actions (DMAs). These are morally good or evil (i.e., morally loaded) actions caused by local interactions that are in themselves neither good nor evil (morally neutral). In this article, I analyse DMRs that are due to DMAs and argue in favour of the allocation, by default and overridably, of full moral responsibility (faultless responsibility) to all the nodes/agents in the network causally relevant for bringing about the DMA in question, independently of intentionality. The mechanism proposed is inspired by, and adapts, three concepts: back propagation from network theory, strict liability from jurisprudence, and common knowledge from epistemic logic.

Do we have Moral Obligation toward Future Generations?
Modern technology brought us not to the end but to the edge of our fate and unless we have a
good vision about where we are going, then we will neither be able to save ourselves nor our
future generations. In this paper, I argue that technology is increasingly intruding into our
philosophical questions about the very meaning of life and mortality. Technology is
intervening into our conceptual scheme by redefining concepts such as happiness, intelligence,
beauty, life, and death. For example, death, is no longer a part of nature itself instead it
belongs to technological advancements of tools and equipments; with technology death can be
delayed (with the dream to be avoided). If this occurred then we will be similar to Tithonus in
Greek mythology as will be discussed in this paper.
I bring attention here that we should not adapt any ‘techno-pessimist” approach against
technology such as that of Kaczynski, nor that of the “techno-optimist” of Kurzweil. I argue,
that both are -to some extent- unrealistic. This paper carefully analyzes the ethics of
responsibility approach that is presented by Hans Jonas, who thinks that traditional ethics is no
longer sufficient for modern technology. I end this paper by offering a supportive approach to
the ethics of responsibility, which I call preventive ethics in order to guide technology to the
right path.

There is broad recognition by practicing taxonomists that the field is going through a crisis, which has been dubbed the "taxonomic impediment". There are many aspects involved in said crisis, but publication practices in taxonomy are often neglected or relegated to the backseat. We provide an initial foray into this topic via a worldwide survey with taxonomists, spanning all botanical and zoological groups, and career stages. Demographically, most of the respondents identified themselves as males (70%), working in Europe or North America (68%), in universities (50%) or museums (27%). Over half of the respondents are estab-lished/late-career researchers (only about 25% of full professors were female), with a low number of early-career researchers and graduate students (i.e., taxonomists in training). Nearly 61% of the men acquired their highest title at least eleven years ago, while only 41% of the women did so. Nearly 92% of the respondents have published new species descriptions , while around 60% and 26% have synonymized, respectively, species-level or subspe-cies-level taxa. In general, respondents perceive the act of describing new species to be easier than synonymizing species (p = 0.05). Established/late-career researchers and male researchers, particularly in Oceania and North America, found it easier to publish nomencla-tural acts such as new species descriptions, while early-career researchers had their acts contested more often. Our results reaffirm the low academic recognition of the field, the lack of funding for research and publishing charges especially in the Global South, and the difficulty in finding specialized outlets (and the low impact factor of those journals) as persistent issues in taxonomy. Other significant problems raised by respondents include ethical issues in the peer-review process, a bias against newcomers in the field coming either from established researchers or committees, and taxonomic vandalism.

Um teste genético permite, hoje, atingir a “certeza” da paternidade biológica. A tecnologia do DNA abriu a possibilidade de se passar a definir a paternidade não somente com base nos afetos e relações entre as pessoas, mas também (ou principalmente) a partir de laços biogenéticos. A partir de uma explicação acessível dos procedimentos técnicos da aplicação da genética na investigação do parentesco, este livro apresenta uma discussão de diversos aspetos – éticos, sociais, políticos e jurídicos – relacionados com os testes de paternidade. Para tal, conta com a colaboração de cientistas sociais e de especialistas em genética; e baseia-se em estudos realizados em diferentes países, nomeadamente, Alemanha, Austrália, Brasil e Portugal.

Das Streben nach Erkenntnis und die praktisch-technische Umsetzung derselben sind Teil der menschlichen Natur. Allerdings hat sich das menschliche Verständnis von Forschung und Wissenserwerb mit den Jahrhunderten maßgeblich geändert. Vor diesem Hintergrund ist es das Ziel des Beitrages, den historischen Entwicklungsprozess der Wissenschaft und ihrer Protagonisten (Teil 1) sowie ihre heutigen Charakteristika (Teil 2) näher zu beleuchten. Danach gilt es die beiden Pole wissenschaftlichen Handelns – die Freiheit der Wissenschaft auf der einen und die hieraus erwachsende (Selbst-)Verantwortung ihrer Vertreter auf der anderen Seite – kritisch zu hinterfragen. Dabei soll vor allem geklärt werden, inwieweit das Diktum der Wissenschaftsfreiheit heute noch Bestand hat (Teil 3) und ob die traditionelle Eigenverantwortlichkeit der Forscher in Anbetracht der aktuellen und künftigen Herausforderungen noch zeitgemäß und situationsadäquat ist (Teil 4).

Whereas deeply rooted cultural norms organically structure a society or a practice from within, responsible conduct of research (RCR) literature and training too often theorize and present research ethics in terms of quasi-legalistic external control.  I suggest an alternative that is explicitly centered instead on internal norms, specifically on scientific character virtues that embody both epistemic and ethical values. Scientific integrity is more than research integrity so it is useful to think in terms of a broader category of science ethics, which also encompassing the scientific virtues and other topics that may be linked to but are not directly a part of basic research.

Comparison between a photo by Benjamin Duchenne (related to experiments used by Charles Darwin) and a detail from an illustration by Henry Holiday to Lewis Carroll's "The Hunting of the Snark"

( Comparación entre una foto de Benjamin Duchenne ( relacionado con los experimentos utilizados por Charles Darwin ) y un segmento de una ilustración hecha por Henry Holiday para " La caza del Snark " de Lewis Carroll )

Update (2018-02-18): http://nose.snrk.de

In response to Anton Froeyman’s paper, “Virtues of Historiography,” this article argues that philosophers of history interested in why historians cherish such virtues as carefulness, impartiality, and intellectual courage would do wise not to classify these virtues unequivocally as either epistemic or moral virtues. Likewise, in trying to grasp the roles that virtues play in the historian’s professional practice, philosophers of history would be best advised to avoid adopting either an epistemological or an ethical perspective. Assuming that the historian’s virtuous behavior has epistemic and moral dimensions (as well as aesthetic, political, and other dimensions), this article advocates a non-reductionist account of historical scholarship, which acknowledges that the virtues cherished by historians usually play a variety of roles, depending on the goals they are supposed to serve. Given that not the least important of these goals are epistemic ones, the articles concludes that virtue ethical approaches, to the extent that they are focused on the acquisition of moral instead of epistemic goods, insufficiently recognize the role of virtue in the pursuit of such epistemic aims as knowledge and understanding.

This essay critically examines a questionable presupposition of contemporary science—that science is an instrumental means to human ends and as such is a value-neutral project, such that the responsibility for ethical evaluation of science concerns only the uses to which science is put by society and thus does not belong properly to the scientific profession. This view, which C.P. Snow called “the myth of ethical neutrality,” is critiqued along ethical, philosophical, and theological axes of analysis. Once we recognize that science is essentially a form of power, it becomes clear that science is morally ambiguous because the power of control over nature enabled by science contains the potential for domination over humanity. From the Christian perspective that all worldly power is “fallen,” moreover, it is evident that science also is in need of being “ransomed” from evil uses and reoriented toward the priorities of God’s Kingdom. All this entails the need for responsible science to be accountable to transcendent values and thus for science to engage in dialogue with other disciplines, including ethics, philosophy, and theology.

The 12th Kant Readings at Academia Kantiana, Institute for the Humanities of Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University focused on the ethical thought of Kant and other philosophers of the Enlightenment. The reports and discussions presented an analysis of Kant's ethical concepts, new studies of the history of ethical thought in the Enlightenment, reception of Kant's ethics and Enlightenment in the Russian and Western thinking. Special attention was paid to thematic sections on interdisciplinary issues of ethics and aesthetics, the philosophy of politics and the philosophy of education. One of the most debated topics was understanding the latest trends in sci-tech development from the point of view of ethical principles of the existence of human society. It was noted that, on the one hand, the current social and intellectual conditions form a different, compared with Kant’s era, communication environment, and on the other, the concepts of the 18th century retain the value and h...

The 12th Kant Readings at Academia Kantiana, Institute for the Humanities of Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University focused on the ethical thought of Kant and other philosophers of the Enlightenment. The reports and discussions presented an analysis of Kant's ethical concepts, new studies of the history of ethical thought in the Enlightenment, reception of Kant's ethics and Enlightenment in the Russian and Western thinking. Special attention was paid to thematic sections on interdisciplinary issues of ethics and aesthetics, the philosophy of politics and the philosophy of education. One of the most debated topics was understanding the latest trends in sci-tech development from the point of view of ethical principles of the existence of human society. It was noted that, on the one hand, the current social and intellectual conditions form a different, compared with Kant’s era, communication environment, and on the other, the concepts of the 18th century retain the value and h...

Um teste genético permite, hoje, atingir a “certeza” da paternidade biológica. A tecnologia do DNA abriu a possibilidade de se passar a definir a paternidade não somente com base nos afetos e relações entre as pessoas, mas também (ou principalmente) a partir de laços biogenéticos. A partir de uma explicação acessível dos procedimentos técnicos da aplicação da genética na investigação do parentesco, este livro apresenta uma discussão de diversos aspetos – éticos, sociais, políticos e jurídicos – relacionados com os testes de paternidade. Para tal, conta com a colaboração de cientistas sociais e de especialistas em genética; e baseia-se em estudos realizados em diferentes países, nomeadamente, Alemanha, Austrália, Brasil e Portugal.