Right, wrong and science : the ethical dimensions of the techno-scientific enterprise / Evandro Agazzi ; edited by Craig Dilworth.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Agazzi, Evandro.

Contributor:

Dilworth, Craig.

Series:

Poznań studies in the philosophy of the sciences and the humanities ; v. 81.

Poznań studies in the philosophy of the sciences and the humanities. Monographs-in-debate

Poznań studies in the philosophy of the sciences and the humanities ; v. 81. Monographs-in-debate

Standardized Title:

Bene, il male e la scienza. English

Language:

English

Italian

Subjects (All):

Science--Moral and ethical aspects.

Science.

Technology--Moral and ethical aspects.

Technology.

Physical Description:

354 pages ; 24 cm.

Other Title:

Ethical dimensions of the techno-scientific enterprise

Place of Publication:

Amsterdam [Netherlands] ; New York, NY : Rodopi, [2004]

Contents:

Part 1 The World of Science and Technology

Science as the Modern Paradigm of Knowledge 25

The Requirement of Rigor in Science 26

Characteristics of Scientific Objectivity 28

Some Conditions for Scientific Objectivity 30

2. Science and Society 33

Science as a Social Product 33

Internal Reasons for a Social Interpretation of Science 35

Consciousness of the Impact of Science on Society 36

Consciousness of the Impact of Society on Science 38

Individuals and Society in Scientific Work 39

Technology and Society 39

3. Is Science Neutral? 41

The Dispute over the Neutrality of Science 41

Some Fundamental Senses of Neutrality 42

Neutrality as Disinterest 43

Neutrality as Freedom from Prejudice 43

Neutrality as Nonsubservience to Interests 45

Neutrality as Freedom from Conditioning 46

Neutrality as Indifference to Ends 47

Neutrality and Scientific Responsibility 47

Neutrality and the Ideological Connotations of Science 49

4. Science, Technique and Technology 53

The Difference and the Relations between Science and Technology 55

From Technique to Technology 56

The Existence of a Bifurcation 59

5. The Techno-Scientific Ideology 63

Are Ideologies Dead? 63

What Is an Ideology? 63

Science as Anti-Ideology 65

The Ideologization of Science 66

Scientism 67

From Scientistic Ideology to Technologist Ideology 68

The Weakness of Scientism and Technologism as Ideologies 68

The Neutralization of the Subject 71

The Antiscientific Reaction 72

6. The Techno-Scientific System 73

The Cultural Premises 73

The Autonomy of Science 74

The Autonomy of Technique 76

Principal Characteristics of the Technological System 79

The Possibilities of Intervention in the Technological System 80

The Conflicts of the Techno-Scientific System with the Demands of Life 81

A New Sense of the Problem of Neutrality 84

Toward the Reaffirmation of Ethical Demands 86

Part 2 Encounter with the Ethical Dimension

7. Norms and Values in Human Action 91

Diverse Aspects of the Involvement of Values in Science 91

The Dimension of "Ought" as Characteristic of Human Actions 93

Goal-Seeking and Value-Oriented Behavior 95

Values and Norms. Different Kinds of Norms 98

8. The Role of Values in the Human Sciences 103

The Thesis of the Value-Independence of Science 103

The Weberian Epistemology of the Social Sciences 104

The Sense in which the Social Sciences Imply Values 106

The Justification of Values 108

9. Theoretical Rationality and Practical Rationality 113

Science and Rationality 113

Characteristics of Human Reason 114

Theoretical and Practical Rationality 115

Theoretical Philosophy and Practical Philosophy 116

Practical Rationality and Technical Rationality 117

Value Judgment 119

The Problem of the Realization of Possibles 121

The Reconstruction of the Practical Horizon 122

Judgments of Value, and Freedom 123

The Present Task of Practical Philosophy 124

10. The Moral Judgment of Science and Technology 127

The Seat of This Judgment 127

Science and Technology as Human Activities 128

Different Aspects of the Moral Judgment of Actions 129

The Moral Judgment of Collective Activities 130

The Problem of the Ends of Science and Technology 131

Consideration of Ends 133

Consideration of Means 134

The Moral Relevance of the Conditions of Action 138

Consideration of the Consequences 139

11. The Problem of Risk 145

Technique and Risk 145

Risk as an Anthropological Category 146

Existential Risk 148

Risk and Rationality 149

Conditions for the Moral Relevance of the Evaluation of Risk 150

Behavior in the Face of Risk 153

The Problem of Precision 158

The Quality of Information 159

The Challenge of Incertitude 160

Probabilistic Argumentation and Its Limits 160

Collective Risks 162

12. The Responsibility of Science in a Systems-Theoretic Approach 165

The Systems-Theoretic Point of View 165

The Neutrality of Science Revisited 166

Science as an Open, Adaptive System 166

A Dynamic Model of the Scientific System 167

A Description of the Scientific System and Its Social Environment 168

A Concrete Example 171

Inputs, Outputs and Synthetic Variables. The Feedback Mechanism 172

The Neutrality of Science in This New Perspective 174

The Question of the Responsibility of Science 175

Responsibility as Optimization 177

The Proper Place of Ethics in This Issue 178

13. The Ethical Dimension 181

The Moral System 181

From Morality to Ethics 182

The Diverse Ethical Theories 184

Resistance to Normative Ethics 191

The Foundational Effort of Ethics 192

14. An Ethics for Science and Technology 195

Examination of the Difficulties 195

A Systems-Theoretic View of Ethics 196

Man's Self-Understanding 199

One Morality, or Many? 202

Regulation as a Projection of Responsibility 204

The Impact of Science on Ethics 205.

Notes:

"The present edition differs from all others ... in containing commentaries on the text by leading philosophers of science and of technology, as well as replies to these commentaries by Professor Agazzi"--P. 10.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9042009195

OCLC:

54514724