The Values of Scientists and
Technologists
How and Why
 Philosophy and theology = knowing why
(purpose). The study of purpose in
philosophy is called teleology.
 Science = knowing why (causes of events)
= knowing how (mechanisms)
 Technology = knowing how (to do things)
Science and Technology can exist
separate from one another
• Until the Renaissance, almost all
technology was divorced from science
• Ancient Greeks did science without
applying it to technology
• Modern “pure research” may not have any
immediate application to technology
Scientists and Technologists have
all the value drives of normal
human beings
Some Values of Scientists
Autonomy
 Being allowed to work in science
 Freedom to Choose Research
 "Ethical Neutrality" - findings should not be
tailored to fit a particular value system
 This is anything but an ethically neutral
position!
Some Values of Scientists
Intellectual Integrity and Methodology
 Confirmation, repeatability
 Reduction, isolation, superposition,
idealization
 Conceptual precision
 Symbolic thinking, mathematics, analogy
 Empiricism, positivism
 Caution about claims of absolute truth
Some Values of Scientists
Esthetics
 Ingenuity, conciseness, elegance
 Value of past achievements of science
 Value of facts per se
Some Values of Scientists
Social Interactions as Scientists
 Chance to contribute, prestige, relevance
 Scientists invest time the way financiers invest
money--for return.
 Professional ethics
 Acknowledge work of others
 Courtesy even in controversy or dispute
 Faking results, if exposed, will usually wreck a
career - but "fudging” happens
Some Values of Technologists
 For the most part, technologists and
scientists share many core values.
 Ingenuity
 Sometimes fascination with complexity or
bigness for its own sake
 Sometimes an inferiority complex with
regard to science
 Technical competence
 Professional advancement
Reductionism
• Treat Components of Problem in Isolation
• Reduce Scope of Problem to More
Manageable Level
• Reduce the Number of Variables
• Restrict Concern to Scientific or Technical
Issues
Reductionism: Restrict Concern
to Scientific or Technical Issues
• Scientists can sometimes let
fascination override other
considerations
• Scientists can seek refuge from moral
issues in abstract research
• Does technology create moral
problems or reveal them?
Values of Science and
Technology Change with Time
and Culture
 Growth of "Big Science"
 Growing dependence on government
support
 Publish or perish
 Grantsmanship
Science, Technology and the Public
• Feeling of impotence--technology out of
control
 Cognitive dissonance--math and science
anxiety
 The appeal of pseudoscience
 Unreasonable expectations
 Technology will bring the "good life"
 We can make value decisions "scientifically"