It is only knowledge produced with difficulty that we truly value

Résumé du document

When examining knowledge that is obtained with difficulty, one automatically thinks of the sciences. The scientific method, for instance, requires many repeated experiments, exact measurements, extensive background knowledge, and accurate observations. However, when one thinks of knowledge that is truly valued, the sciences do not immediately come to mind. On the other hand, ethics deals more obviously with true values, since ethics pertains to what is right, what is prioritized, and how to live life.

Extraits

[...] Many historical atrocities performed in the name of science, such as eugenics, have led to the belief that science must be separated from ethics. Biology experiments in particular remain controversial—such as genome reading, cloning, CRISPR gene editing, and stem cell research—mainly because they have to do with the manipulation of life. Similar controversies exist in other natural sciences as well—environment-harming chemical synthesis, nuclear fusion, and weapons technology. This has led to the belief that pure science is dangerous, and ethics should remain separate from it so as to keep it in check. [...]

[...] Morality is personal, and cannot be applied onto others A second common view of ethics is that morality is personal, and cannot be applied onto others. This is known as moral relativism—the belief that people's ideologies are subject to circumstances, so no ideology is more valid than another. However, this perpetuates the idea that, if all beliefs are valid, then objective facts can be blatantly disregarded. This promotes climate-change deniers and young-earth creationism, which has been refuted by atmospheric science and geology, respectively. [...]

[...] In order to completely examine all implications of the question, one must look at all areas of knowledge that are produced with difficulty, as well as set exact limitations on what “difficulty” entails. For instance, one could argue that intuition is less strenuous than science, but is fundamental to ethics, and so it is not only the difficult subjects that are truly valued. Of course, one could just as easily that no subjects are devoid of difficulty, and so there is no such thing as a simple subject at all. [...]

[...] President Trump's shift to coal and denial of climate change, Prime Minister Reinfeldt's misrepresentation of animal populations to justify hunting permits, and the threat of nuclear war despite the atmospheric fallout are all current examples of morally ambiguous government decisions that ignored the natural sciences. When ignoring, or selectively choosing, scientific justification, proper moral decisions cannot be made. This essay serves to show the need of science in cases like so, Of course, this essay focused solely upon the natural sciences as “knowledge produced with difficulty”. [...]

[...] It is only knowledge produced with difficulty that we truly value When examining knowledge that is obtained with difficulty, one automatically thinks of the sciences. The scientific method, for instance, requires many repeated experiments, exact measurements, extensive background knowledge, and accurate observations. However, when one thinks of knowledge that is truly valued, the sciences do not immediately come to mind. On the other hand, ethics deals more obviously with true values, since ethics pertains to what is right, what is prioritized, and how to live life. [...]