Ethical Ambiguity in Science

Drawing on 171 in-depth interviews with physicists at universities in the United States and the UK, this study examines the narratives of 48 physicists to explain the concept of ethical ambiguity: the border where legitimate and illegitimate conduct is blurred. Researchers generally assume that scientists agree on what constitutes both egregious and more routine forms of misconduct in science. The results of this study show that scientists perceive many scenarios as ethically gray, rather than black and white. Three orientations to ethical ambiguity are considered—altruism, inconsequential outcomes, and preserving the status quo—that allow possibly questionable behavior to persist unchallenged. Each discursive strategy is rationalized as promoting the collective interest of science rather than addressing what is ethically correct or incorrect. The results of this study suggest that ethics training in science should focus not only on fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism and more routine forms of misconduct, but also on strategies for resolving ethically ambiguous scenarios where appropriate action may not be clear.     

Six Challenges for Ethical Conduct in Science

The realities of human agency and decision making pose serious challenges for research ethics. This article explores six major challenges that require more attention in the ethics education of students and scientists and in the research on ethical conduct in science. The first of them is the routinization of action, which makes the detection of ethical issues difficult. The social governance of action creates ethical problems related to power. The heuristic nature of human decision making implies the risk of ethical bias. The moral disengagement mechanisms represent a human tendency to evade personal responsibility. The greatest challenge of all might be the situational variation in people’s ethical behaviour. Even minor situational factors have a surprisingly strong influence on our actions. Furthermore, finally, the nature of ethics itself also causes problems: instead of clear answers, we receive a multitude of theories and intuitions that may sometimes be contradictory. All these features of action and ethics represent significant risks for ethical conduct in science. I claim that they have to be managed within the everyday practices of science and addressed explicitly in research ethics education. I analyse them and suggest some ways in which their risks can be alleviated.     

政治文明的伦理分析

政治明不是一种孤立的明,它与道德明有着十分密切的关系,它们有着共同的契合机制和互补机制;从西方政治明的发展来看,始终没有离开理性主义、制度主义、个体主义等伦理精神;政治要真正实现明,必须使政治意识要宽容、政治制度的制衡、政治行为要有序。     

部分中文医药杂志伦理保护措施的报告情况

对2002年之前和之后(2000年7月～2001年12月和2003年1月～2004年6月)对6种中文医药杂志发表的临床研究类文章进行比较,并对文中报告知情同意和伦理委员会批准情况的比例给予评价.     

部分中文医药杂志伦理保护措施的报告情况

对2002年之前和之后(2000年7月~2001年12月和2003年1月~2004年6月)对6种中文医药杂志发表的临床研究类文章进行比较,并对文中报告知情同意和伦理委员会批准情况的比例给予评价。     

卢梭《论科学与艺术》中的伦理的理性主义

虽然卢梭是18世纪法国启蒙运动的重要代表,但是,当其他启蒙思想家对理性、文明、科学、进步充满赞美时,卢梭却在《论科学与艺术》中敏锐地觉察到了被神化的科学理性所隐含的危险,揭示了科学的进步与道德风尚之间的深刻矛盾.尽管他对科学伤风败俗的指责并不严谨,但却以伦理的理性主义的视角触及了启蒙时代的重要问题.这不但成为他后来学说的出发点,也开启了启蒙运动对唯科学主义的自我反思.     

科技伦理责任功效探微

高科技发展所带来的伦理问题引发了社会对于科技伦理责任的关注。本文主要对科技伦理责任功效问题进行探讨,指出科技伦理责任能够提供科技进步的精神动力,引导科技行为的道德选择,影响科技主体的价值信念。同时,分析了科技伦理责任功效的实现基础,即观念、态度、动力和控制四大系统。     

论现代科技活动伦理价值的追求与实现

现代科技活动本质上是一种功利化的工具理性控制力量,其价值理性受到遮蔽的结果必然引发生态的失衡和人的异化.实现科技工具理性合理改变世界的根本是接受价值理性的定向和约束,自觉追求科技活动的伦理价值.积极培育人们的科技价值理性是促进科技伦理价值实现的重要路径.     

Applications of Prospect Theory to Political Science

Prospect theory is an alternative theory of choice under conditions of risk, and deviates from expected utility theory by positing that people evaluate choices with respect to gains and losses from a reference point. They tend to overweight losses with respect to comparable gains and engage in risk-averse behavior with respect to gains and risk-acceptant behavior with respect to losses. They also respond to probabilities in a non-linear manner. I begin with an overview of prospect theory and some of the evidence upon which it is based, and then consider some of the implications of the theory for American politics, international relations, and the law. I end with a brief discussion of some of the conceptual and methodological problems confronting the application of prospect theory to the study of politics.     

Ethical Concerns About Human Genetic Enhancement in the Malay Science Fiction Novels

Advancements in science and technology have not only brought hope to humankind to produce disease-free offspring, but also offer possibilities to genetically enhance the next generation’s traits and capacities. Human genetic enhancement, however, raises complex ethical questions, such as to what extent should it be allowed? It has been a great challenge for humankind to develop robust ethical guidelines for human genetic enhancement that address both public concerns and needs. We believe that research about public concerns is necessary prior to developing such guidelines, yet the issues have not been thoroughly investigated in many countries, including Malaysia. Since the novel often functions as a medium for the public to express their concerns, this paper explores ethical concerns about human genetic enhancement expressed in four Malay science fiction novels namely Klon, Leksikon Ledang, Transgenesis Bisikan Rimba and Transgenik Sifar. Religion has a strong influence on the worldview of the Malays therefore some concerns such as playing God are obviously religious. Association of the negative image of scientists as well as the private research companies with the research on human genetic enhancement reflects the authors’ concerns about the main motivations for conducting such research and the extent to which such research will benefit society.     

中国古代政治文明的伦理特征与本质分析

中国古代明是一种以伦理一政治为取向、以维护封建专制王权为核心的政治明。中国古代政治明是建设社会主义政治明不可逾越的历史积淀,与现代政治明有着根本区别,在建设社会主义政治明的过程中,要十分注意批判专制主义政治的糟粕。     

荀子社会分层的政治伦理思想及其现代价值

基于天人关系,荀子从人的自然本性和社会性出发,对其社会分层的政治伦理思想作了哲学论证。以“礼”为核心和标准,荀子把社会分层划分为社会等级分层与社会职业分层两个层面。荀子把“礼”的功能———“群”与“分”,特别是等级差别之“分”作为社会分层的手段,以最终实现社会和谐有序的政治理想。这对于我们今天构建社会主义和谐社会仍具有一定的现实意义。     

中国传统政治伦理思想的架构及现代价值

政治伦理是社会政治生活中调节、调整人们的政治行为及政治关系的道德规范和准则.中国传统政治伦理思想形成的历史线索很长,是与中国文化传统、中国历史相伴随的;但研究线索却不长,片断的研究也有,系统的研究则刚刚开始真正起步.从观念上,中国传统思想整体自始至终都表现为政治的伦理化和伦理的政治化倾向,其中又以儒家的政治伦理理念为核心.从方法上,中国传统的政治伦理理念是前后承接的,由此,中国传统政治伦理思想可划分为政治伦理基本理念的形成阶段、实践阶段、制度化阶段和解体阶段.其中呈现的中心问题是,在中国特有的政治文化传统下,在伦理政治与法理政治之间如何选择?伦理政治在当代的合法性如何?     

The Vatican and Europe: Political Theology and Ecclesiology in Papal Statements from Pius XII to Benedict XVI

The article examines the origins and evolution of the Vatican's political theology and ecclesiology for Europe from Pius XII (especially after the Second World War) and including the pontificates of John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul II and Benedict XVI. It seeks to examine the continuities of the ‘Idea of Europe’ in papal thought against a background of changing political context – the end of the Second World War, the Cold War, the fall of the communist state system, the emergence of a united but diverse Europe after 1989. The political structures of the continent now include within its geographic sweep Western and Eastern Christian churches which, divided by tradition and modern history, find their relationship a key marker in the contemporary religious identity of Europe. This reality is a significant framework for Vatican thinking on Europe especially for John Paul II and Benedict XVI.     

Contributions of Behavioural Decision Theory to Research in Political Science

Cet article aborde la question de l'application de la Théorie de la Décision Comportementale (BDT) à deux domaines de la recherche en Sciences-Politiques, le comportement électoral et les relations internationales. On commence par un bref survol de la BDT, puis on passe à ce qui n'est maintenant que l'amorce de l'exploitation de la BDT dans les Sciences-Politiques. Dans le premier exemple, notre intérêt est focalisé sur les décisions prises par le public et dans le second sur celles prises par les élites politiques, mais la distinction masse-élite peut se révéler secondaire par rapport aux situations dans lesquelles émergent les décisions électorales ou de politique étrangère. Dans la présentation de ces deux exemples, on tente de replacer l'investigation reposant sur les aperçus de la BDT dans le contexte plus vaste de la recherche dans ce secteur.
This paper discusses the application of behavioural decision theory (BDT) to two areas of political science research: voting behaviour and international relations. We begin with a brief overview of BDT, and then turn to what is now only the beginnings of the utilisation of BDT in political science. In the first instance we focus on decision making by the mass public, and in the second on decision making by political elites, but, as we shall see, the mass-elite distinction may not be as important as the different situations or contexts in which voting and foreign policy decisions are typically made. In both instances, we will try to put research relying on the insights of behavioural decision theory into a broader context of research in the field.     

Science and Political Imperatives: Orders of Precedence

An ideal view is sketched of the relationship between the facts established in science and the values of ethics and politics, and of the distinction between them. Some necessary qualifications are drawn, which do not essentially undermine the ideal. Then two cases of scientific work are considered in which considerations of value may in different ways be playing a more intimate role in the science than the ideal would suggest. These are Darwin’s theory of evolution and the current consensus on climate change. Are any general lessons to be drawn from these cases?     

Recommendations for Describing Statistical Studies and Results in General Readership Science and Engineering Journals

This paper recommends how authors of statistical studies can communicate to general audiences fully, clearly, and comfortably. The studies may use statistical methods to explore issues in science, engineering, and society or they may address issues in statistics specifically. In either case, readers without explicit statistical training should have no problem understanding the issues, the methods, or the results at a non-technical level. The arguments for those results should be clear, logical, and persuasive. This paper also provides advice for editors of general journals on selecting high quality statistical articles without the need for exceptional work or expense. Finally, readers are also advised to watch out for some common errors or misuses of statistics that can be detected without a technical statistical background.