Science and Morality?

Question

Should morality impead science in the quest for knowlage or should the use knowlage be subjected to morality?

Answer 1

Morality always has and always will impede science. And it should.

Consider Nazi experiments with hypothermia. They took people and literally exposed them to various kinds of cold until they died. Unlike a lot of the crackpot stuff they did some of the results from these actually may have scientific use.

In spite of this, some find the methodology so heinous that they argue that it is better to suffer (and perhaps let other people die) than to profit from those works. I know of no reputable person who would suggest that because some benefit might have come from them that we should try and replicate such methods.

Or look at it on a practical level. Are you willing to be a victim to satisfy someone else's curiousity? Would you be comfortable if you knew practical experiments on 'how to destroy the world' were going on next door? Or anywhere? As Dostoyevsky asked, is it worth it to have Heaven if the price of heaven is torturing an innocent child to death?

We lose access to some knowledge by adhering to a moral code. What we gain is the ability to function as a society. Peace.

Answer 2

The question is based on an underlying assumption that conquest for knowledge will have harmful effect on humanity, so I would have to disagree with the question itself first.

But let's consider a more specific situation where this kind of question seems valid apparently.

One of the heated issue is stem cell research.

Stem cell research involves destroying a three day old zygote, and some people claim that it is morally wrong to destroy this compound of cells.
But in what sense is destroying a spec of cells wrong when it can save millions of lives and enhance the lives of millions?
The standard of moral values also should play a part in deciding what is right or wrong.

Answer 3

My opinion:
Science is the (hopefully) objective search for understanding by verified measurements.
Morality describes a set of behavior standards that reflect a particular culture's values.

Strictly within the context of your question, I'd lean toward the latter. A culture serves its own best interests by controlling how information is used, consistent with that culture's imperatives.
But this makes a whole raft of assumptions - that the culture is homogeneous, that the value structure actually works, ...