Event
Seminar: Reflections on Ethics and Science
Monday, March 5, 2012
4:15 p.m.
Computer & Space Science Building, Room 2400
Debbie Jenkins
(301) 405-4780
Reflections on Ethics and Science
A Space and Cosmic Ray Physics Seminar, organized by the Association of Korean Physicists in America and sponsored by the Department of Physics and the Institute for Physical Science and Technology (IPST), University of Maryland.
Refreshments will be served at 4:15. The seminar begins at 4:30.
Presented by Jan V. Sengers
Distinguished University Professor Emeritus
Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and IPST
I shall first consider some historical developments which have made ethics and science a very urgent contemporary issue. Ethical standards are important in science. They are needed to promote the aims of science, such as to arrive at knowledge and truth; to promote values that are essential to collaborative work, such as trust, accountability, mutual respect, and fairness; to ensure that scientists can be held accountable to the public and to help building public support for science. I shall then discuss some of the steps taken by various agencies to help prevent scientific misconduct and to recommend ethical guidelines. Finally, I shall make an attempt to address the issue at a deeper philosophical level based on a classical theory of liberating virtues and give some illustration how this philosophical approach can make us better and more inspiring scientists.