The Ethics of Science as a form of the Cognition of Science

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the ethics of science. The dichotomy of what ought to be and what exists is the linchpin of ethical research. The ethics of science appraises newly acquired knowledge and practical steps as being desirable or undesirable, morally acceptable or justified. It operates within the range of modalities that belong to the sphere of moral judgments. This determines one of the two dimensions of the two-dimensional space and provides an impetus for the development of the ethics of science. Today, the research impetus comes to the fore in works of another genre. This enables to regard the sphere of the ethics of science as the two-dimensional space formed by the axes of moral and cognitive judgments. Society today faces a crisis in science/society relations; therefore, there is the need for the ethics of science. It provides special knowledge about scientific activity and this type of knowledge distinguishes it from all other fields of the science of science.