The responsibilities of scientists

Abstract

A "scientist" is a person who possesses knowledge gained through a particular method of studying nature and who uses that method to gain new knowledge. The method was initiated by Galileo, Descartes and Bacon. This method has the following general characteristics; it is materialistic in the sense that it deals only with material aspects of reality; it is reductionists and empirical in its mode of gathering data and using instruments to rule out arbitrariness of judgement; it is quantitative and deterministic in the sense of aiming at accurate predictions under controlled conditions. The aim is to acquire objective knowledge. Although I deal here primarily with the sciences dealing with the physical world, man too can be an "object" of scientific study. The objective knowledge so gained could, in principle, be used to control and manipulate human beings. My intention here is to inquire into the manifold responsibilities of the scientist. The responsibility of the scientist is a matter of great concern in a society which is so much affected by science. The word "responsibility" has a number of closely related meanings. In the first place individual scientists or the scientific community may be called responsible for something in the sense of "being the cause" of it. But here I am concerned about the obligations incumbent on the scientist and not primarily the consequences of the possession or the use of the knowledge for practical purposes. What must a scientist "answer for" and to whom? What does he owe to whom in consequence of his possession, acquisition and communication of scientific knowledge or the use of this scientific knowledge in practical activity? These obligations of the scientist to intellectual ideals or to specific persons or classes of persons or institutions can and sometimes are formulated into norms or rules; they could also be promulgated as laws. These norms or rules may vary from one type of situation to another. The norms of the scientist in his laboratory might be different from the norms of the scientist as a user of knowledge for practical purposes. The circle of persons to whom the norm defines his obligations might differ; he has obligations to immediate scientific colleagues, to his students, to the administrators of his laboratory, to his auxiliary staff, to the institution, to the profession of science, to the citizens of his country, to the government of his country, to his political party and to human beings in other societies. A scientist can have as many obligations as he has memberships and ideals. The responsibilities of the scientist may be set by the scientist himself and they might be set by groups and institutions of which he may be but need not be a member. His responsibilities may be defined by ethical criteria. These ethical criteria are the bases of choices among alternative possibilities of