The possession of knowledge carries an ethical responsibility. Discuss.

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Astrid Kjaer

Theory Of Knowledge Essay 2013

“The possession of knowledge carries an ethical responsibility.”

When children are small they are taught that if they see another child being bullied, they should either try to stop the act, or find and adult and ask for help. Yet, as the children grow up, the term ‘tattle tale’ becomes associated with children, who abide by the earlier learnt skill, who seek help and potentially place others in trouble. The child knows that there is something wrong and seeks to restore balance therefore applying an already learnt moral. According to Plato’s Definition of knowledge as justified true belief, for something to be knowledge the pervious statement has to apply. By using the four different ways of knowing: perception, emotion, language, and reason cone can combine the ways thus justifying their belief. From a young age, ethics, which are morals that influence the way that an individual or individuals manage their behavior, are passed on to us through various teachings and upbringings. This set of values we carry throughout our entire life, which is what shapes societies. The different theories of ethics, such as utilitarianism and the self-interest theories are key opposing theories that help understand the issues with ethical responsibility. Utilitarianism is a school of ethics, which implies that what should be done would be fore the greater good. However, does possession of knowledge imply that one must share the information when asked? How can we determine when ethical responsibility surpasses the need for self-preservation? This knowledge issue spreads across various areas of knowledge such as, the natural science, the arts, and human sciences.

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One area of knowledge is the natural sciences. The natural sciences include all the hard sciences such as chemistry, physics, and biology. The hard sciences tend to be the ones that people believe the most in, without questioning the answers that they produce. However, attached to the sciences, there is a phenomenon called pseudoscience that, unlike science, needs no justification or proof and yet, some accredit it with the same credit as that of science. In the case of the Homeopathy research that was done in the late 1980’s and the world rebound scientific journal Nature released the information that ...

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