The boundaries between ethics and science are very controversial. Many scientists have the attitude that they are willing to do anything if it provides for a gain in knowledge.
Christine Long 05/09/03 IB Theory of Knowledge Epps The boundaries between ethics and science are very controversial. Many scientists have the attitude that they are willing to do anything if it provides for a gain in knowledge. Others have tried to impose a set of ethical values over the gaining of knowledge. They have attempted to make prior judgments as to what science should or should not do based on attempts to project into the future what the outcome and implications a given of scientific investigation will have for society. Can science function over these constraints? Can negative results that some scientific investigation has on society be avoided by exercising this restraint? Or does science to be conducted properly have to be free to seek knowledge freely, leaving society to deal with consequences only after the fact? Can science be honest and ethical and objective all at the same time? In the film Trinity and Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie, Dr. Edward Teller says of the Hydrogen bomb: "...others didn't want to do it, but I didn't care. I was interested in knowledge, knowledge, and more knowledge." With this, Teller didn't care about the affects of the H-bomb; he only cared about the knowledge that he gains from this experimentation. Why is he so apt to gaining knowledge? What usually motivates people to desire the gain of knowledge? Is it all for one's
Asses Sartre's COntribution Toward the philosophy of freedom
Asses Jean-Paul Sartre's Contribution towards the Philosophy of Freedom Freedom as a concept is a large branch of philosophy which looks at issues such as restrictions from government in a political sense as well as a more metaphysical definition involving restrictions on our own actions due to the way in which we choose to act; it is the latter of these two issues which concerns existentialists such as Jean-Paul Sartre. In order to asses Jean-Paul Sartre's contribution toward the philosophy of freedom it is first necessary to look at other philosophers and their influence on this topic. One of the first to comment on the philosophy of freedom, in fact one of the first philosophers in the world, was Aristotle. Aristotle, the most successful product of Plato's academy, devised a four part argument of causality arguing why things come into existence; * Material Cause - The material out of which something is composed for example the material cause for a table is wood * Formal Cause - The idea existing in the first place before an object exists; the formal cause is similar to the idea of forms expressed by Plato. An example is that the formal cause of a table is the idea in the carpenters mind. * Efficient Cause - The agent who brings something into existence, in the case of a table the efficient cause would be the actions of the carpenter. * Final Cause, or 'telos' - The
The Teleological Argument - Examine the Design Argument for the existence of God.
The Teleological Argument A: Examine the Design Argument for the existence of God. (10) The teleological argument argues that the sense of purposeful design we see in nature suggests that the world has a designer (God). The world cannot be here by chance. Many philosophers have come to the conclusion that God exists by studying the natural world. The teleological argument is related to Aquinas's Fifth Way. He used the idea of purpose which links in with causation. Causation gives things their perfections. Aquinas stated 'Something therefore causes in all other things their being, their goodness, and whatever other perfections they have. And this is what we call God.' 'Goal-directed behaviour is observed in all bodies obeying natural laws, even when they lack awareness... But nothing lacking awareness and understanding, the arrow for example requires an archer. Everything in nature, therefore is directed to its goal by someone with understanding, and this we call God.' The world has a purpose therefore somebody has set the world its purpose. At the time of William Paley (1802) there were many scientific discoveries which point to a designer/God. William Paley used the example of the watch. He argued that if someone walking across a heath were to come across a watch and then examine it. You would come to the conclusion that the watch must have a watchmaker because the
Emotivism Essay
Explain what scholars mean when they say ethical statements are no more than expressions of opinions. Some scholars say that ethical statements are no more that expressions of opinions, others however would disagree. I will now explore these ideas further. Emotivism is a theory which says that moral statements are just expressions of feelings and has no ethical knowledge. Emotivism does not tell you how to live your life, but helps you to understand and influences moral statements. When we talk about good and 'bad' right and wrong we are simply just expressing an opinion emotional state of approval and disapproval. Emotivism came about from the theory of logical positivism. This is the view that only those things that can be tested are meaningful. For example ... The theory says roughly says that any genuine truth claim must be able to be tested by sense experience. Since moral judgments can't be tested by sense experience, they aren't genuine truth claims. So moral judgments only express feelings. Thus logical positivism leads to Emotivism. Emotivism is also known as the boo/hurrah theory in which we say boo to bad things e.g. poverty and illness, but hurrah to the good things e.g. giving to charity, this idea simply sums up the idea of emotivism. A.J Ayer was a philosopher of mind and logic, he said that meaningful statements have to be verified, whether this be
Creationism Isn't Science but Belongs in Schools
Robyn St. Hilaire English 102-002 Essay #1 Creationism Isn't Science but Belongs in Schools The origin of life has been a point of discussion for as long as history has been documented. Ancient Egyptians believed that the sun god Ra took another form, created land from a watery abyss and created everything, including gods and humans. The Iroquois, a tribe of Native Americans, told a story of god to human lineage that resulted in twins, one being evil and one being good. The good twin creates a picture perfect world. The evil twin reverses the good twin's actions by making things more complex and difficult for humans. Christians and Jews believe that God, their only god, created the earth and the heavens in six days, and on the seventh day he rested. Secular humanists believe that the earth was created from a large cosmic explosion and that the living organisms on the earth have evolved from bacteria. It has become a recent debate in schools which one of these and countless other theories should and should not be taught. The debate has centered itself between creationists, those that believe in a "mythological" theory, and Secular humanists, those who believe in a theory known as evolution. It has become questioned whether creationism should be taught in schools along side the evolution theory. In an essay discussing this Niles Eldredge argues why creationism
In the essay "On The Rainy River," the author Tim O'Brien tells about his experiences and how his relationship with a single person had effected his life so dramatically.
"On the Rainy River" Analysis The relationship you have with others often has a direct effect on the basis of your very own personal identity. In the essay "On The Rainy River," the author Tim O'Brien tells about his experiences and how his relationship with a single person had effected his life so dramatically. It is hard for anyone to rely fully on their own personal experiences when there are so many other people out there with different experiences of their own. Sometimes it take the experiences and knowledge of others to help you learn and build from them to help form your own personal identity. In the essay, O'Brien speaks about his experiences with a man by the name of Elroy Berdahl, the owner of the fishing lodge that O'Brien stays at while on how journey to find himself. The experiences O'Brien has while there helps him to open his mind and realize what his true personal identity was. It gives you a sense than our own personal identities are built on the relationships we have with others. There are many influence out there such as our family and friends. Sometimes even groups of people such as others of our nationality and religion have a space in building our personal identities. In the essay O'Brien is faced with a conflict, a moral dilemma. He had to decide whether he was either going to go to the war and fight or was he going to run away and avoid the draft.
Priya Modi L6H
Priya Modi L6H December 11, 2005 a) For what reasons might suffering cause problems for the religious believer b) Outline two possible solutions to these problems and comment on their success Suffering can be defined as the individual human experience of evil. The cause of suffering is ascribed to what is defined as evil. There are several types of evil; evil can firstly be distinguished between moral evil and natural evil. Moral evil is evil which arise from the responsible actions of groups of individuals who cause suffering or harm. They include such things as stealing, murder and lying. Natural evil is evil which arise from events which cause suffering but over which human beings have little control over such as earthquakes and disease. Further groupings of evil can be made, such as physical evil which refers to pain itself and mental anguish and metaphysical evil which refers to imperfection and contingency as a feature of the cosmos. In this essay I will be writing about problems that may be raised up for a believer in evil and suffering. The key point to this problem I will be looking at is the classical concept of God and how it is inconsistent with evil and suffering. Further on I will be explaining and commenting on two solutions to this problem, one from Augustine and the second from Irenaeus. I will look study their strengths and weaknesses. In conclusion
The Nature of God
Topic 1 - The Nature of God (a) Describe the reasons Christians might give in support of their belief in God. [8] There are many different reasons as to why Christians might give in support of their belief in God. Most Christians would believe in god as they have been informed by their vicar or priest in church. Christians believe that the world is designed so there be a designer who completes the job. Not all Christians would give the same reason for their belief in God. Some Christians would say that the fact that we feel guilt for the things we do wrong is evidence for God. Others might believe that the universe needs an ultimate cause and only God can explain this. Other Christians might have a personal experience of God, for example they may have prayed for healing and felt that God cured them. These are all explanations to god's existence. They might say that god is creator, because there must be a first cause or they say that the world is an intelligent planet so somebody must have made it; they might also say that you feel bad when you commit a felony or do something that you're not meant to be doing god is making you have that feeling. (b) Explain how believing that the Bible is the word of God might affect the lives of Christians. [7] Christians of today would often read the bible on a regular basis for spiritual and ethnic guidance in difficult times in
The Conflict between Religion and Science
The Conflict between Religion and Science Widely speaking we regard science as the matter of reason; religion is a matter of faith. In science things can be proved. In religion we have to take things on authority. Keith Ward * Three Stages of religious thought and understanding. . Tribal religion, imaginary cosmologies, rituals. 2. The founding of the great scriptural (written) traditions - Holy texts which began to claim final and universal truth. 3. Developments since the 17th and 18th century, a new way of understanding God and the world. (Birth of modern science). Since the 17th and the 18th century the Christian faith in the world west has been transformed by three great movements of thought. 1. The rise of the natural sciences as epitomised by Galileo and his conflict with the Roman Catholic Church. Everyone knows that Galileo won the argument and the church was no longer contempt to disagree with all experimental science. Hence forth all factual claims about the nature of the universe would have to be tested, by proper experimental techniques and to appeal to some authority like the church. 2. In the second phase he associates with Isaac Newton who invented the machine model of the physical world which appears to exclude any non-mechanical principles from its working. God seems to be exempt as the creator of the machine. 3. Darwin explained how all complex
To What Extent Are Human Beings Genuinely Free?
To What Extent Are Human Beings Genuinely Free? To be able to answer this question successfully we must first understand what is meant by the term 'genuinely free.' By this do we mean to have limitless freedom where each choice is our own or rather freedom within certain boundaries? There are of course many different views which consider the extent of our freedom and what being free really means, ranging from ultimate, unlimited freedom to us having absolutely no freedom. If we are to believe that human beings are completely free we are likely to accept the Libertarian view: By liberty, then we can only mean a power of acting or not acting, according to the determinations of the will; that is, if we choose to remain at rest, we may; if we choose to move, we also may (David Hume) Libertarianism suggests that we are entirely free to make a morally responsible decision. Libertarianism does consider the fact that some aspects of life are causally determined; however these determined aspects are only affected by the inner self of the moral agent which in itself is uncaused. As Spaemann explained we use a reflective component which takes into consideration these objective and subjective facts and then makes a free choice. It is this, our moral self, which is free to choose, yet factors such as the moral agent's character or values which or not. Waddan's religiously supported