Moral rules, moral ideals, and use-inspired research.
Moral rules provide the baseline for ethics, proscribing unacceptable behavior; moral ideals inspire us to act in ways that improve the human condition. Whatever the moral ideals for pure research, science has a practical side so it is important to find a moral ideal to give guidance to more applied research. This article presents a moral ideal for use-inspired research based on Norman Care's idea of shared-fate individualism This ideal reflects the observation that all human lives, both present and future are tightly coupled and, as a result, research projects should be chosen, where possible, with the goal of service to others. Together with the ideals of the habit of truth and the gift economy, shared-fate individualism provides the basis for a humane ethics of science.
Kovac
Jeffrey
J
Department of Chemistry, University of Tennessee, 516 Buehler Hall, Knoxville, TN 37996-1600, USA. jkovac@utk.edu
D032984:Ethics, Research; D006801:Humans; D009014:Morals; D012941:Social Responsibility