HPSC3024 - Science and Ethics: Dilemmas, Debates and Decisions in Science

Semester 2
Lecturer Idan Ben Barak

Prerequisites: At least 24 credit points of Intermediate or Senior units of study
6 credit points
2 x 1-hour lectures plus 2 x 1-hour tutorials per week (see timetable)
Assessment: essays, journal, presentation, tutorial participation


Science is a powerful institution but its reputation as a noble pursuit of truth was tarnished by a number of developments in the twentieth century, like the dropping of the atomic bombs in World War II and the involvement of doctors in Nazi medicine. These incidents shook the faith of many scientists and others in the direction of science and the ethics of its practitioners.

While science can furnish a strong factual account of the world, it lacks the internal resources to deal with the many normative questions it raises. On its own science cannot answer questions about right and wrong, about how we ought to make decisions and act. Instead it must appeal to ethics to help formulate adequate responses. Throughout the semester we will use the lens of scientific responsibility to frame and explore a number of questions intended to help expose important ethical issues in science, and to help you develop and articulate thoughtful answers and arguments.

In this course we will discuss questions such as:

• Is science objective and value free?
• What is scientific fraud and does the very nature of the practice of science make fraud more likely?
• Do scientists have an obligation to disseminate their findings, and how does the increasing role of commercialisation affect the responsibilities of scientists?
• Can we separate out science from its applications and thereby absolve scientists of ethically problematic outcomes?
• Should some scientific questions simply not be pursued, i.e. do they constitute forbidden knowledge?
• Can the methods of scientists be unethical and does unethical practice equate to bad science?