I would disagree if I am correct that when you say 'deliberately' you mean that science (as opposed to scientists) should include ethics in its field of view which to me is the same thing as saying that mathematics should include ethics in its field of view or that we should consider whether its more ethical to call trees trees instead of gurglons or some other arbitrary arrangement of syllables, vowels and consonants. None of those statements really makes sense because ethics has nothing to do with it. Science and mathematics, unlike religion and philosophy, do not make any suggestions about how people should live, one can USE science to help determine ways to live that are conducive to longevity and health but it does not say anything about oughts or ought nots, however, it can be useful in providing the knowledge necessary to make inferences such as "I probably should not drink mercury or jump off a cliff IF I want to live and I definitely ought not put my small child on top of a metal pole when there's a lightning storm going on IF I want my baby to live". 2+2 does not equal Don't Kill and the fact that atoms can be split thus releasing huge quantities of energy says nothing about whether humans deserve to live or die or neither. Science doesn't deal with those things and by definition it never will.Kim O'Hara wrote: Hi, Andrew,
I stand by what I said. It's another way of saying, as you did, that, "ethics simply is not part of science," or, "science, the definition of science, is not concerned with ethics or motivation."
I could go a bit further than you and say, "science deliberately excludes ethics and morality from its field of view." Would you agree with that? It means the same thing.
Kim
I would honestly appreciate it if you would elaborate on what you really meant. You are absolutely correct in your response to Alex when you point out that religion and science often ask and answer totally different questions and the fact is that science, I repeat, by definition, does not ask questions pertaining to whether something is right or wrong (ethics). Have a good one