Hi
On Fri, 11 Jun 1999, Linda M. Woolf wrote:
> Jim Clark wrote:
> > For editors of scientific journals to be put in the
> > position of mindguards based on some possible social or political
> > implication of research is not the way to promote a science of
> > psychology. To use just one of Linda's examples, what is being
> > proposed by APA is akin to an editor censuring theoretical ideas
> > from Einstein or whomever because those ideas might lead to
> > weapons of mass destruction or some other negative consequences
> > that the editor might imagine.
>
> However, those are the sorts of questions that scientists have had to wrestle,
> funding sources have debated, and editorial boards have had to grapple with
> throughout this century of science.
>
> The line between pure, basic, or theoretical research and applied research is
> fuzzy at best. We might believe that a distinction should be drawn but in
> day-to-day, year-to-year research, there is a fair amount of overlap. We do
> have an ethical responsibility to attend to these issues.
>
> This may not be the best way to promote science but to ignore these issues may
> not be the best way to promote human welfare.
I agree that these are the issues that scientists, as well as
politicians and citizens have had to wrestle with. But these
debates are completely independent of the question of the
correctness of the underlying scientific ideas. The problem with
putting the political considerations too early in the process
(i.e., intruding them into science) is that they interfere with
determining what is the correct characterization of the domain
under study. For example, it would have been extremely
disadvantageous for a conscientious democratic scientific
community to have been hampered in the proper understanding of
atomic power because of moral objections, while a less
humanitarian collection of Axis nations pursued the use of atomic
weapons. As I stated earlier, the relation between knowledge and
policy is not at all simple (i.e., it is extremely complex) and
it should not be allowed to interfere with the development of
correct knowledge in the first place. I believe that people who
think otherwise are deluding themselves about the benefits of
ignorance.
Best wishes
Jim
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James M. Clark (204) 786-9313
Department of Psychology (204) 774-4134 Fax
University of Winnipeg 4L02A
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 2E9 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
CANADA http://www.uwinnipeg.ca/~clark
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