Quantum of Science

Science is a tested, verifiable and organized set of knowledge. The field of ethics focuses on ideals, behavior, the question of good and evil and the consequences of a certain act. Understanding that science is a form of activity aimed for improving the civilization, we also understand that these activities can at the same time have very unpredictable and unforeseeable consequences, so ethics has to be the consciousness of Science. History is full of examples of establishing ethical standards in Science. Let's remember the Hippocratic Oath, the Oath of Maimonides, and in newer history the Russell-Einstein Manifesto, a document that warns us of dangers of weapons of mass destruction – and the main document for the establishment of Pugwash, in July 1957. Paul Berg, an American biochemist and professor at the Stanford University, was one of the initiators of the famous Asilomar Conference on Recombinant DNA (modified DNA) in 1975. The Conference was a forum for d...

Nauka je testiran, provjerljiv i organizovan skup znanja. Moguće je čak napraviti i malu lingvističku distinkciju između pojmova “znanost” i “nauka”, koja nije normativne prirode, pri čemu “znanost” predstavlja skup svih znanja, a “nauka” predstavlja znanja iz određene uže oblasti. Polje kojim se zanima etika jesu ideali, ponašanje, pitanje dobra i zla te posljedice nekog djelovanja. Kako je cjelokupna nauka vrsta djelovanja u cilju napretka civilizacije, ali, istovremeno, to djelovanje može imati vrlo nepredvidljive i nesagledive posljedice, to etika mora biti savjest nauke. Istorija obiluje primjerima postavljanja nekih vrsta etičkih standarda u znanosti. Sjetimo se samo Hipokratove zakletve, Majmonidove zakletve, u novijoj istoriji Russell-Einsteinovog Manifesta, dokumenta koji upozorava na opasnost od oružja masovne destrukcije, a koji je bio temeljni dokument osnivanja Pugwash-a u julu 1957. Paul Berg, američki biohemičar i profesor sa Univerziteta Stanford, bio...