TY - JOUR
T1 - Social science as an inherently moral endeavor
AU - Fowers, Blaine J.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, Journal of Moral Education Ltd.
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - The purpose of this paper is to argue that social science is an inherently moral enterprise. There are four reasons to see science as a moral endeavor based on the neo-Aristotelian recognition that morality is centered on human goods (e.g., justice and knowledge), not just right action. First, science is guided by epistemic values (e.g., accuracy, transparency) and underwritten by pro-science traits (e.g., honesty, patience). Second, the outcomes of applied science (e.g., disease cures, pedagogy improvements) are valued by scientists and others. Third, attempting to eliminate values from science is counterproductive because it leads to smuggling in moral commitments that are very difficult to critically evaluate, particularly in the social sciences. Finally, the goal of science is knowledge, which is a vital human good. Therefore, science is a thoroughly moral enterprise because human goods are moral aims. I conclude with three implications of this argument for science education.
AB - The purpose of this paper is to argue that social science is an inherently moral enterprise. There are four reasons to see science as a moral endeavor based on the neo-Aristotelian recognition that morality is centered on human goods (e.g., justice and knowledge), not just right action. First, science is guided by epistemic values (e.g., accuracy, transparency) and underwritten by pro-science traits (e.g., honesty, patience). Second, the outcomes of applied science (e.g., disease cures, pedagogy improvements) are valued by scientists and others. Third, attempting to eliminate values from science is counterproductive because it leads to smuggling in moral commitments that are very difficult to critically evaluate, particularly in the social sciences. Finally, the goal of science is knowledge, which is a vital human good. Therefore, science is a thoroughly moral enterprise because human goods are moral aims. I conclude with three implications of this argument for science education.
KW - Aristotle
KW - goods
KW - moral
KW - Science
KW - values
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U2 - 10.1080/03057240.2020.1781069
DO - 10.1080/03057240.2020.1781069
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85088388947
SP - 1
EP - 12
JO - Journal of Moral Education
JF - Journal of Moral Education
SN - 0305-7240
ER -