Prof. Jorge Alegre-Cebollada
(CNIC)
The activity of the scientist is plenty of moral dilemmas, yet we seldom talk about them. In my opinion, such lack of attention can undermine the scientific enterprise and cause personal distress. In this session, I will review the three main sources of moral dilemmas in science, which in my opinion stem from:
- the fact that scientists provide tools but do not specify their use (for instance, development of nuclear energy)
- the fact that scientists borrow tools from nature (animal and human subject research)
- the fact that scientists, which are supported by society, provide general rules on how things work in a highly competitive environment
The session is expected to be very participative; attendees are very welcome to add their own opinion to the discussion.
For further information, the interested reader is referred to the article: Moral dilemmas in research (in Spanish, Los dilemas morales en la investigación científica)
12.00pm