Science and Morality

The dis-oriented author is has a degree in mathematics. I am also an evangelical Christian and I have an interest in science.

A couple weeks ago, I read an op-ed piece in my local paper, the Cedar Rapids Gazette, about the morning after contraceptive, Plan B. Plan B had been made legal for adults but the paper's editorial board wrote:

The FDA must give teenage girls under 18 the same over-the-counter access to this contraception. To do so, the FDA first needs to end its practice of basing decisions on personal  morals and politics instead of  medical science.

I had to ask myself whether I had read it correctly — scientific decisions should be made apart from morality? Does anyone really want to live in a world like that, I for one do not.

What the editorial board really means is that their morality should prevail and anyone who disagrees is a close-minded religious nut. The idea that scientific investigation or as in this case adoption of scientific  should proceed outside of any moral guidelines is frightening.

Science must always exist be constrained by moral boundaries. There are countless examples from history, obscure and infamous, of science run amok.

During the cold war, the Department of Energy conducted radiation experiments on large numbers of civilians and military personnel. Many of these were unwitting participants. Many of these human guinea pigs suffered long-term health problems including death. The DoE, AEC and military knew that there were serious risks involved but carried out the experiments anyway. The need for scientific data on the effect of radiation overrode the basic moral idea that killing people, quickly or slowly, in the name of science is bad.

I have tried to write this blog without using Nazi references or calling anyone a Nazi (unless of course they really are, like Prussian Blue) but I cannot help but throw in a reference here. Following the mantra of science absent morality, the Nazis performed experiments on the prisoners, twins, gypsies, the infirm and others. I will not get into the gruesome details here.

I am not anti-science. Followers of my book reviews will know that I find science (particularly physics) fascinating. But if science is allowed to chart its course without a moral compass, tragedy is inevitable result.