Social responsibility of a scientist and freedom of scientific creativity

The article considers two moral problems: is it permissible to continue research that can harm people and humanity, and what is the degree of scientist’s responsibility if the results of his scientific activities are used to the detriment of people and society? It is shown that the harm from the results of scientific and related technical activities can be intentional and unintentional. In the first case, not only moral, but also legal norms are violated. Unintended harm from scientific research can occur if control over its course is lost during scientific experiments. If there is a potential danger threatening a catastrophe, for example, a nuclear explosion, a leak of toxins, the appearance of organisms with a dangerous genotype, then a moratorium, possibly temporary, must be imposed on experiments in this area until the real danger is clarified. The difference between the responsibility of scientist-theoretician and scientist-practitioner is shown. The scientist-theoretician is directly responsible for the reliability of his proposed results. Decisions about the use of discoveries are made by politicians and businessmen. They are directly responsible for the use of scientific knowledge. A scientist-theoretician is only responsible for transmitting his discovery or his scientific results to third parties. The moral responsibility of scientist-practitioner is higher than that of theoreticians, because they know what they are creating. Nevertheless the responsibility of scientist-practitioner is still lower than the responsibility of politicians and businessmen. Scientists-practitioners are responsible for creating a new type of technology, and politicians are responsible for both the creation of technology and its subsequent use. The conclusion is made that the freedom of scientific creativity must be determined from the inside by the need to accept restrictions related to the possible negative consequences of scientific research. If the necessity of these restrictions is understood and accepted voluntarily, the freedom of scientific research is preserved.

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