Ethics in Science & Technology

This chapter discusses conceptual issues in arguing for the ethics of science and technology. Since we live in a world where scientific knowledge and new technologies are continuously challenging our values, and we have to live our daily lives and make decisions based on the fundamental values of human dignity in our civilisation, scientists are no exception. Governments and private sectors have recognized the importance of ethics required to reconcile the human imperatives of development and sustainability. It is necessary to conduct both in-depth research on ethics and strengthen ethics education in science and technology to solve the problems brought about by rapid developments in the field. Stem cell research, genetic testing, and cloning are giving human beings new power to improve health and control development processes of all living species. Concerns about the social, cultural, legal and ethical implications of such progress are the most significant debates of the past century and a new word has been coined to encompass these concerns, i.e. bioethics.