Question: In your opinion, what is the best ethical framework to use when considering sensitive scientific issues?
I think that utilitarianism offers a good structure and that's what I'd use.
Hi Freddie, to be honest I’m not an ethicist so I’m not sure I really want to answer this one… though I do know some medical ethicists and have done some really interesting sessions with them about who should be given preference in medical treatments. It’s a big issue!
I’ve been fortunate enough to do work that involves very little danger and therefore ethics, but obviously in a wider perspective I am a nuclear physicist, and particularly at this time there are a lot of ethics regarding the use of nuclear power. I don’t conscribe to utalitarianism because there is no room for “blue sky” research – i.e. doing research that may not produce any benefit, but could uncover things that could become extremely useful – so many things have been discovered this way. I do think otherwise, it’s a good moral code to follow, but it has exceptions.
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