The Oxford dictionary defines knowledge as the sum of what is known and ethical responsibility as the duty to follow a path that is deemed morally correct.
“Knowledge is power”. “Great power involves great responsibility”. Both of these quotes, the first belonging to Francis Bacon and the second to Franklin D. Roosevelt, demonstrate the undeniable relationship between knowledge and responsibility. So if the possession of knowledge gives one great power, then certainly ethical responsibility comes hand in hand with it. But what does ethical responsibility involve? Does all personal knowledge need to be shared in order to broaden shared knowledge? Or is there a limit to the ethical responsibility on the possession of knowledge, and if so where do you draw the line? In this essay I will venture into a few AOK’s and see which holds more ethical responsibility in the possession of its knowledge and why.
Possession of knowledge in natural sciences caries infinite amount of ethical responsibility, primarily due to the effect it has on a large scale. The possession of knowledge in natural sciences can either save or end lives. A perfect example of this is Alexander Fleming and his discovery of penicillin. Had he not shared his accidental discovery of the antibiotic, millions would have died. Alexander Fleming had an ethical responsibility to share his knowledge as not doing so would have appeared to be immoral. In this situation, sharing his knowledge brought the greatest amount of happiness to the largest quantity of people. However the opposite can be said with some cases in natural sciences. The most famous being the Manhattan project. The scientists working on that project had an ethical responsibility not to share their possessed...
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... job to take it upon themselves and become a history teacher. Here it is a collective ethical responsibility rather than individuals but it remains an ethical responsibility none the less.
In conclusion, the possession of knowledge carries ethical responsibilities, but it varies in severity. I believe that ethical responsibility comes in play when the knowledge being possessed is obscure or unknown. In these cases ethical responsibility lies in the hands of a few knowers to teach the rest and it isn’t a collective ethical responsibility, like mundane knowledge. Obscure knowledge has the ethical responsibility to be spread and become shared knowledge, mundane knowledge, on the other hand, has only the ethical responsibility stay a part of share knowledge. The AOKs can be classified in terms of ethical responsibility according to effect they have on a large scale.
An ethical responsibility is the responsibilities that we must do or must not do, and they are stated in the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct. An example is that we cannot make any decisions about a child without consulting the family first. As it states in the NAEYC Code of Ethical Conduct; P-2.4: We shall ensure that the family is involved in significant decisions affecting their child.
Margaret R.,DeCosse, David, Andre, Claire, & Hanson Markkula, Kirk O. (1988). Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University. Issues in Ethics, V. 1, N. 2. Sobel, Russell S. &
Shafer-Landau, R. (2013) Ethical Theory: An Anthology (Second Edition). West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
The movie “PRECIOUS KNOWLEDGE” is about the state of Arizona banning ethnic studies. The movie’s main focus is on Tucson High school, specifically the class known as the Mexican American/Raza Studies. They learned about the honest truths about America along with their own culture. However, many politicians saw this class as un-American and “Stalinist”. This movie showed that the students became thriving adults because they were able to learn about their own cultures. During a political meeting, many politicians felt like this was an unnecessary class that was wasting their tax dollars. One law maker goes as far to say that if Mexican Americans want to learn about their culture, they should go back to Mexico. Many people saw these Mexican American students as lazy and disinterested. This is related to the “canary in the mind pit” analogy because
In the book, A Practical Companion to Ethics, Anthony Weston shares his exploration in the myriad of ethical issues that we as a population have discussed and disagreed upon every day since the beginning of time. Within A Practical Companion to Ethics Weston describes several different ways that one can be mindful thinkers.
Philosophy can best be described as an abstract, scholarly discourse. According to the Greek, philosophia refers to ‘love of knowledge’. This is an aspect that has involved a great number of clever minds in the world’s history. They have sought to deal with issues surrounding the character of veracity and significantly exploring the endeavors to respond to these issues. This paper seeks to compare and contrast the philosophy of Aristotle with that of Confucius. This is with a clear concentration on the absolute functions of these philosophies and how they take care of the particular responsibility of a person and the broader society and the resultant effects on societies (Barnes, 1995).
...on one is. I harms and kills many, so knowledge should not be used without responsibility. It can make someone rich and successful, but not in a way one thinks they will be rich. Someone can always get rich in a bad way and that means you’re usually up to no good. Too much knowledge is not good and it can really hurt others.
The philosopher, Linda Zagzebski, offers a virtue based definition of knowledge. She arrives at this definition by presenting numerous accounts of knowledge definitions that fail, explore why they fail, then shows how her theory satisfies knowledge criteria.
So to say, knowledge can either make or break a person. It can act as a benefit, for power, or loss, for ignorance. “Do not take for granted what you know. Ask yourself how you know what you know; ask yourself whom it benefits, whom it hurts and why.” (Blackboard: Knowledge is Power)
First, arranging moral precepts into ethical systems facilitates understanding of well-defined values, norms, and beliefs adopted by a group. In turn, groups express these beliefs by codifying them through rules, laws, and codes of conduct intended to influence decision-making, especially when a poor decision would lead to corruption, and loss of professional trust. More importantly, ethical systems provide moral justification for activities that appear to defy innate human instincts. Lastly, ethics provide insight into the cause and effect of a potential action or decision, allowing the group to determine what is right (ethical, effective, and efficient) within an established framework. All of these ethical characteristics are important to understand because they can compel an individual or group to act contrary to a universal human
Production of knowledge is generally seen in a positive light. However, when ethics and morality become involved in the process of production, judgements will undoubtedly be made that may seem to limit the availability of that knowledge. Ethical judgements are made by the combination of a knower, his or her standard of value, and the situation itself. In the field of the arts and natural sciences, ethics plays a crucial role in the extent one may possibly be allowed to go when discovering new knowledge. Reason and emotion are important ways of knowing that help guide knowers in making certain moral decisions.
“The end justifies the means” is the famous quote of Machiavelli (Viroli, 1998) which puts the emphasis of morality on the finale results rather than the actions undertaken to achieve them. Is this claim true in the field of the natural sciences? Whether atomic bombings, as a mean used to end World War II, justifies the death of civilians in Hiroshima and Nagasaki? What is moral limitation in the acquisition of knowledge in the natural sciences? How is art constrained by moral judgment? Is it applicable to various works of art? Oscar Wilde claimed that “There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.” (Wilde, 1945). Does it mean that writers should have complete freedom? Or should ethical considerations limit what they say and how they say it?
Moral ethics is the belief that all human beings are born to know right from wrong. We come into this world as good people, but the temptations and challenges in life influence our mind set to as it will. Every person on Earth chooses if they’re to follow through with their life of good or go down the path of bad. “A person’s moral ethics” (unknown.)
...ofeminism, I cannot help but believe that the ethics of valuing women, people, and the nonhuman world, asserting an expansive conception of knowledge that embraces science equally with the knowledge that emerges from understanding, emotion, and creativity is very needed here and now.
...otence in the Ethics Areas of Knowledge as personal emotion is centerfold to the seeker.