The Extrinsic Social Context of Scientific Work

To exercise authoritative or dominating influence over (“Control,” ), this is the definition of control. Authoritative and dominating can both be seen as words that provoke negative emotions. While control may be associated with those feelings, it is not always a bad thing. We reap in the benefits of control on a daily basis, whether we are aware of it or not. Scientists do what society wants them to do, thereby affecting the finding of science. Even how they arrive at a conclusion is determined by society telling them what is ethical and unethical. The methods and findings of science are molded off the restrictions and desires of society.

Before approaching what knowledge scientists pursue, we must first address how they are “allowed” to arrive at such conclusions, and how the knowledge is then affected. Humans are intrinsically good, and motivated to do good. From this we (as a society as well as individual) form ethics which define what is right and what is considered wrong. When individuals come together with the same definitions of what is right and what is wrong, we can then as a society define something ethical or unethical. The ethics of society is defined by society. When a method of collecting data and knowledge is deemed unethical we have a tendency to choose another path. For scientists, who are under the public eye, they do not have this choice. Many things prohibit scientists from doing something in an unethical way. Scientists want to be respected by the public, and if they are respected then their work is as well. Their drive to accomplish something and to make a difference is what then drives them to then abide by these ethics set up by society. If a scientist does not agree with the socially constructed and acce...

... middle of paper ...

...ve work would cease. “Individual scientists do not think. Scientific collectives think through individual scientists.” (Ludwik Fleck) This quote shows how we need to be able to build off of each other to achieve a greater understanding. This is not possible without a spark of inspiration. This inspiration comes from the requests of society, be that Western or otherwise. Therefore it can be deduced that society, including Western, must be embraced and not fought in order to gain knowledge and in time, truth.

In conclusion, the methods and findings of science are molded off the restrictions and desires of society. This can be seen by the regulations placed on different types of methods do to ethics. Based off the regulations this then restricts the finding of science. It can also be shown that scientists do things for society, what the society wants is what is found.