The obligation to account to authorities and citizens for the correct use of resources and the results obtained in research has become mutual not only between the spheres of science and politics, but also with regards to civil society. The task of public communication is one of the challenges of bioethics. From 1991 to 2003, the CNR Commission on Bioethics fulfilled an important role, however a conviction emerged that the elaboration of complex ethical arguments about scientific issues was practically useless, if in the end we couldn't transmit the right message to the world. Public understanding of science fail often to include ethical aspects. In common opinion and the theories of moral law, the light of reason is the root of all that is just, and of moral good and wrong. On the other hand the concept of absolute relativism, which is gaining force daily, is the enemy of true scientific information and activity. Today even certain state institutions and polices, would substitute for this a universal and thoroughly secular education, accommodating the individual interests of all. It can thus be no surprise to us that many ordinary people in Europe refuse this kind of "ethics" and "education". "Horizon 2020" at Point 6, Europe in a changing world - Inclusive, innovative and reflective societies, calls for the engagement of citizens in a common European approach to modelling society, supported by social sciences and humanities. But is a common European approach even possible without first searching for common values, without firm ethics in information and communication? In this context, how can medical libraries contribute to sharing useful information about the ethics and knowledge of science with society, in good and constructive ways?
Ethics & scientific information for a reflective Society
Rosalia Azzaro
2014
Abstract
The obligation to account to authorities and citizens for the correct use of resources and the results obtained in research has become mutual not only between the spheres of science and politics, but also with regards to civil society. The task of public communication is one of the challenges of bioethics. From 1991 to 2003, the CNR Commission on Bioethics fulfilled an important role, however a conviction emerged that the elaboration of complex ethical arguments about scientific issues was practically useless, if in the end we couldn't transmit the right message to the world. Public understanding of science fail often to include ethical aspects. In common opinion and the theories of moral law, the light of reason is the root of all that is just, and of moral good and wrong. On the other hand the concept of absolute relativism, which is gaining force daily, is the enemy of true scientific information and activity. Today even certain state institutions and polices, would substitute for this a universal and thoroughly secular education, accommodating the individual interests of all. It can thus be no surprise to us that many ordinary people in Europe refuse this kind of "ethics" and "education". "Horizon 2020" at Point 6, Europe in a changing world - Inclusive, innovative and reflective societies, calls for the engagement of citizens in a common European approach to modelling society, supported by social sciences and humanities. But is a common European approach even possible without first searching for common values, without firm ethics in information and communication? In this context, how can medical libraries contribute to sharing useful information about the ethics and knowledge of science with society, in good and constructive ways?I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
