Chen Jiin-Yu
Berman Institute of Bioethics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA,
Sci Eng Ethics. 2015 Feb;21(1):75-94. doi: 10.1007/s11948-014-9522-3. Epub 2014 Feb 5.
As science has grown in size and scope, it has also presented a number of ethical and moral challenges. Approaching these challenges from an ethical framework can provide guidance when engaging with them. In this article, I place science within a virtue ethics framework, as discussed by Aristotle. By framing science within virtue ethics, I discuss what virtue ethics entails for the practicing scientist. Virtue ethics holds that each person should work towards her conception of flourishing where the virtues enable her to realize that conception. The virtues must become part of the scientist's character, undergirding her intentions and motivations, as well as the resulting decisions and actions. The virtue of phronêsis, or practical wisdom, is critical for cultivating virtue, enabling the moral agent to discern the appropriate actions for a particular situation. In exercising phronêsis, the scientist considers the situation from multiple perspectives for an in-depth and nuanced understanding of the situation, discerns the relevant factors, and settles upon an appropriate decision. I examine goods internal to a practice, which are constitutive of science practiced well and discuss the role of phronêsis when grappling with science's ethical and moral features and how the scientist might exercise it. Although phronêsis is important for producing scientific knowledge, it is equally critical for working through the moral and ethical questions science poses.
随着科学在规模和范围上的发展，它也带来了一些伦理和道德挑战。从伦理框架来应对这些挑战，在与之打交道时能提供指导。在本文中，我将科学置于亚里士多德所讨论的德性伦理学框架内。通过将科学置于德性伦理学框架中，我探讨了德性伦理学对实践科学家意味着什么。德性伦理学认为，每个人都应该朝着她所认为的幸福状态努力，而德性使她能够实现那种状态。这些德性必须成为科学家性格的一部分，支撑她的意图和动机，以及由此产生的决策和行动。实践智慧（phronêsis）这一德性对于培养德性至关重要，它能使道德主体辨别出针对特定情形的恰当行动。在运用实践智慧时，科学家会从多个角度审视情形，以便对该情形有深入细致的理解，辨别相关因素，并做出恰当的决策。我考察了一项实践内在的善，这些善构成了良好开展的科学，并讨论了在应对科学的伦理和道德特征时实践智慧的作用，以及科学家可能如何运用它。虽然实践智慧对于产生科学知识很重要，但它对于解决科学所引发的道德和伦理问题同样至关重要。
