Ethics skepticism

All of these are part of the internal code of practice of science. As noted above, it is essential for scientists to report data completely and to interpret them objectively. One of the subtle ethical dangers in scientific practice is self-deception, misinterpreting, or overinterpreting data to meet prior expectations. The history of science is filled with examples of self-deception N-rays and polywater are two of the most famous. Maxims 1, 3, and 4 above speak directly to this danger. Maxim 2 is more directly related to Merton s principle of organized skepticism. It is essential that scientists tell each other the truth, as they see it, even if it means challenging a well-established idea. 

A survey of Rutgers University students found that in graduate school, a significant number of students admitted to cheating (MBAs 56%, engineering 54%, education 48%, and law 45%). The Ethics Resource Center s 2007 national business ethics survey results showed that within the corporate environment, 56% of employees have observed misconduct 36% fear retaliation and 54% are skeptical that a report would matter (Ethics Resource Center, 2007). Management may not be aware of misconduct, since 42% of employees who observe misconduct do not report it. 

While the technical and scientific cormnunities may agree that deep geologic disposal is safe and ethical, the pubhc seems much more skeptical. The main hurdle now is gaining public and political confidence in the safety of a deep geological disposal program and of the sites selected by that program. 

ANTIOCHUS of ASCALON (late second century to 68/7). Head of the Academy, which he turned away from skepticism to what he called the Old Academy, emphasizing the similarity among Stoic, Peripatetic, and Platonic ethical beliefs. Cicero heard him lecture in Athens in 79/8, and he had close connections with many Romans of high rank. 

We must take up the complex question of what constitutes human welfare, and we will need tools such as everyday ethics in order to have such a conversation. This is because the shaping and communication of engineering values happens both implicitly and explicitly, and these values can be invoked and inculcated in contradictory ways. The engineering profession may encourage certain values, for example, even if it does not insist upon them in explicit codes of ethics. Possible examples include eco-skepticism as discussed by Didier and Talin in Chap. 12, and the effects of climate change on the standards used in planning and building nuclear power plants by Schneider, Tidwell, and Fitzwater in Chap. 15. 

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