Citation

Arseculeratne SN. J. Natl. Sci. Found. Sri Lanka 2009; 37(2): e83.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka)

DOI

10.4038/jnsfsr.v37i2.1063

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This essay addresses the central theme that moral philosophy, now termed ethics, was divorced from natural philosophy, now termed science, as long as three hundred years ago, when modern science began its spectacular growth. This dichotomy has given rise to accusations that science functions without ethical concerns. The disastrous or sometimes ill-advised uses of technology derived from science, that are sometimes tragic, are the result of ignorance, scientific illiteracy or deliberate insensitivity and lack of ethical sense of persons involved in governance and application of science-based technologies, and not necessarily and primarily the fault of the scientist him/her-self. The divide between the sciences and the arts and humanities, considered in the idea of The Two-Cultures, together with scientific illiteracy in the main, contributes to this situation. The reconciliation of these two components of the divide, through a sound education, is argued to be of crucial importance and urgency.
Keywords: Education, human values, science, science-based technology, scientific illiteracy, The Two-Culturesdoi :10.4038/jnsfsr.v37i2.1063

Language: en