Journal 8/25/15 Write down your opinions on abortion. Can you justify them? Objective Tonight’s Homework To learn how science interacts with ideas of right and wrong None

Notes: Ethics in Science What is ethics? Ethics is the study of what is morally right and wrong. Most of society stumbles around in the dark with this because they don’t believe in absolute right or wrongs. Everything is what society as a whole believes is “ok” or not. Luckily, we Christians DO believe in absolutes in ethics. There are things that are wrong no matter what and things that are right no matter what. This mini-unit will teach you how to apply those ideas to tricky situations science has created.

Notes: Ethics in Science How do science and ethics mix? Science changes life. Example: In the late 1340s, a plague known as the black death ravaged Europe. It killed 1 in every 3 people. This plague still exists today. It occasionally appears. But it doesn’t kill millions of people. Why not? Because science and medicine have found ways to prevent it.

Notes: Ethics in Science Example: human lifespan For large parts of history, the human lifespan has been much shorter than it is today. A shorter lifespan changed many things for people. They lived for different goals and had a different outlook knowing their lives were only a handful of decades. Now, people live longer. How does this affect how we live?

Notes: Ethics in Science This last point brings us to the fact that scientists can’t predict all the changes that science brings. Example: Invention of the car. Here we see a New York street in Did you know cars then had no seatbelts, windshield wipers, turn signals, or speed limits? Look at cars now. Could scientists have predicted how much and in what ways they would have impacted society?

Notes: Ethics in Science So here’s our key question. If scientists don’t know how their discoveries will change the world, then how do they know what’s ok for them to discover or create? Who has the authority to decide what’s ok and what’s not? What about in emergencies? This is what ethics in science is all about. Trying to decide for yourself and as a society what ideas, rules, and things go too far. Who knows where things will end!

Notes: Ethics in Science So how do we approach discussing and debating ethical issues in science? Laid out below are a number of good steps: 1) Try to see both sides of the issue, not just the side you want. 2) Consult the Bible if possible. Does it have anything to say on the topic? If so, your opinion likely doesn’t matter. God’s rules are absolute! After all, He defines good! 3) Lay out the arguments you want to use to defend your viewpoint. Try to take opinion out of things. Use only facts if you can. 4) Listen to the other person. They may have a good point that changes your mind or ideas!

Ethical Discussions in Science We’re going to debate a number of issues in ethical science here for the rest of the week. There are a few ground rules to lay out before we get started though. 1) Find out which side of the debate you’ll be arguing. Sometimes Mr. C. will let you pick the side you want, other times he’ll force you to take a viewpoint different from the one you hold. 2) Write down your viewpoint and supporting facts for each debate. You’re going to turn these in at the end of the week for points. 3) As you debate, only 1 person gets to talk at a time. Raise your hand. Mr. C. will monitor this for points. 4) Be polite. This is discussion of issues. Not war. If you’re rude or insulting, you lose points.

Ethical Discussion #1 Paying a Price to Advance Science. During World War II, the Nazis put a lot of Jews in concentration camps. A lot of these camps did terrible experiments on the Jews as they killed them. The Nazis wrote down a lot of what they did and what results they saw. (No one argues that what the Nazis did was right.) After the war ended, American troops took over and destroyed the concentration camps. However, they kept the documents and research they found on human experimentation. This research was brought back to the United States and used to help our understanding of medicine and how the human body works. Do you think it was right for us to bring this research back and use it, or should it have been destroyed with the rest of the concentration camp?

Exit Question Do all ethical issues have to involve a choice between two unfortunate things? a) Yes b) No