Ethics has been one of the most important aspects of the societal fabric that holds it together and strives to promote peaceful coexistence. It helps define one’s actions on the basis of how such actions would affect other members of the society.
In Arts and Natural Science, ethics is considered a key ingredient that must be held by professionals in these areas when conducting various activities. According to Boetzkes (90), there has been an argument that ethical judgments limit the methods available in the production of knowledge in both the arts and the natural sciences.
It would be important to investigate the truth in this statement in order to come up with the relevant conclusion. This research will focus on how ethical judgment can impinge the creativity. When conducting a research, it is very important to work with specific research question as a guideline to what is to be achieved from the research. In this research, the guiding questions states as below.
Do ethical judgments limit the methods available in the production of knowledge in both arts and the natural sciences?
This question focuses on the controversies that are common in the field of Arts and Natural Science. According to MacKinnon (37), controversies are always an indication that there could be a possibility of a breach of ethics among the parties involved. The question seeks to find the truth about the effect of ethics on these two fields. It would be investigating if there is a way in which ethics could impede creativity in the field of Arts or Natural Science.
In order to develop a clear background in responding to the above question, it would be important to understand some of the potential knowledge issues in the two fields. In this regard, there will be an attempt to try investigating the extent to which ethical considerations constrain the manner at which Arts are created. In Natural Sciences, it would be necessary to investigate the relevance of ethics, and its real impact on the activities of the scientists.
To adequately respond to the above raised issues, it would be important to draw from real life issues of natural scientists and artists and how they have been able to manage the issue of ethics in their respective fields. According to Mizzoni (45), there has been a massive controversy as to the level of creativity that can be considered ethical in Natural Science. Scientists have been focusing on coming up with creative ideas that can enable them advance their fields.
However, it is important to note that some of their creations have been considered controversial. Cloning is one such controversy that has not been able to pass the ethical test. Scientists have been able to clone animals, and recently, there has been an attempt to clone human being. This is a clear sign of advancement in the field of Natural Science. However, the problem comes when there is a feeling this development is not morally upright.
Human being is a complex creature that must have ability to reason rationally and make decisions based on understanding of how their decisions can affect other people. When scientists create a human being, it may not be very easy for them to control the actions of such a human being. This means that they will be creating machines that they are not able to control.
This can be disastrous. It is at this stage that ethics would be seen to impinge the development of Natural Science. Scientists feel that they have the capacity to create a human being. However, ethics warns that such attempts can be disastrous if care is not taken. This way, a scientist who was planning to develop his or her field will be denied the opportunity because the society does not consider this ethical.
Another aspect where ethics has been seen to impinge development in the field of Natural Science is on the issue of genetically modified foods (GMO). The society has become weary of the type of food they eat. According to Briggle (78), people have become very sensitive on the nature of food presented to them as they try to ensure that they eat healthy foods in order to have good health.
This has made them very suspicious of genetically modified foods because of the feeling that they could be having some hormones that are not healthy to human beings. Although proponents of genetically modified foods have come out strongly to say that these foods are safe for human consumption, a section of scientists have raised a number of issues concerning these foods. As a result, the society has not wholly accepted the fact that genetically modified foods can be safe for their consumption.
This has affected the work of scientists who are trying to be ethical by limiting their advancement of knowledge in this area. In some parts of the world, especially in many countries in Europe, genetically modified foods are prohibited by law. This means that it would be unethical for scientists to advance knowledge in this field because it is of little or no use. Moving to other countries like the United States, to make advancements in this field would be viewed as being unethical.
This is because the society back at home would view such actions as trying to justify what is considered illegal by moving in other societies where the vice is legalized. This may have a thin line with trying to move to the states within the United States that have legalized marijuana to smoke the substance.
Although such an individual would be acting within the law, ethically, there will be a guilt that he or she is doing what the society disapproves. Such guilt may affect the capacity of a scientist to come up with new adventurous ideas in a given field.
To the artists, the need to be ethical in their activities has been seen as a form of impediment to the development of some of their activities. As Rollin (56) notes, artists are always encouraged to maintain ethics in their activities. However, there are cases where ethics may be seen as an impediment in the production of knowledge in the field of Arts. Some of the works of art may be considered as being unethical. Artists always use their artistry to communicate different ideas they have.
This means that the outcome of a piece of art will be based on the societal standards of a given artists. However, what one society considerers ethical may be unethical in another community. In a global world, the society has been reduced into a small village where geographical boundaries play no role in defining societal practices. This means that a piece of art made in Africa may easily find its way to the United States, United Kingdom or in Saudi Arabia.
These societies may have different ways of viewing pieces of art. What the Americans consider as normal may be very unethical in Saudi Arabia. For instance, the society in the United States is slowly accepting gays as members of the society who deserve to be respected despite their sex orientation.
However, this still remains a taboo topic in Saudi Arabia. An artist in the United States may come up with a piece of art that depicts or promotes gay practices because the American society is tolerant over this issue. However, this is very unacceptable in the Saudi Arabian society because it goes against Muslim religious teachings.
An artist who is specialized in production of such artworks would have to ensure that such works do not find their way to the wrong market. The artist will also have a negative reputation in this society because of such work. If he or she prefers to remain ethical and avoid controversies, he may be forced to avoid this field of work.
When responding to this question, the main difficulty that a researcher may counter is the real definition of ethics. What one considers as ethical may be considered as unethical by another individual. This means that it would be necessary to find what a wider society considers ethical. This may be a challenge, especially given the diversity in our society. This means that any issue that has generated substantial controversy would be considered as unethical.
Works Cited
Boetzkes, Amanda. The ethics of earth art. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2010, Print.
Briggle, Adams. Ethics and science: An introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012. Print.
MacKinnon, Barbara. Ethics: Theory and contemporary issues. Boston: Cengage Learning, 2011. Print.
Mizzoni, John. Ethics: The basics. Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010. Print.
Rollin, Bernard E. Science and Ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006. Print.