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closeIs science normative?
Posted by BRutjens on 29 Aug 2013 at 08:40 GMT
Interesting article, but I was wondering... The authors write: "As such, the notion of science contains in it the broader moral vision of a society in which rationality is used for the mutual benefit of all. We predict that this notion of science as part of a broader moral vision of society facilitates moral and prosocial judgments and behaviors."
Would one really expect 19-year old undergraduate students (or basically the majority of the population) to associate science-related words such as "theory" and "hypothesis" with such sweeping visions of science as a moral guide of society?
RE: Is science normative?
kdarwish replied to BRutjens on 29 Aug 2013 at 12:19 GMT
First, addressing your question, it almost reads as though you are equating "basically the majority of the population" with 19-year old undergraduates. :) Funnily enough, that affords a lateral view of the concepts of "moral" and "normative" as relativistic (contextual) to the point of being "meaningless". If you seek more deep intellectual dissection (analysis), you might read Nietzcshe's "On the Genealogy of Morality", and/or Robert Pirsig's "Lila", both excellent treatise of morals. Pirsig focusses the classical (analytical) lens of science on a system of morality for establishing the Metaphysics of Quality.