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The Objectivity Of Science And Science

Decent Essays

The objectivity of science would be contingent on our trust in the scientists who are feeding us knowledge. We often believe these scientists, but is there actually a reason for us to trust what they are passing on to us? What would science be if they had not been telling the truth? There is no denying the existence of public trust in the words of scientists, but it should be noted that everything that we understand as scientific fact today would be in question if we lost trust in our scientists. Teachers of science, doers of science, and scientific writers are most definitely the source of the majority of our scientific knowledge. We have to trust these people though because if we do not trust them, who do we trust?
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And if so, is being virtuous and moral enough of a reason for us to confirm our trust in the reliability and authority of science? Could it not be the case that scientists are seen as ordinary people possessing extraordinary knowledge as a result of their job title or description? The fact that we have this widespread trust of science proves that we must believe to have an understanding of what scientists are like.

There has been a long-going development of a public image of scientists, one that has recently begun to change. Due to factors such as the internet and the media, science is something that is able to been seen and looked into simultaneously by numerous people. When a scientist intentionally fudges their data, it is not small news. Problems of this sort have birthed various concerns about science, and about science’s authority and reliability in specific. This speculation of dishonest scientists not only will effect the reliability of science in the eyes of the public, but also the realm in which scientists are producing truly credible knowledge. “Our technical knowledge is only as secure as the moral economy in which it is produced” (Shapin, ?). As of now, the way in which scientists come to agree or settle disputes, is an issue that we cannot fully grasp.

This skepticism of scientific objectivity appears to be the cause of a number of our fundamental contemporary dilemmas regarding the morality and authority of science. As long as scientists

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