Morals, on the other hand are defined to be concerned with the goodness or badness of human character or behavior, or with the distinction between right and wrong. They are also concerned with accepted rules and standards of human behavior.
But why am I talking about them ? Well, a talk and a resultant discussion sparked this chain of thought in my head and the resulting thoughts have only been crystallizing into words over the next few days.
This talk, given by an eminent Indian scientist was aimed at highlighting the increasing role of ethics in science and our daily lives.
First and foremost, this gentleman began by stating that ethics and morals are different. This is a point of contention for me as I do not see any difference between the two. A bit of prodding made me see his point which was that doctrinal ethics which are based on a religious code of conduct are actually morals… Although, I see his point of view, I am not quite convinced, however the distinction between ethics and morals (if any !!) is not of much consequence to the following subject and therefore, I am going to leave it to subjectivity…
But the interesting points made in this talk, are very pertinent and are in fact relevant to our world today.
Sample this…
Dolly was cloned i.e., she was a product of inserting the genomic content of an adult cell (From say Polly) into the enucleated egg of another sheep (From say Molly) and the resultant reprogrammed egg was then implanted into the uterus of another sheep, the surrogate mother (say Holly, for convenience's sake)… now, the tricky question arises … who is the rightful mother to Dolly ? Polly who gave the DNA, Molly who gave the egg or Holly, who carried the fetus for the entire term of pregnancy.. ? This is not an easy question to answer but a lot of people might say that Holly should be rightful mother… But imagine extrapolating the same to the case of us, humans. I am sure the problem doesn’t escape you!!!
This is just one of the problems presented to us in the course of the talk…
Imagine being asked about:
Capital punishment….
The ethics behind animal research, using animals for experimentation…
The ethics behind non-vegetarianism…
The ethics of "savior sibling", i.e. Having a second progeny with the objective of using his/her organs to salvage the health of the older sibling… Who has the right for it ? Is it ethical, legal ? Can the parents make the choice ?
The ethics of abortion ?
The use of discarded embryos from fertilization clinics for stem cell research ?
The beginnings of life and the ethics of abortion ?
The principles of stem cell research...
Etc etc
There are many such issues, the answers for which are not easy to come up with. These are subjects which have evolved over the years with multiple viewpoints and perspectives… Each person has an opinion and a perspective which varies depending on his moral, social, economic and political background …
With the progress seen in the last decade or two in the field of science and technology, many such questions are increasingly coming under the ambit of Science and Scientists. Researchers need to provide answers to these and many such questions… But how do you answer such questions ? The answers to these questions will evolve with time as the questions also acquire new meanings…
Other than the participation of the scientists, these questions also need to be answered with the involvement of social scientists, anthropologists, social workers, animal rights activists, the general people and the representatives from the various social strata. These are not questions which can be answered easily with a single framework and they require maximum participation between the general public and the specialists all over the world such that the diverse sensibilities can be taken into account…
But this then brings me to the question of how this is to be achieved ? Do we have a frame work for this ? Considering that our religious beliefs and morals can shape these decisions, how do we segregate the two ? For example, "Gay marriages" seem ethically/morally wrong to many people on account of their religious beliefs, but keeping these influences aside, any free thinking individual would support the right of any individual to determine his/her sexual preferences.
So, we need a framework that can fit in people from these diverse backgrounds, present them the problem in light of the past, the present and the future,and get their rational feedback...
This is a challenge indeed and it is high time that India, as a nation aspiring to be on the science and technology fast track, take initiatives to address these questions... through dialogue and discussion... aimed at arriving at a consensus.
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