Science in Society: Ethics, Public Policy and Scientific Practice

Perhaps now more so than in any other time in human history, science and technology play a central role in our lives. With this comes the potential for both great benefit to society, and great harm. In this collaborative, workshop-focused unit students critically examine the nature of science, and its role in society via a mixture of discussion and written activities that integrate concepts and ideas from philosophy of science, bioethics, science communication, sociology of science and science itself. Students in this course engage with various real-world challenges, such as climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, cloning, genetic engineering, space exploration and animal testing, the following ethical and philosophical questions will be considered: (1) What is science?; (2) What sort of research should we be doing in science?; (3) Who should decide what research we undertake?; (4) What role should science and scientists play in society?; and (5) What ethical responsibility do scientists have to society?