Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
3.6 Chemistry and ethical values
The ambivalence and potentially threatening nature of scientific knowl-
edge and the technical inventions that accrue from it is expressed in a
conflict between scientific knowledge and ethical values. In just more
than half of the films (51%) ethical values are challenged, undermined,
and in direct conflict with the science portrayed in the respective story
(Weingart
et al
. 2003). If one breaks down the overall result for the
different disciplines, the previous picture emerges once again: The
discipline that is ethically problematic is above all medical research, to
be followed by physics, chemistry, genetics, psychology, and biology.
Astronomy, anthropology, and the humanities are mostly regarded as
outside of this concern. If one looks at films in which chemistry is a
subject, the largest single segment of them shows the discipline being in
conflict with ethical values.
3.7 Depictions of scientists' characters
In view of the notoriety of the 'mad scientist' as the icon of a movie
character one might expect that whenever scientists appear in film plots
they tend to be descendants of Victor Frankenstein. Here we have com-
piled a slightly more complex picture that needs some explanation. On
the one hand, results from a host of opinion polls show, time and again,
that science as an institution is highly trusted by society. This is reflected
in a large number of figures indicating scientists as being 'benevolent'
and 'good'. However, our category of the 'benevolent' scientist already
includes traits of ambivalence. The benevolent scientist can be naive
when dealing with powerful interests, can mean well but sees his or her
discoveries being put to some perverted use and the like. The 'ambiva-
lent' scientists are easily manipulated, idealistic but progressively
corrupted, ambitious, lose sight of the consequences of their work, and,
most importantly, they grow willing to violate ethical principles for the
sake of gaining new knowledge.
If one looks at the distribution of profiles by field it is quite obvious
that medical research, physics, chemistry, and psychology are the disci-
plines that are portrayed with the greatest ambivalence. In these fields the
