Bryan Li (10) | STAFF REPORTER
Written May 2023
Science and human values may seem like two different things on opposite sides of the spectrum, but a deeper look infers that science is not totally free from human values. Is science objective and detached from human values, or do human values still play a major part in it?
The purpose of science is to explain and/or predict a central purpose. Scientists work endlessly in order to come up with a new revelation, adding to our current collection of knowledge and supported theories. However, the purpose of science is much deeper than explaining and predicting. Scientists strive to expand their knowledge on a subject, creating better lives, and addressing pressing issues within the world. However, scientists may not be innocent of human values, biases, and interpretations from their point of view or tastes.
David Hume’s problem of induction talked about a challenge regarding the scientific method. Hume argued that causation cannot be obtained by observations of correlation and that causation is the knee-jerk reaction of the human to conceive of two subsequent phenomena. There does not exist cause-and-effect, making Hume somewhat skeptical of the objectivity and credibility of science. Essentially, he proves that science overly relies on generalizing from observed phenomena to make predictions/theories. He also points out that Science, like many things, is always evolving. There is a big possibility that in the future, many current observations that are deemed correct will be deemed incorrect. This is because of the limitations within human knowledge today, preventing us from learning more.
Additionally, Hempel’s Raven Paradox talks about this to some extent. It questions the reliability that induction has, likewise the issues of logic when applied in real life. It states, “all ravens are black”, as well as “all non-black objects are non-ravens”. The latter statement is clearly false, revealing the flaws of inductive reasoning, based on ideas from observations that are lacking proof and research.
Even though this lack of objectivity in science may pose an ongoing concern, there are few solutions to this issue. This is because endeavours always leave out crucial information or are lacking knowledge that has not been discovered yet. However, it remains necessary that society is skeptical of the value-laden scientific method and the inductive practices of empirical studies; they are not as ironclad and objective as dogmatic experts claim.
