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Quote by: pam699 is to be amoral - ie not concerned with good and bad-a form of immorality ie to do bad |
To look at things seperate from the moral issues, to me, is not in and of itself bad. There is a difference between amoral analysis and immoral actions. immorality is in direct dichtomous conflict with certain forms of morality, while in amoral views or judgement it is deemed irrelevant to the topic being studied in the sense that no modes or viewpoints on morality influence it.
Take for example, evolution. Scientists study evolution- if they asked the question "Is evolution bad?", they would most likely not gain any true topic on the subject. In this sense, thier moral questioning has no real reward or impact, and thus they avoid it. However, some scientists od indeed apply morality to thier resultign inventions and actions- the majority of scientists out there, for example, hold human life to be of some worth and thus would most likely not be found attempting to develop a super virus.
So are scientists doing something "bad"? No, they are studying things that are amoral, not doing things that are immoral. There is a very large difference.
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an example scientists claim they are amoral when doing their research ie they are in these quest of objective knowledge and not concerned with any moral question ie they claim to be amoral
but is this amoral position in fact a form of immorality ie doing bad
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No. Read my above response. The analysis is amoral while in terms of the application morality is indeed put to use. In fact, there are many ethical restrictions being engrained into today's modern science fields- one of the more notable ones being psychology and it's patient treatment laws.
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example if i drive my car into a group of school children not being concerned with good or bad ie amoral some might call me a psychopath and acting immoraly
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That is not the same as what the scientists are doing, so I do not see how it is in any way analogous to the situation. Scientists look at things that are amoral, and thus in order to understand they are not concerned with the morality issues the existence of this thing brings up within certain ethical frameworks- usually, the morality comes into the application and experimentation realms i.e. that areas that actually effect society and humanity in a profound manner.
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is all activity we do coloured by morality or are some acts and bvehavour outside morality and just amoral
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All activity we do is colored by morality, however the same cannot be said of other nonhuman constructs- they are not concerned nor affected by moral issues in the same way humans are. That is why, in order to understand them, one cannot look at them in a moral way. For example- you cannot gain knowledge of an atom by asking yourself "What is GOOD about this atom?"
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so is amoral a form of immorality
and are scientists who hold this position acting immorally
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Amoral is a quality of certain objects and modes of study. What it is not is a mode of behavior.
Now, a question for you- how can morality exist without meaning or value? Why are you even asking such a question when it is based on something that is foundationally contradictory with your other premises?