Science as a Profession: And Its Responsibility

Abstract

Abstract Scientific responsibility has changed with the successful professionalization of science. Today, science is a privileged profession, one with a (tacit) management mandate for systematic knowledge acquisition. Within this framework, science acts with responsibility. This chapter reflects the responsibility of science in the German context. After Wold War 2, the extraordinary responsibility of scientists, which C.F. von Weizsäcker emphasized, referred to a specific phase in the institutional development of science, termed scientism (“science justifies society,” science as religion), and corresponded to an elite responsibility. Today, one responsibility of science as a profession is to safeguard and develop scientific standards. This also concerns, on the one hand, the self-organization and control of science as a profession and, on the other hand, the communication of science to society. As a professional scientist, one has two responsibilities, the commitments to good science (professional ethics plus co-responsibility for the development of science as a profession) and civic responsibility. Due to their special knowledge, the civic responsibility of the scientist differs from that of other professionals. This chapter introduces science as a profession and presents an integrative notion of responsibility, also shedding light on the social responsibility of science.

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