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Abstract: It is not difficult to find social values from science and technology. Although there are a great many positive values, negative ones cannot be denied or ignored. Negative values are not only revealed in their harm to the Environmental Protection, but also to the human society and civil life. In this article, two examples are cited to prove the author’s point of view. One is the disappearance of tropical rainforests, and the other one is the holocaust in the Second World War in 20th century. Individual in any conditions should unconditionally assume his moral responsibility. Otherwise, human will suffer disasters which have unimaginable results.
Key words: science and technology, Negative value, Biodiversity, Alienation , Holocaust, moral responsibility
Science and technology are integral components of the human race but are they 'value neutral'? That is a very important question. Different people have different viewpoints. Perhaps many people will explain the positive value science and technology have brought into our lives; however the amount of benefit or negative ramifications they help bring about depends heavily on the way they are used and applied. As an old saying goes that each coin has two sides, there are both positive and negative values for science and technology as well. Nobody can deny that it helps us lead a better and happier life, however at the same time, in many cases environment is damaged and resulting negative externalities may overwhelm any positive benefit it brings. Unrestrained publicity of instrumental rationality, loss of the value of rational science and technology has led to the results that the sword of Damocles is hanging above our head. Now, as negative value of science of technology, an example will be cited as follow.
In the first example, with the development of science and technology, a large number of species on Earth gradually disappear, and many forests have been felled. Tropical rain forests are involved in this catastrophe. For example, in the twentieth century, the disappearance of the Amazon rainforest is equivalent to the French territory area. However we should know that each species in the world have the basic right of survival and development, both of which are inherent. Humans have no right to deprive other species of their natural rights. This concept comes from the theory of natural rights by philosopher Rousseau in eighteenth-century. While human beings have their rights, each creature also has a right to life. This is not only from a utilitarian theory, but also from a moral theory. From the air into the soil, and from birds to fish, nature is an organic food chain. Where there is a problem in any part of this chain, the ecological imbalance will be affected, such as global warming, extinction of the species, El Nino, La Nina, melting of the Arctic ices, rise of the global sea level, and so on. It can be easily found that human beings have already suffered the natural punishment because of the abuse of science and technology and without caring about any consequences. In the 1870s Engels warned us with deep insight in his book Dialectics of Nature, "We should not revel in our victory over the natural world. For each such victory nature will have her revenge.” When the conflicts happen between protection of environment and development of science and technology, we should not hesitate to consider the former. There is good news that, in Sichuan, Yunnan and other places in China, many public interest organizations are involved in the protection of the tropical rainforest, many experts and scholars dedicated to the protection and breeding of tropical rain forest, and many college students also participate in volunteers. I am proud to be a member of this organization. In 2009, we have been publicity in many universities in Sichuan. Protecting the diversity of animals and plants is the basic obligation of each citizen. The second example is another area case: About more than one hundred years ago, the famous German philosopher Karl Marx pointed out that science and technology profoundly negative value or social alienation of science and technology, He once said :“In our days, everything seems pregnant with its contrary: Machinery, gifted with the wonderful power of shortening and fructifying human labour, we behold starving and overworking it; the newfangled sources of wealth, by some strange weird spell, are turned into sources of want; the victories of art seem bought by the loss of character. At the same pace that mankind masters nature, man seems to become enslaved to other men or to his own infamy. Even the pure light of science seems unable to shine but on the dark background of ignorance. All our invention and progress seem to result in endowing material forces with intellectual life, and in stultifying human life into a material force.This antagonism between modern industry and science on the one hand, modern misery and dissolution on the other hand; this antagonism between the productive powers and the social relations of our epoch is a fact, palpable, overwhelming, and not to be controverted.”(http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1856/04/14.htm) Briefly speaking, the development of science and technology makes the heart of people alienated. In other words, people's mind have already alienated by science and technology. Alienation, which is a key word in this paper. After twentieth century, the war, economic crisis, environmental pollution and other global issues go worse day by day. The people have the negative view to the science and technology. People doubt the value of Science; some people even completely negate the value of science, put forward to want to prohibit the science, to ban the new scientific discovery to application.
In the Second World War, in Europe occurred in human history the most tragic events: Nazi Germany by the progress of science and massacred a large number of jews. The famous British philosopher, thinker Zygmunt Bauman wrote a book called" modernity and the Holocaust". The book exposes the fact: the tragedy of the Holocaust and the development of science and technology closely related. For example, they not only the use of advanced technology to develop the most efficient weapons, through the advanced management methods to enable the slaughter process to achieve the Max Weber said" accurate, fast, clear, understanding documents, continuous, careful, consistent, strictly obey, reduced friction, reduced material and human consumption " (H. H .Gerth& C. Wright Mills eds.，From: Max Weber)in the best state, science and technology become the killing tool, this is a terrible thing! Many innocent Jews died in science and technology. The violence was given authority, the victim was deprived of humanity, and the executioner also became a part of the Holocaust project. The violence was given authority, the development of science and technology make people desire more and more expansion, the development of science and technology has become the tool of holocaust. Such a historical tragedy shows: If in the development of science and technology with a conscience and the sense of moral responsibility, then humans will eventually die together. In addition, it is interesting that whether Darwin's biological theory of evolution can be used in the field of human society? Moreover, is there really good or bad among different nationalities? In my opinion, Darwin's evolution theory can be only applied to natural science, but can be never used in our human society. We have to recognize and respect the diversity of development. Every country or every person is equal and free. A famous German classical philosopher Kant's raason will be divided into theoretical reason and practical reason. Theoretical reason can only be applied to the field of science and technology, and the practical reason can be applied to the field of human society. If we want to be the world’s national division grade, then the twentieth Century genocide tragedies are likely to be repeated. .
The famous physicist Alber Einstein used to sign a file to protest against nuclear weapons and atomic bomb, which finally contributes to the nuclear nonproliferation treaty This great scientist, who is the outstanding person in the field of nucleus, summon the great equation E= MC2 by his genius wisdom. Nevertheless, what he is really concerned about is the devastating influence to human being by the atomic bomb. And then, in the later of his life, he advocated the control of nuclear weapons, advocate a new political, appeal to the international control of atomic energy, and eventually destroy nuclear weapons. Without the abuse of the rational, he maintained the science spirit of responsibility and conscience, and kept on promoting peace process, which is his great meaning.
Bibliography：
[1] Yuri Balashov and Alex Rosenberg.Philosophy of Science: Contemporary Readings[M]. Routledge, 2002.
[2]Brian Garvey: “Nature, Nurture and Why the Pendulum Still Swings”. [J]. Canadian Journal of Philosophy, 35 (2), 2005
作者简介：余爱青（1987——），女，四川成都人，西南大学政治与公共管理学院哲学系2009级伦理学专业硕士研究生，研究方向：西方道德哲学。
Key words: science and technology, Negative value, Biodiversity, Alienation , Holocaust, moral responsibility
Science and technology are integral components of the human race but are they 'value neutral'? That is a very important question. Different people have different viewpoints. Perhaps many people will explain the positive value science and technology have brought into our lives; however the amount of benefit or negative ramifications they help bring about depends heavily on the way they are used and applied. As an old saying goes that each coin has two sides, there are both positive and negative values for science and technology as well. Nobody can deny that it helps us lead a better and happier life, however at the same time, in many cases environment is damaged and resulting negative externalities may overwhelm any positive benefit it brings. Unrestrained publicity of instrumental rationality, loss of the value of rational science and technology has led to the results that the sword of Damocles is hanging above our head. Now, as negative value of science of technology, an example will be cited as follow.
In the first example, with the development of science and technology, a large number of species on Earth gradually disappear, and many forests have been felled. Tropical rain forests are involved in this catastrophe. For example, in the twentieth century, the disappearance of the Amazon rainforest is equivalent to the French territory area. However we should know that each species in the world have the basic right of survival and development, both of which are inherent. Humans have no right to deprive other species of their natural rights. This concept comes from the theory of natural rights by philosopher Rousseau in eighteenth-century. While human beings have their rights, each creature also has a right to life. This is not only from a utilitarian theory, but also from a moral theory. From the air into the soil, and from birds to fish, nature is an organic food chain. Where there is a problem in any part of this chain, the ecological imbalance will be affected, such as global warming, extinction of the species, El Nino, La Nina, melting of the Arctic ices, rise of the global sea level, and so on. It can be easily found that human beings have already suffered the natural punishment because of the abuse of science and technology and without caring about any consequences. In the 1870s Engels warned us with deep insight in his book Dialectics of Nature, "We should not revel in our victory over the natural world. For each such victory nature will have her revenge.” When the conflicts happen between protection of environment and development of science and technology, we should not hesitate to consider the former. There is good news that, in Sichuan, Yunnan and other places in China, many public interest organizations are involved in the protection of the tropical rainforest, many experts and scholars dedicated to the protection and breeding of tropical rain forest, and many college students also participate in volunteers. I am proud to be a member of this organization. In 2009, we have been publicity in many universities in Sichuan. Protecting the diversity of animals and plants is the basic obligation of each citizen. The second example is another area case: About more than one hundred years ago, the famous German philosopher Karl Marx pointed out that science and technology profoundly negative value or social alienation of science and technology, He once said :“In our days, everything seems pregnant with its contrary: Machinery, gifted with the wonderful power of shortening and fructifying human labour, we behold starving and overworking it; the newfangled sources of wealth, by some strange weird spell, are turned into sources of want; the victories of art seem bought by the loss of character. At the same pace that mankind masters nature, man seems to become enslaved to other men or to his own infamy. Even the pure light of science seems unable to shine but on the dark background of ignorance. All our invention and progress seem to result in endowing material forces with intellectual life, and in stultifying human life into a material force.This antagonism between modern industry and science on the one hand, modern misery and dissolution on the other hand; this antagonism between the productive powers and the social relations of our epoch is a fact, palpable, overwhelming, and not to be controverted.”(http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1856/04/14.htm) Briefly speaking, the development of science and technology makes the heart of people alienated. In other words, people's mind have already alienated by science and technology. Alienation, which is a key word in this paper. After twentieth century, the war, economic crisis, environmental pollution and other global issues go worse day by day. The people have the negative view to the science and technology. People doubt the value of Science; some people even completely negate the value of science, put forward to want to prohibit the science, to ban the new scientific discovery to application.
In the Second World War, in Europe occurred in human history the most tragic events: Nazi Germany by the progress of science and massacred a large number of jews. The famous British philosopher, thinker Zygmunt Bauman wrote a book called" modernity and the Holocaust". The book exposes the fact: the tragedy of the Holocaust and the development of science and technology closely related. For example, they not only the use of advanced technology to develop the most efficient weapons, through the advanced management methods to enable the slaughter process to achieve the Max Weber said" accurate, fast, clear, understanding documents, continuous, careful, consistent, strictly obey, reduced friction, reduced material and human consumption " (H. H .Gerth& C. Wright Mills eds.，From: Max Weber)in the best state, science and technology become the killing tool, this is a terrible thing! Many innocent Jews died in science and technology. The violence was given authority, the victim was deprived of humanity, and the executioner also became a part of the Holocaust project. The violence was given authority, the development of science and technology make people desire more and more expansion, the development of science and technology has become the tool of holocaust. Such a historical tragedy shows: If in the development of science and technology with a conscience and the sense of moral responsibility, then humans will eventually die together. In addition, it is interesting that whether Darwin's biological theory of evolution can be used in the field of human society? Moreover, is there really good or bad among different nationalities? In my opinion, Darwin's evolution theory can be only applied to natural science, but can be never used in our human society. We have to recognize and respect the diversity of development. Every country or every person is equal and free. A famous German classical philosopher Kant's raason will be divided into theoretical reason and practical reason. Theoretical reason can only be applied to the field of science and technology, and the practical reason can be applied to the field of human society. If we want to be the world’s national division grade, then the twentieth Century genocide tragedies are likely to be repeated. .
The famous physicist Alber Einstein used to sign a file to protest against nuclear weapons and atomic bomb, which finally contributes to the nuclear nonproliferation treaty This great scientist, who is the outstanding person in the field of nucleus, summon the great equation E= MC2 by his genius wisdom. Nevertheless, what he is really concerned about is the devastating influence to human being by the atomic bomb. And then, in the later of his life, he advocated the control of nuclear weapons, advocate a new political, appeal to the international control of atomic energy, and eventually destroy nuclear weapons. Without the abuse of the rational, he maintained the science spirit of responsibility and conscience, and kept on promoting peace process, which is his great meaning.
Bibliography：
[1] Yuri Balashov and Alex Rosenberg.Philosophy of Science: Contemporary Readings[M]. Routledge, 2002.
[2]Brian Garvey: “Nature, Nurture and Why the Pendulum Still Swings”. [J]. Canadian Journal of Philosophy, 35 (2), 2005
作者简介：余爱青（1987——），女，四川成都人，西南大学政治与公共管理学院哲学系2009级伦理学专业硕士研究生，研究方向：西方道德哲学。