Ethical Judgements of the Arts and Natural Sciences

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We make decisions all the time whether it would be in the arts or in the natural sciences. Natural science is the area of knowledge that is seeking for patterns. Meanwhile the arts is the area that is more broad and subjective. However, both areas of knowledge are affected by the moral decisions and judgements that the people make in the production of knowledge or the method in which we explore for these areas of knowledge. Ethical judgements are related to the human moral values and they affect how people should or should not act (Dombrowski, 2007). Even though some may say that ethical judgments varies by subject, location and time, all ethical judgment has to be about conscious choices. What we all ask ourselves is whether we are limiting ourselves from gaining knowledge with the judgements we created? Art is a different area of knowledge from the natural sciences because we know and gain knowledge mostly through sense perception, language and emotion. In the arts, most controversial arts are due to its content, not the methods used in producing it. Damien Hirst is an example of how the methods in the production of knowledge is limited because of ethical judgments. Hirst’s art : “The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living” (1991) was made from a tiger shark preserved in formaldehyde. This tiger shark was killed purposely for this work. This shows that in the subjective world of the arts, ethical judgements may create criticism about the methods used in producing the art, but does not stop the production of knowledge. In the art world, most knowledge are created by creating the art itself. This growing criticism of Hirst’s work may limit the methods Hirst uses to create his art because if the society... ... middle of paper ... ... the end we are helping the human-beings. Stem cell research can provide safer medical treatments for the incurable like cancer. Therefore, the question scientists often as is: is it ethical to act unethical for the benefit of others? In my opinion, in both the arts and natural sciences, ethical judgements are ethical considerations, but not ethical restrictions. These ethical judgements do not stop art or experiments, but they create an area where people will have to consider before acting. These are just boundaries, and naturally artists and scientist go over the boundaries to learn more. Additionally, ethical judgements allow the creators of knowledge to create them in a different way. Even though the new ways may not suit the original purpose of the production of knowledge, but they can be the better ways. We can still create knowledge with ethical boundaries.

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