Facing the Pariah of Science: The Frankenstein Myth as a Social and Ethical Reference for Scientists

Nagy, Péter; Wylie, Ruth; Eschrich, Joey; Finn, Ed

doi:10.1007/s11948-019-00121-3

Cited by 8 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…The downturn in trust in vaccines may be a manifestation not only of declining trust in physicians, but also of a broader social trend of diminishing trust in science [ 12 ]. While some people respect science and scientists, others are skeptical of them [ 13 , 14 , 15 ]. When it comes to scientific work in the medical field, some individuals think that scientists are ‘under the thumb’ of pharmaceutical companies and suspect them of putting profits above public interest, [ 5 , 16 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Credibility of Health Information Sources as Predictors of Attitudes toward Vaccination—The Results from a Longitudinal Study in Poland

et al. 2021

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Background: The research focused on the relationships between attitudes towards vaccination and the trust placed in different sources of information (science, experts and the information available on the Internet) before and during COVID-19. Method: A longitudinal design was applied with the first measurement in February 2018 (N = 1039). The second measurement (N = 400) was carried out in December 2020 to test if the pandemic influenced the trust in different sources of information. Results: The final analyses carried out on final sample of 400 participants showed that there has been no change in trust in the Internet as a source of knowledge about health during the pandemic. However, the trust in science, physicians, subjective health knowledge, as well as the attitude towards the vaccination has declined. Regression analysis also showed that changes in the level of trust in physicians and science were associated with analogous (in the same direction) changes in attitudes toward vaccination. The study was also focused on the trust in different sources of health knowledge as possible predictors of willingness to be vaccinated against SARS-nCoV-2. However, it appeared that the selected predictors explained a small part of the variance. This suggests that attitudes toward the new COVID vaccines may have different sources than attitudes toward vaccines that have been known to the public for a long time.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Credibility of Health Information Sources as Predictors of Attitudes toward Vaccination—The Results from a Longitudinal Study in Poland

et al. 2021

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“…I have argued that an approach which foregrounds optimism beneficially models ethical reflection, but this is not a call to exclude totally the use of negative or dystopian material. For instance, Mary Shelley's classic science fiction novel Frankenstein: Or, the Modern Prometheus (1818), which presents one of the most famous examples of poor scientific ethics, has stood the test of time as a touchstone of scientific ethics discussion and sets forth norms for the scientific community about danger, ethical behavior, and creators' responsibility to what they create (Nagy et al, 2020). However, models for students to emulate create a clearer sense of what is possible for those who commit to ethical fortitude.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimistic Fiction as a Tool for Ethical Reflection in STEM

Hansen

2021

J Acad Ethics

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Greater emphasis on ethical issues is needed in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. The fiction for specific purposes (FSP) approach, using optimistic science fiction texts, offers a way to focus on ethical reflection that capitalizes on role models rather than negative examples. This article discusses the benefits of using FSP in STEM education more broadly, and then explains how using optimistic fictions in particular encourages students to think in ethically constructive ways. Using examples of science fiction texts with hopeful perspectives, example discussion questions are given to model how to help keep students focused on the ethical issues in a text. Sample writing prompts to elicit ethical reflection are also provided as models of how to guide students to contemplate and analyze ethical issues that are important in their field of study. The article concludes that the use of optimistic fictions, framed through the lens of professional ethics guidelines and reinforced through ethical reflection, can help students to have beneficial ethical models.

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“…The risk here is that an engineer is able to project their anxieties on to the fictional character to improve their self-perception. It is also possible that such anti-exemplars generate a space where bad actions appear good by comparison [10]. The next few paragraphs further explore these issues before moving on to highlight the advantages of the fiction in ethics education.…”

Section: Considering Future Ethical Behavior Through the Use Of Fiction In A Project-based Engineering Program Introduction And Backgrounmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Further, by design, fiction may force us to confront aspects of our being that make us uncomfortable [11]. For example, an examination of Victor Frankenstein, from Mary Shelly's Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus [17], in professional education may help scientists' frame ethical thinking particularly around unintended consequences [10]. Despite this discomfort, because fiction is separate from reality, it provides a way to approach sensitive topics in an unbiased way [12] [4].…”

Section: Considering Future Ethical Behavior Through the Use Of Fiction In A Project-based Engineering Program Introduction And Backgrounmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Ethical Development Through the Use of Fiction in a Project-based Engineering Program

Sleezer¹,

Bates²

2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access Proceedings

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Facing the Pariah of Science: The Frankenstein Myth as a Social and Ethical Reference for Scientists

Cited by 8 publications

References 60 publications

The Credibility of Health Information Sources as Predictors of Attitudes toward Vaccination—The Results from a Longitudinal Study in Poland

The Credibility of Health Information Sources as Predictors of Attitudes toward Vaccination—The Results from a Longitudinal Study in Poland

Optimistic Fiction as a Tool for Ethical Reflection in STEM

Ethical Development Through the Use of Fiction in a Project-based Engineering Program

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