DO RELIGIOUS/MORAL/ETHICAL BELIEFS HELP OR HINDER OUR SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS

Do Religious/moral/ethical beliefs help or hinder our scientific and technological developments

Do Religious/moral/ethical beliefs help or hinder our scientific and technological developments

Introduction

The past two decades have seen resurgence in the study of how religion affects technological developments in the United States and around the wor1d. For generations, social scientists believed religion to be declining in influence to the point that it might eventually be marginalized. However, political scientists continue to observe, among other things, the importance of Christianity in the United States and the increasing influence of extremist Islam leading to events such as September 11, 2001. As political scientists have asked questions about these developments, the body of literature on the subject has grown to the point that the American Political Science Association recently initiated a journal titled Technological developments and Religion in order to give proper attention to this important area of research.

Although the terms humanist and humanism are relatively recent (500 and 200 years old, respectively), humanist ideas, broadly understood as involving a positive approach to human existence and an appreciation of human endeavor, are much older, stretching as far back as the naturalist philosophers of ancient Greece and the Islamic Renaissance, as well as featuring in ancient Chinese thought, particularly that of Confucius. The basic principles of humanism—the recognition of the worth of all human beings and their thoughts and actions—have thus existed for as long as human civilization has existed. Although often used in vague or dismissive ways, an understanding of the term humanism is crucial for political theory: All forms of political philosophy and social organization depend explicitly or implicitly upon a theory of human nature and some idea of what human beings have in common and what they value.

Discussion

Technology is first and foremost a human creation that is designed and constructed to serve often narrowly defined utilitarian goals of the user(s). Two points are especially noteworthy in this definition—that technology is always a designed human creation and that it serves utilitarian goals. Technology is thus anything that has been consciously created by humans with a purpose in mind. That purpose, according to this definition, should always serve the goal of maximizing the well-being of the individual or the collective. But by stressing the importance of goals, this definition overlooks the significance of means in achieving those goals. The significance of means is especially heightened in the environment-technology relationship because, as we shall see, much of the controversy in this relationship is because of its inattention to means to attain goals. (Norman, 2004)

To understand the current state of the literature in the field of religion and American technological developments, it is helpful to begin with the influence religion can have on individuals. It goes without saying that religion has always been important to people and has the capacity to influence how they live their lives. For many, religion is a cornerstone of who they are and plays a big part in many of the decisions ...