Moral dimension of scientific knowledge in the conditions of formation of a new industrial society

Nizhny Novgorod State Technical University n. a. R.E. Alekseev, 603950, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia

^* Corresponding author: shetulowa@yandex.ru

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to research the problem of the relationship between science and moral in the new industrial society. The main result of the research can be expressed in a number of the following theses. The functioning and interaction of science and moral depends on the existing social conditions. Accordingly, the relationship between science and moral must be considered specifically historically. In the early stages of becoming a social institution, modern science was an ethically neutral form of culture. Approximately from the late 19th – early 20th centuries, the situation gradually changed in the direction of increasing the moral component of scientific knowledge. The emerging industrial society of the second generation predetermines the dominance of the significance of moral issues in all spheres, including the sphere of science. The reason for such dominance is the inability to control technological processes completely, as well as the ever-increasing interference with the surrounding nature and human nature.