I have a somewhat banal observation about the human history. The societies which value the pursuit of truth and science seem to be making rapid progress in morality as well. Could there be a strong connection between science and morality? Or maybe certain values adapted by those societies are conducive to both moral and scientific progress?
I have another banal observation. The people who are deeply interested in science seem to have certain values. Most of the cases, they seem to be original, creative, independent, tolerant of dissent (and often dissidents themselves), respectful, trustful and acutely aware of their fallibility. Individual scientists might not have all or even most of those values, but the community of science seems to converge around them. Maybe people who have these values gravitate toward science. Or maybe it is just a result of some kind of peer pressure: for whatever reason, the community of science has those values and individual scientists have to adopt them to conform.
I think the answer is none of these options. There is a deep and almost inseparable connection between the pursuit of truth and the values which are conducive human progress and well-being.
Observation 1: Finding the truth is not a solitary activity. The word “is” requires multiple people.
Observation 2: The questions of morality immediately come into play when there is a human interaction. You cannot avoid the word “ought” in a community.
So, even if you only care about what “is” and nothing else, you still “ought” to adopt or invent certain values so that what “is” can be verified.
In principle, any scientific claim about reality is open to anyone at any time for verification. However, in practice, you still need to trust others’ data and knowledge because of your finitude. You are also a fallible being, so you need the help and verification of fellow fallible beings to correct your mistakes. You cannot afford to be dismissive of others and you must respect them if you care about the truth. But at the same time, almost by definition, every other fallible being except you can be wrong about something. You can have a creative and original idea which can correct everyone else’s mistakes. So, you have to be independent and willing to dissent. Since you know how important the independence is for finding the truth, you must also create (or preserve) a society where the creativity and independence of individuals are highly valued.
Even if we think science as an another profession, it is still unique because it does not need any top-down rules to make the profession work. But the pursuit of truth compels the scientist to adopt these rules. As clearly put by Jacob Bronowski:
The values of science derive neither from the virtues of its members, nor from the finger-wagging codes of conduct by which every profession reminds itself to be good. They have grown out of the practice of science, because they are the inescapable conditions for its practice.
In this regard, the preciousness of science does not stem from its methods but rather from its core values and spirit.
Note: What prompted me to write this post was the book “Science and Human Values” by Jacob Bronowski. He does not claim that the pursuit of truth encompasses all the values that humans care about. His examples are “the values of tenderness, of kindliness, of human intimacy and love”. However, I think an inquiry of our first-person conscious experience might also connect these values with the pursuit of truth. I will expand upon these ideas later.