Practice Essay #5: Scientific Inquiry

Question: Scientific inquiry is rooted in the desire to discover, but there is no discovery so important that in its pursuit a threat to human life can be tolerated.  Explain what you think the above statements means.  Describe a specific situation in which a threat to human life might be tolerated in the pursuit of scientific discovery.  Discuss what you think determines when the pursuit of scientific discovery is more important than the protection of human life.

Answer: 
The thirst for knowledge and scientific discovery compel numerous scientists and scholars to go to great length in order to obtain it. The statement brings into question the moral aspect of such a pursuit for scientific discovery. What is the extent or the limit to which the discovery should be pursued to? The statement above suggests that no discovery is to be considered important enough when a human life is threaten in the pursuit of it.

The world, however, is not as black and white or clear cut as the statement makes it out to be. There have been many experiments and researches throughout history that involved human subjects with their lives potentially at risk. Results obtained from these experiments and researches have led to countless discoveries that helped to improve the understanding of the human body, how it functions and the disease/disorders that can impact our body and to advance the medical treatment of such disease/disorders. A good example would be the use of vaccines. Before its discovery, countless lives would be lost every year due to such diseases as smallpox, diphtheria, mumps, or the flu. It is, thus, hard to deny the benefits of such a discovery.

There are certain times where the pursuit of scientific knowledge pushes the envelope and are brought into question whether such a pursuit is warranted especially when it puts a human life at risk. A moral question such as this is quite a tough call to make. The thing that should be looked at in such a dilemma is the risks versus benefits, both short-term and long-term, of the scientific discovery and the pursuit of it being questioned. Only when the benefits greatly outweigh the risks should its undertaking be considered.