General Statements About the Good, Ethics of Science and Transcendentalism

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to probe the hypothesis about the transcendental nature of the ethics of science as a kind of knowledge. The author makes the test during the analysis of Wittgenstein’s statements about ethics concerning the main points of the Mertonian theory of the ethos of science. The author implements a method of comparative analysis, which allows clarifying the statements regarding the transcendental understanding of ethics. The research discloses the prospects for harmonizing transcendental understanding with the interpretation of scientific ethics from the perspective of the theory of the ethos of science. As a result, the research shows the connection of the ethics of science with the issues of social psychology which are poorly connected with logical principles of rational thinking. The statements in the theory of the ethos of science depend on the difficulties by the logical attitude. The transcendental nature of scientific ethics makes it difficult to understand the meaning of norms and values within the framework of the ethics of science, but does not deprive them of their importance in demonstrating rules of  behavior.