Reading some of the latest posts, including Tom Allen's contribution regarding
the intentions of Monsanto and others, lead me to do some thinking about the
issue.
Whenever we bring into a discussion issues of good and bad, right and wrong,
things really start to get serious. None of us like to be told that our
positions or actions are wrong, or evil. Can we, as individuals or as groups of
poeple take the high road and start talking about others as having evil
intentions? I would certainly hope not. But I would like to share a couple of
thoughts with the group regarding questions of right and wrong that do affect
all of us.
I noticed in a post by Dan Hemenway that he apologized for bringing the
spiritual aspect of life into the picture. I also noticed that Ann Clark was
"reluctant to enter into a discussion area that is such a minefield of
conflicting scientific dogma and value-based perceptions."
It seems that in the scientific community, being isolated from "value based
perceptions" or spiritual leanings, is seen as a virtue. It seems to me that we
are talking about sustainability precisely because there have been people out
there that have been willing to bring normative issues into the discussion.
We need to be willing to give credibility to the scientist who is a scholar of
the issues of right and wrong as well as a scholar in his field of expertise.
Remember the magician's apprentice? I believe that scientists who have worked
under the delusion that science is value free are the folks who have contributed
the most to creating roundup, roundup ready soybeans, and who truly believe that
their creations are what will save the world from hunger.
I agree with Tom Allen, that these folks have good intentions. The world is
full of people with good intentions. It is the belief that one is doing right
that makes one be so tenacious about doing whatever one is doing. Few people,
unless they were very sick would go around doing wrong knowingly.
We are all in danger of doing wrong when we think we are doing right.
I would venture to say that many of the scientists that have contributed to the
growth of sustainable agriculture are people who have been able to overcome the
"science is value free" delusion. The type of holistic thinking that we see
folks like Ann Clark do is a product of a scholarship not only in agronomy, but
also in questions of right and wrong. (please correct me if I am wrong)
Traditionally, colleges of agriculture have not paid much attention to value
laden issues. It is a fraction of the faculty of these colleges that read
journals such as Agriculture and Human Values, but I do believe that scholarship
in this field is very important.
We as shcolars or as practitioners, should never feel that we have to apologize
for having value based positions or actions. If anything, we need to apologize
for our shallowness in these regards, and our willingness to act without proper
analysis of the consequenses of our actions.
Ignacio Villa
9697 State Route 534
Middlefield OH 44062
216/693-4090
75557.3256@compuserve.com