We\nare living in exciting times. Advancements are being made in many areas of\nscience and technology (S&T) which promise to not only change, but also\nchallenge, the way in which we live life. Most definitely for Muslims, these\nexciting times can also be challenging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We acknowledge that advancements in\nS&T such as artificial intelligence and neuroscience, to quote two\nexamples, are driven by scientists, technologists and medical practitioners.\nHaving said that, we must equally recognise that these developments would\naffect many parties outside the realm of science and technology. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Arising from this, we must also\nacknowledge that any discussion on S&T development also entails ethical\ndeliberations. As such, the stakeholders of any ethical discourse of S&T\nare similarly diversed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In today\u2019s reality, ethics of S&T\nshould not be viewed as being exclusively under the purview of only scientists\nand technologists. As a matter of fact, S&T ethics involves\nmultidisciplinary and transdisciplinary stakeholders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
These stakeholders include the government\nand policy-makers, universities and research institutions, companies and\ncorporations, as well as non-governmental organisations and consumer groups. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the case of Malaysia where religion is\npart and parcel of everyday life, religious scholars and religious\norganisations must also be included as important stakeholders. Therefore, in\ntackling S&T developments from an ethical perspective, we must rethink the\napproach so that it is inclusive and takes into account the various\nstakeholders that are involved in the discourse. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If we were to look back at history, initial\ndiscussions on ethics of S&T began with deliberations on bioethics. This began\nin the 1970\u2019s where ethical deliberations were primarily focused on medical\nethics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The term \u201cbioethics\u201d was first used in\n1970 in a publication by Van Rensselaer Potter from Wisconsin University, while\nAndr\u00e9 Hellegers of Georgetown University first used the term for an\norganization, namely the The Joseph and Rose Kennedy Institute for the Study of\nHuman Reproduction and Bioethics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, contemporary discussions on ethics\nhave expanded extensively beyond merely medical ethics and bioethics. We can\nsee today many sectors are involved in ethical discourse of S&T. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Furthermore, contemporary advancements\nmade in S&T have resulted in new specialised sectors for ethical discourse,\nchief among them are ethics of artificial intelligence as well as neuroethics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In order for us to make ethical discourse\nmore inclusive, it is therefore imperative for us to better understand the\nconcept of \u201cstakeholder.\u201d This concept originated in the theory of management\nbut has been appropriated by scholars in business studies where it is\nconsidered to be one of the most attractive devices in business ethics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This concept made it possible for\nbusinesses to have obligations to a wide range of parties, moving away from the\nstockholders to whom corporations were traditionally beholden. Hence, we can\ndefine stakeholders as \u201cgroups aside from stockholders who also have a stake in\na particular endeavour.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If we expand the stakeholder concept to\nS&T development, it can actually serve as the middle ground which\nreconciles on the one hand forward-thinking scientists and technologists, and\non the other hand public interest groups (such as religious bodies, consumer\ngroups and environmentalists). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Essentially, the adoption of the\nstakeholder concept is a healthy shift towards the perspective that there are\nmany other parties who are impacted by S&T development, and that these\nparties must never be ignored. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is important so as to provide\npolicymakers and scientists with a lens that allows them to give due attention\nto the interests of any group or individual affected by a decision, a policy or\na new innovation in S&T. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ideally in any S&T discourse,\nstakeholders are engaged in a process of identifying and understanding numerous\nand varied social, economic, political, legal, cultural and moral claims of the\nvarious parties (which are often often competing and contradictory). It\ntherefore goes without saying that each stakeholder in the ethical discourse\nrepresents the interest and viewpoint of a particular group, even though the\ndegrees of obligation may vary. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some stakeholders may have written\ncontractual obligations while others may have fiduciary or trust-based\nobligations. In other cases, the stakeholder obligation may be in the form of\nthe good neighbour, that is non-interference and non-intervention in internal\nmatters, but engaged in mutual exchanges. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Malaysia is a multireligious and\nmulticultural country, participation of religious representatives as\nstakeholders is critical in any S&T ethical discourse. There is indeed an\nurgent need for ethical and religious inputs in order to address the rapid\nprogress in S&T today. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We cannot afford to be merely users of\ntechnological advancements without truly weighing in on the good and the bad,\nthe benefits and the risks of these new technologies. New technologies may have\na lot of benefits, but it is also pertinent that we draw the \u201cboundaries\u201d that\nspell out what can and cannot be done, and what should and should not be done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These \u201cboundaries\u201d must be practical and\nnot be too rigid, as new progress in technologies may require for the\n\u201cboundaries\u201d to be adjusted. Nonetheless, the boundaries should be there, and\nshould be drawn based on shared sociocultural values, religious norms and legal\nprovisions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We must not construe the ethical\nboundaries as inhibiting S&T progress. Instead, we must view them as safeguards\nthat will ensure progress made in S&T do not result in unwanted risks and\ndangers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If ethical deliberations (guided by\nsociocultural and religious norms and values) are not carried out vis-\u00e0-vis\nS&T development, ethics would not be able to play a proactive and effective\nrole but instead, will forever be struggling to catch up to progress. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hence, the urgent need for S&T ethical\ndiscourse to be inclusive to take into account all relevant stakeholders. To\nhave an inclusive ethical discourse could be challenging, but at the same time,\nit would also be interesting as it provides the opportunity for people of\nvarious backgrounds to convene and discuss shared ethical concerns.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We are living in exciting times. Advancements are being made in many areas of science and technology (S&T) which promise to not only change, but also challenge, the way in which we live life. Most definitely for Muslims, these exciting times can also be challenging. We acknowledge …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_analytify_skip_tracking":false,"_wpzoom_pinterest_image_url":"","_wpzoom_pinterest_hidden_image":"0","_wpzoom_pinterest_description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[232],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bernama","category-232","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24943"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24943\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}