Science and Morals 195 



would like to remain a bloodless and objective scientist. 



Science is also increasing our control of people's feelings 

 and behavior in a way that raises very significant value 

 problems. Tranquilizers and analgesics are generally wel- 

 comed for their power to reduce the sense of fear or pain. 

 Other compounds may reduce aggressive behavior; still 

 others may increase it. In extreme cases, no serious moral 

 problem seems to be involved in the prescription of such 

 drugs. Giving a tranquilizer to a person who is paralyzed 

 by fear or anxiety so that he can function in society is 

 obviously a good thing to do. On the other hand, fear is 

 a normal part of everyone's makeup and serves to protect 

 us from dangerous situations. It is not easy to decide when 

 normal useful fear ends and abnormal anxiety begins. It 

 is even true that many artists and other creative people 

 have been driven by what were clearly abnormal anxieties 

 to produce work of the greatest importance. At the present 

 time tranquilizers are being advertised as a means of avoid- 

 ing stage fright, a perfectly normal experience which almost 

 everyone has had, and which in reasonable amounts is 

 probably necessary for the best performance onstage. Fur- 

 thermore, learning how to control and direct such normal 

 fears is probably a desirable part of growing up. How does 

 the physician or the patient himself weigh these compli- 

 cated value questions when deciding to give or take a drug? 

 Can scientists who have made such decisions possible en- 

 tirely escape responsibility for thinking about them? 



We have now arrived at our third point. Science enables 

 us to foresee the consequences of our acts. By doing so it 

 can frequently contribute to questions involving moral 

 values by laying out the probable results of alternative 

 actions so clearly that the final choice becomes a mere 

 matter of common sense. In most cases the results of a 

 scientific analysis will agree very well with traditional moral 



