From a historical-dialectical viewpoint, ethics is the desire for universal good, when the existence of material and technical conditions that are essential for the accomplishment of this good is confirmed. At each historical moment, man faces new obstacles, and, as long as there are conditions for overcoming these obstacles, political determination to solve these problems becomes a duty, that is, a question of ethics. Researching is acquiring new knowledge which can provide mankind with means to find the solution for new problems. In other words, research turns a technical matter into an ethical matter. The topic to be developed in this article is used to clarify the historical-philosophical foundation of the relation between research activities and moral obligation throughout history, with a focus on the present times, that is, the post-industrial society of the last two decades of the twentieth century, a period with a scientific and technological evolution peak, and whose most important consequences are the reduction of fatiguing work and the concentration of wealth.
Philosophy; History; Education; Ethics; Research