Jayme Vita Roso*

Years ago I wrote an article for the “Revista Mercado Comum”¹, a magazine, in which I focused on the degradation of ethics and values. Now, after the success of the unproductive economy, which has led the global market to a catharsis, obliging well-informed consciences to reflect upon the future of man on this earth, where he is as a pilgrim, (according to the apostle Paulo) or as a guest just passing through (Andre Malraux), the theme is transposed.

I do not intend here to deal with the matter of the contemporaneous theology of creation that, through the Christian Churches in England, is defining its position as to whether such churches need to allocate their resources toward investing, above all else, in environmental ethics. The studies and publications of such churches come out against investments in companies that foment the use of alcohol; others are directed at the production artifacts of war; many, because they are mining companies, degrade the environment and their employees; some, in their intermediation with "financial products" trick savers with the creation of shameless investments.

This time, with long brush strokes, I intend to show some of the things that have occurred, and still occur, in reputable universities, with the scurrilous behavior of professors who, in their anxiety to achieve prominence and more funding (for themselves and for their research) have no qualms about behaving in a reprehensible way. After all, man should live by his values (absolute, affection and social realization, in the opinion of Luciano Verdone)².

Very well. Scientists, in their mission to save, are beings distinguished by the destiny that nature has allotted them and, when publishing their scientific works, they should follow the standards that the community has developed over decades. These standards repose upon principles that place both the scientists and their editors and publishers on the same plane of ethical responsibility.

In a recent article, Bruce Alberts, the chief-editor of Science, a respectable publication of a high-quality content, makes the point: 1) “the publication of a scientific article is less a means by which scientists may achieve recognition and a better positioning within their careers and more a means to scientific progress”. 2) “scientists have an absolute obligation to honesty”; 3) references and quotes shall be clearly written thereby allowing the reader to consult the texts and online archives, especially in cases where the research has obtained public funding.³

The political agenda of the current Brazilian government does not include encouraging the pursuit of science, nor did the agendas of past governments; therefore, any meager progress that has been achieved has been due to the irresistible vocation of scientists, who perform science, science, science and science. It is this behavior that provides them with psycho/physical wherewithal to keep going.

Tuned in to the world, our scientists weep when they learn from the internet that China, in order to confront the degradation of cultivatable areas and the chronic shortage of potable water will invest, in this sector alone, three and half billion dollars in research and development. And Japan, in the throes of massive crises, intends to spend in the fiscal year of 2009 twenty four billion dollars (a 12.4% increase for academic research). We point out that the amount requested by the Japanese minister of education is four billion dollars more than the United States are considering investing. Very good news is that the twin brothers Andreas and Thomas Strungmann are financing research at the Max Planck Institute on cognitive neuroscience in infancy, in the amount of two hundred million euros.⁴

Still in the month of September – and here begins the other phase of this narrative – the Brazilian newspapers published the occurrence of fraud in an expressive scientific work within an official academic institution in São Paulo. As is usual in cases such as these, the news is telegraphic, is not given prominence, is not posted on the website of the university and is easily forgotten. It was not plagiarism, but the transcription of excerpts contributed by professors on the same theme that omitted to mention the author.

Another singular case happened in the University of Purdue. The directors of the department of energy discovered that an engineer who was working there was guilty of bad faith in the research that he was conducting. In addition to being fired, his name was removed from the list of professors. He was researching a very complicated theme on the generation of nuclear fusion. His work was considered devoid of ethics and of no scientific value. The engineer in question has issued a notice in which he makes plain that he intends to continue his investigations in the field and to sue the University.

Worse is happening in Austria, with a media uproar. A professor was accused of distorting scientific information in a study that he was conducting on the dangers that cellular phone batteries pose to their users. When he was investigated, it was discovered that he had worked for a concessionaire and that this fact had not been duly noted in his curriculum.

The phenomenon has been studied by scientists - the majority of whom are sociologist - to see what is going on in the world of science. The real question, for which an answer has not yet been found, is this: what happens to researchers when they are found to have committed misconduct? Is misconduct a crime? This theme was percussively dealt with by Barbara K. Redman and Jon F. Merz, who concluded: “We found that 43% of academic scientists whom we could trace remained employed in academia after being found guilty of misconduct, and overall 19 of 37 scientists (51%) found to have committed misconduct continued to publish at least an average of one paper per year after their cases were decided. Overall, the punishments we observed were related to the crimes: Acts of falsification and fabrication were punished more harshly than were acts of plagiarism.” ⁵

Modern man, accustomed to living in the search for personal realization through money and in order to achieve his desire, has absorbed Kant’s aphorism “dare to know”. At this juncture and in this quadrant of history, it would be propitious and valuable if modern man sought to punctuate his life with a dare-to-know-type conduct. To think is to bring forth that which lies within one. It is to create. It is to interact actively with things so that they may be remembered (Verdone).⁶

When man starts to think, he acknowledges that he is “destined for something that is infinitely the sum of everything that the most insatiable of desires may wish for”.⁷ Upon reflection, he will ascribe to glory, ambition and money their due importance in his life.

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¹ Nº165, February 2004, The article in question was republished in the book “Anorexia of Ethics and Other Matters” called “Of the Anorexia of Ethics to Regulatory Bulimia: Will it save the Comedy of the American Market?, Armazém de Idéias, 2004, p.313-319.

² VERDONE. Luciano, “La terapia dei valori – Come raggiungere un benessere psicofísico”, Milan, Paoline, 2005, p. 7-14.

³ Science, Editorial, 5th September 2008, p. 1271.

⁴ VOGEL. Gretchen.Science, “New Money for New Neuroscience”, Science Scope, 18th July 2008. p 329.

⁵ REDMAN. Barbara K, MERZ. Jon F, Science, Scientific Misconduct: Do the Punishments Fit the Crime?, 8th August 2008, p. 775 VERDONE. Luciano, idem, p. 5 Emanuele Severino, Imortalidade, Nimesis, 2008.

⁶ VERDONE. Luciano, idem, p. 5

⁷ Emanuele Severino, Imortalidade, Nimesis, 2008.

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*Attorney at Jayme Vita Roso Advogados e Consultores Jurídicos