【Scientist Spirit】The rich connotation of the spirit of scientists in the new era

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "The historic achievements of the mainland's scientific and technological undertakings are the result of successive generations of scientists who are determined to serve the country. From a large number of scientists of the older generation, such as Li Siguang, Qian Xuesen, Qian Sanqiang, and Deng Jiaxian, to a large number of outstanding scientists who grew up after the founding of New China, such as Chen Jingrun, Huang Danian, and Nan Rendong, they are all examples of patriotic scientists. "In the face of the new challenges of scientific innovation and social development in the 21 st century, it is necessary for the vast number of scientific and technological workers to carry forward the spirit of scientists with patriotism as the background, shoulder the important task of scientific and technological innovation entrusted by history, and integrate their scientific pursuits into the great cause of building a modern socialist country in an all-round way.

Modernity is the core connotation of the spirit of scientists, which is based on the association of scientists as the subject of scientific cognition and the multiple identities of members of society, so as to form a special cultural temperament integrating professional and public spirit. Specifically, the spirit of a scientist mainly comes from the spirit of objectivity and innovation formed on the basis of the pursuit of truth in scientific cognition, and the sum of the social spiritual qualities of ordinary citizens based on the scientific profession.

In contemporary society, scientists assume the dual identity of scientific profession and social profession. The tradition and academic literacy, skills and social responsibilities of scientists are organically unified. For this reason, we can summarize the spirit of scientists as the temperament norms of scientists based on the cognitive pursuit of scientific profession to promote and maintain the healthy development of science, as well as the general term of social spiritual concepts formed on the basis of scientific social professionalism. The above two dimensions of the scientist's spirit actually include the dual hope placed on science: to obtain the truth and to contribute to the well-being of mankind. On the one hand, the core of the scientist spirit lies in the scientific spirit at the level of scientific cognition, which includes the pursuit of truth, objective and rigorous academic attitude and innovation. On the other hand, it is necessary to realize the unity of scientific cognitive value and social value.

In order to realize the unity of scientific cognitive value and social value, scientists need to have forward-looking prediction ability and assume more social responsibilities. Compared with the traditional division of labor in society, the specialized division of labor in modern society makes it difficult for non-professionals to accurately understand or grasp the professional knowledge of science, which makes scientists not only regard themselves as free creators of neutral knowledge, but also take into account the various risks or uncertainties that may be brought about by predicting the results through professional skills while ensuring the continuous innovation of scientific results.

As a result, the responsibilities of scientists in modern society have become more diverse, and as their status and influence have become more and more important, the corresponding decision-making and responsibilities have become more and more indispensable. Because our grasp of the uncertainty of scientific results is always limited within a certain time frame, it is necessary to be aware of the possible limitations and cognitive risks of this limited knowledge in cognitive judgment. In other words, this requires us to look beyond the broader social dimension of knowledge, and to consider social values and social responsibilities.

Scientists and the scientific community should make a useful contribution not only in action, but also in ideas and concepts. At the cultural and spiritual level, people's attention to the scientific spirit has gradually shifted from epistemology to social values and responsibilities. It can be said that in the mode of operation of modern society, the social responsibility of scientists is inevitable and necessary, which is also the reason why the current society vigorously advocates responsible innovation.

In terms of disciplines and research fields, scientist innovation needs to emphasize the transparency and inclusiveness of scientific cognitive processes and results to overcome various cognitive biases. In terms of specific operation and content, the relevant social responsibility contains multi-faceted factors, including ethical, legal, political and other dimensions. In short, innovation involves the relationship between nature and environment, society and culture, economy and politics, and many other aspects, and only through scientific innovation can we fundamentally promote the development of social productive forces, and then improve the level of innovation of the whole society. As the most subtle conceptual force of the scientific community, the spirit of scientists is not only a requirement for scientists, but also an important driving force to promote the healthy development of scientific undertakings.

The development of modern science means that scientists are not only problem solvers, but also consider their innovations and discoveries at the height of human development and human civilization, which is also the basic requirement for us to emphasize the unity of innovation and responsibility from the perspective of the humanities as a whole. As a citizen scientist, his spiritual and value pursuit should focus on the development of the entire human society, and regard the innovation of scientific cognition, the need to meet the needs of the healthy development of society, and the acceptability of social morality and cultural concepts as part of the ideal pursuit. It can be seen from this that the innovation of scientific knowledge needs the guidance and standardization of the humanistic spirit. The humanistic spirit is the key "glue" to achieve the perfect integration of science and social development, and it is also the basis for communicating and uniting the scientific spirit at the epistemological level and the scientist spirit at the value level.

Humanities and the corresponding humanistic concepts play an important role in the guidance, evaluation, promotion and application of scientific innovation. Unifying scientific innovation with cognition and responsibility is the key link to ensure that the spirit of scientists will always maintain its vigor and vitality. How to make scientific innovation knowledge and achievements acceptable to society and how to better serve the development of human society all require scientific human culture as a fundamental guarantee, and humanistic values are inseparable from humanistic values as the standard for the coordination of scientific innovation and responsibility.

Only by unifying the goals, standards and humanistic spirit of scientific innovation can we realize the unity of truth and goodness in scientific practice activities. Only under the vision of the unity of the scientific spirit and the humanistic spirit, and the vision of the unity of cognitive judgment and value judgment, can the cognitive innovation and responsibility of scientists be unified in a certain sense. The innovative development of science is in harmony with the development of humanities, and the development of a healthy society means the organic combination of the two.

As the strong "wings" to promote the sustainable development of science and culture, scientific innovation and responsibility are constantly injecting new connotations and excellent qualities into the spirit of scientists in the process of continuously solving various scientific practice problems, thus giving birth to the precious spiritual wealth of this era.

In the report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping clearly pointed out: "Education, science and technology, and talents are the basic and strategic support for building a modern socialist country in an all-round way. We must adhere to the principle that science and technology are the primary productive forces, talent is the first resource, and innovation is the first driving force, thoroughly implement the strategy of rejuvenating the country through science and education, the strategy of strengthening the country with talents, and the strategy of innovation-driven development, open up new fields and new tracks for development, and constantly shape new momentum and new advantages for development. "Scientific achievements are inseparable from the support of the spirit of scientists, which embodies the essence of social culture and values. Among them, the issue of scientific innovation and responsibility constitutes the key "wings" of the operation of the spirit of contemporary scientists, and the dialectical role of the two promotes the healthy development of science and society in an orderly manner: the spirit of innovation is an important cornerstone to ensure the continuous development of science, and the sense of responsibility for science and society is the fundamental guarantee for maintaining the healthy progress of science. In the 21st century, a new era full of crises and challenges, the spirit of scientists has been entrusted with an unprecedented mission of the times. To this end, on the basis of closely grasping the pulse of the times, we should effectively integrate the spirit of scientific innovation and a responsible attitude into the entire process of scientific practice activities, and strive to promote and realize responsible scientific innovation from the perspective of combining the scientific spirit with the humanistic spirit.

Author: Jia Xiangtong is a professor and doctoral supervisor of the School of Philosophy of Nankai University, and the director of the Department of Philosophy of Science and Technology

Source: People's Tribune