THE TORONTO RESOLUTION (TTR)

Considering the existence of numerous codes of ethics, most being specific to a single discipline and often to the scientists and scholars in only one country; Considering the difficulty of expressing in a single code the concerns of scientists and scholars in various disciplines and in different countries; Considering that war is obsolete, at best futile and at worst destructive beyond comprehension or tolerance, and that the present level of direct military research is unprecedented, with human, physical and financial resources being thus diverted away from the proper ends of science and scholarship:

1. a code should articulate as far as possible the underlying assumptions and guiding principles of a working ethic;

2. a code should indicate specific measures designed to ensure that signatories adhere to its principles;

3. a code should be sufficiently general to encompass scholarly work and basic, applied and technological research as well as the actions of practitioners engaged in the discipline or profession;

4. a code should oppose prejudice with respect to sex, religion, national or ethnic origin, age, sexual preference, colour, or physical or mental disability;

5. a code should take into account that, while in general it is difficult to anticipate all the consequences of research, scientists and scholars have a responsibility, individually and collectively, to try to foresee, and to keep themselves aware of, the developing applications of their work, and to choose or redirect it accordingly;

6. a code should recognize that actions designed narrowly to benefit humankind may in fact threaten the survival of all species, since the ecosystem is a seamless web;

7. a code should forbid research directed towards developing or using methods of torture, or other devices and techniques that threaten or violate individual or collective human rights;

8. a code should direct scholarly and scientific activity towards the peaceful resolution of conflict and universal disarmament; since all research has military potential, every scientist and scholar should seek to resolve the ethical problem that knowledge, which should enlighten and benefit humanity, may be used instead to harm the planet and its people in war and in preparation for war;

9. a code should encourage its adherents to comply with established procedures for the scientific and (where appropriate) ethical peer review of research studies conducted under its auspices and, where such procedures do not exist, a code should specify them;

10. a code should urge its adherents to make all basic research results universally available;

11. a code should urge its adherents to identify and report violations of its terms, and should correspondingly ensure their protection from retribution by their fellow scientists, professional and learned societies, and the judiciary for such exposure;

12. a code should be widely disseminated through the school and university curricula, to educate the rising generations, as well as practising scientists and scholars, about their emerging responsibilities.

http://courses.cs.vt.edu/~cs3604/lib/WorldCodes/Toronto.Recommendation.html

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