Science in the Context of Social Prejudices

Chapter 3 demonstrates how science and disease were framed by the Americans residing in the Philippines. Originally the Americans blamed their illnesses on the hot environment in the islands, which they believed they were not accustomed to physically, since they originated from a different climate. The need to stay in one's climate of origin was termed, "ethnic moral topography."

Later it was thought that the natives had acquired immunity to the local diseases, and when it was discovered that some natives did suffer from certain diseases, most Americans blamed the illness on the Filipino's depravity and moral failings, instead of looking for outside causes, such as socioeconomic factors. Filipinos were later blamed as being infected disease carriers, even if they were healthy. Eventually, the Americans turned to improving the personal habits of the Filipinos, by teaching them to replace traditional lifestyle choices with the "spirit of hygienic thoughtfulness."

While the Americans hoped to improve their own health, and also understand and treat the maladies of the Filipinos, they viewed things through a different scope than we use today. They thought it legitimate to blame the issues on not only the perceived biological differences, but also the moral differences between the races. Today we view disease as something that happens to someone due to physical causes, rather than moral failings, and most people would agree that morality does not directly impact one's health. The people at this time had a heightened sense of racial differences, and today racial differences, if considered at all in disease treatment, are (in theory at least) based on purely physiological differences.

The book provides some intriguing insight into how cultural upbringing and perceptions can influence scientific thinking in society.