Animals, handicapped children and the tragedy of marginal cases.
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There are human beings whose psychological capacities are rivalled or exceeded by many non-human animals; such humans are often referred to as 'marginal cases'. R G Frey has argued that there is no secure, non-arbitrary way of morally distinguishing between marginal humans and non-human animals. Hence, if the benefits of vivisection justify such painful and lethal procedures being performed on animals, so is the vivisection of marginal humans justified. This is a conclusion Frey is driven to with 'great reluctance', but which he can see no way to avoid. This paper points out a feature of the condition of marginal humans unnoticed by Frey and his critics: such humans have suffered a tragic harm. It points towards an analysis of this harm, in terms of counterfactuals holding for marginal humans but not for psychologically equivalent animals. Finally, it discusses the moral implications of the harm that such humans have suffered, and argues that it serves as the basis of a defence for preferring humans to non-humans in cases of morally inescapable conflict. (+info)
A classification of clinical paediatric research with analysis of related ethical themes.
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Different types of clinical research are associated with different degrees of risk and with varying utility. Usually classified as therapeutic or non-therapeutic, clinical research involving children necessitates a balance between the conflicts of intrusion into a group of vulnerable subjects, and the obvious advantages which such intrusion engenders. To understand better the potential ethical dilemmas of paediatric research the author has expanded the classification of such clinical research involving children. Five types of such research--preventive research, curative research, research to alleviate symptoms, studies to establish norms and baselines, and curiosity research--are discussed in the context of their ethical constraints, and the different ethical questions which confront workers operating in each of these different themes. (+info)
How children can be respected as 'ends' yet still be used as subjects in non-therapeutic research.
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The question of whether or not children may be used as subjects in non-therapeutic research projects has generated a great deal of debate and received answers varying from 'no, never' to 'yes, if societal interests are served'. It has been claimed that a Kantian, deontological ethics would necessarily rule out such research, since valid consent would be impossible. The present paper gives a deontological argument for allowing children to be subjects in certain types of research. (+info)
A brief history of experimentation on condemned and executed humans.
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Experimentation on condemned men is assumed to have been a common practice in ancient Alexandria, but disappeared in Rome and during the Middle Ages. Sporadic cases were documented in the Renaissance and afterward, involving experiments both before and immediately after execution. The advent of the guillotine raised the question of possible persistence of consciousness after execution and that spurred much electrophysiological study of freshly decapitated heads and bodies. In 19th-century Europe, interest focused on cardiac function immediately after beheading. In the early 20th century, many condemned men in the Philippines were used by American physicians for their research on plague and beriberi.Briefly discussed is the relevance of the practice of human sacrifice in Homeric Greece and Mayan Yucatan, as well as experiments on black slaves in America. The Nazi medical crimes of World War II encompass a totally different morality, and are not really comparable to the matter at hand. They have, however, so stirred emotions as to discredit the general concept of experimentation associated with capital punishment. Even within the framework of our system of jurisprudence, the altruistic desires of many now languishing on death row are being ignored. (+info)