Human Experimentation the Ethical Issue Throughout history humans have been experimenting on each other in order to gather more information on our species. Countles studies have been carried out on human subjects usually without even consent from the patient. Although these experiments are questioned ethically and morally many have argued that these experiments are justified because they were done for the greater good. I will be discussing the ethical issues behind human experimentation and applying it to many theroies including utilitarianism and deontology; while also discussing how these issues apply to an individual living in a culturally diverse world. Utilitarianism is defined as “a theory about what we ought to do. It states that …show more content…
"John Stuart Mill:ethics." Iep.utm.edu. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2016.) This theory can be easily asked when studying the ethics behind human experiments. This means Mills isnt focused on the actual acts performed by doctors on patients without their consent but more on the consequences of what has taken place. For example when reffering back to the experiment done on sets of twins by Nazi doctors, Mills wouldnt focus on the actual experiments themselves but more on the aftermath. This theory correlates both in a positive way and negative, becaue although the aftermath should be question I feel that the experiments should be focused on in a whole-what drove the doctor to perform these acts-or what precautions were taken to keep the patient comfortable. Also a big factor that shoule be questioned and held acountable was patient consent. Numerous experiments were held without any consten, sometimes with forged documents claiming patients had given consten. These actions clearly violate the ethically sound morals of our society. Which brings me to Kants Second Formulation
Both in and out of philosophical circle, animals have traditionally been seen as significantly different from, and inferior to, humans because they lacked a certain intangible quality – reason, moral agency, or consciousness – that made them moral agents. Recently however, society has patently begun to move beyond this strong anthropocentric notion and has begun to reach for a more adequate set of moral categories for guiding, assessing and constraining our treatment of other animals. As a growing proportion of the populations in western countries adopts the general position of animal liberation, more and more philosophers are beginning to agree that sentient creatures are of a direct moral concern to humans, though the degree of this concern is still subject to much disagreement. The political, cultural and philosophical animal liberation movement demands for a fundamental transformation of humans’ present relations to all sentient animals. They reject the idea that animals are merely human resources, and instead claim that they have value and worth in themselves. Animals are used, among other things, in basic biomedical research whose purpose is to increase knowledge about the basic processes of human anatomy. The fundamental wrong with this type of research is that it allows humans to see animals as here for them, to be surgically manipulated and exploited for money. The use of animals as subjects in biomedical research brings forth two main underlying ethical issues: firstly, the imposition of avoidable suffering on creatures capable of both sensation and consciousness, and secondly the uncertainty pertaining to the notion of animal rights.
Utilitarianism is a concept that focuses on the greatest good for the greatest amount of people. It revolves around usefulness and benefit while focusing on a larger population. It is highly outcome based so to do a thorough analysis one has to weigh the outcomes
“Utilitarianism is the creed which accepts as the foundations of morals utility of the greatest happiness principle holds that actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness.” (Mil, 90). Utilitarianism ethics is based on the greatest good for the greatest number meaning that the moral agent does what he/she thinks will be
Part A Questions What was your initial reaction to viewing the footage of this experiment? I watched the short video first and was appalled initially, using very young children as lab rats seemed like a terrible idea. However, after watching it completely, I could see the utility of it. The more extended version was even more enlightening, I was also happy to see Ms. Elliot was aware of the potential damage such an exercise could cause to young children.
Animal testing is a controversial topic with two main sides of the argument. The side apposing animal testing states it is unethical and inhumane; that animals have a right to choose where and how they live instead of being subjected to experiments. The view is that all living organism have a right of freedom; it is a right, not a privilege. The side for animal testing thinks that it should continue, without animal testing there would be fewer medical and scientific breakthroughs. This side states that the outcome is worth the investment of testing on animals. The argument surrounding animal testing is older than the United States of America, dating back to the 1650’s when Edmund O’Meara stated that vivisection, the dissection of live animals, is an unnatural act. Although this is one of the first major oppositions to animal testing, animal testing was being practiced for millennia beforehand. There are two sides apposing each other in the argument of animal testing, and the argument is one of the oldest arguments still being debated today.
Utilitarianism is a moral theory that approaches moral questions of right and wrong by considering the actual consequences of a variety of possible actions. These consequences are generally those that either positively or negatively affect other living beings. If there are both good and bad actual consequences of a particular action, the moral individual must weigh the good against the bad and go with the action that will produce the most good for the most amount of people. If the individual finds that there are only bad consequences, then she must go with the behavior that causes the least amount of bad consequences to the least amount of people. There are many different methods for calculating the utility of each moral decision and coming up with the best
Utilitarianism is a theory aimed at defining one simple basis that can be applied when making any ethical decision. It is based on a human’s natural instinct to seek pleasure and avoid pain.
For my debate on human experimentation I believe that it is unethical . One of the reasons is because when being tested on you don't know what's going to happen. Also because you can get seriously hurt and can even die. When being experimented on you can get bad rashes,diseases, permanent scars,and it can even make you go crazy,like one of our worst experiments called the monster study.
Utilitarianism is a consequentialist theory that was first theorized by Jeremy Bentham, who summed up the fundamental quality of utilitarianism as, “It is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure of right and wrong.” Bentham was not a religious person and did not want to involve
Utilitarianism can be defined as: the right action is the one that produces the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people. Utilitarians seem to believe that humans only have two desires, or motivations: happiness and pain. They want as much happiness as possible and the least amount of pain as any other action. Utilitarianism is a consequentialist theory, meaning that whether it is right, depends solely on its consequences.
Utilitarianism is the view of considering everyone’s benefit as equally important versus only considering my own. For any action, the morally correct thing to do is cause the greatest amount of happiness or pleasure or benefit for the greatest number possible; while at the same time causing the least amount of pain or unhappiness for the smallest number possible.
Utilitarianism can be described as an ethical theory that states if the consequences of an action
Utilitarianism is one of the best known and influential moral theories. There are two different meanings to two words but at times, they can be the same perspective. Utilitarianism is different from ethical theories it makes the rightness and wrongness of an act dependent to a person. The right thing can be done from a bad motivation. There are consequences including good or bad by the act. It is between an action and their happiness or unhappy outcomes depending on the circumstances. There is no moral principle only itself of utilitarianism. It balances the individuality and community of happiness. The purpose of the morality is by making life better and increasing that amount of good deed. “Another aspect of utilitarianism is the belief that
Unethical experiments have occurred long before people considered it was wrong. The protagonist of the practice of human experimentation justify their views on the basis that such experiments yield results for the good of society that are unprocurable by other methods or means of study ( Vollmann 1448 ).The reasons for the experiments were to understand, prevent, and treat disease, and often there is not a substitute for a human subject. This is true for study of illnesses such as depression, delusional states that manifest themselves partly by altering human subjectivity, and impairing cognitive functioning. Concluding, some experiments have the tendency to destroy the lives of the humans that have been experimented on.
Utilitarianism is defined to be “the view that right actions are those that result in the most beneficial balance of good over bad consequences for everyone involved” (Vaughn 64). In other words, for a utilitarian,