The History and Ethics of Vivisection

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The History and Ethics of Vivisection
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Rowan (1984)
It is just not adequate for scientists to argue
that there is a quantum difference between the
moral status of humans and other animals if they
are unable to give reasons for such a belief and
defend their reasons in the arena of modern
philosophical debate.
In Of mice and men a critical evaluation of
Animal Research
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Cave painting from Altamira- drawn up to 15,000
years ago
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Lascaux caves - drawn over 10,000years ago
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Mural from Egyptian tomb - painted c. 4000
years ago
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Galen of Pergamum (129-199) - first record of
vivisection?
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Alcmaeon of Croton - C. 500 BC - brain, not
heart the central organ of
sense, optic nerve function
Hippocrates - born in 460 BC. Observation and
study of human body. Rational explanation for
disease.
Aristotle (c. 350 BC) - Man rational and
therefore at head
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Romans - up to 5000 animals a day slaughtered
in amphitheatres
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Virgil, Ovid, Cicero - great compassion for
animals
Plutarch, Seneca - man has a duty of kindness
to humans and animals
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St. Francis - compassion for animals
St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) - only
humans are rational. Animals exist for human
needs and have no moral status /soul
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1348 - Bubonic plague
Almost half of Europes population wiped out.
Local, regional or pan- European outbreaks for
next 200 years.
Hunts - mass extinctions Animals for sport
Bull baiting Cock fighting
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Renaissance

• - renewed interest in
• Science and Philosophy

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Witch trials - animals treated as rational
beings - tried and sentenced, especially when
suspected of being mediums for witches.
Vatican - sparrows excommunicated
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Rene Descartes (1596-1650)

• Expanded on Christian humanist philosophy
• - the soul distinguishes the human from
  all other animals
• - 'beast machine'
• - unoiled cogs of robots

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William Harvey (1578-1657)
Demonstrated blood circulation using vivisection
(C. 1620) A significant increase in vivisection
followed
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Samuel Johnson in The Idler (c.1770)
"Among the inferior Professors of medical
knowledge is a race of wretches, whose lives are
varied only by varieties of cruelty
............the truth is that by knives, fire and
poison knowledge is not always sought and very
seldom attained. .......and if knowledge of
physiology has been somewhat increased, he surely
buys knowledge dear who learns the use of the
lacteals at the expense of his humanity."
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O'Meara (1655)
"the miserable torture of vivisection surely
places the body in an unnatural state".
Robert Boyle, Robert Hooke
Concern for welfare of their subjects but
convinced that the costs were justified.
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Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832)
"The question is not - Can they reason? nor Can
they talk ? but Can they suffer?"
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Bentham (cont.)

• All humans worthy of equal and humane
  consideration
• 'the day may come when the rest of animal
  creation may acquire those rights which never
  could have been withholden from them except by
  the hand of tyranny'

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• 1790's - agitation for anti-cruelty laws.
  (butchers convicted after cutting off sheep's
  feet).
• 1822 - Martin's Act
• Offence to wantonly abuse, beat or ill-treat
  any animal the property of any other person or
  persons.
• 1835 - Joseph Pease
• - others property clause removed.

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Francois Magendie - 1820's
- public lectures and demonstrations
involving vivisection
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Marshall Hall (1830s)
5 guiding principles - basis of 1876 CAA
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Five guiding principles

• 1. Is the experiment necessary ?
• 2. Does it have the possibility of achieving the
  desired result?
• 3. Can the protocol be modified to reduce
  discomfort?
• 4. Has the experiment been done before?
• 5. Will the protocol produce valid results?

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1824 - SPCA founded by Richard Martin 1835
- Royal patronage 1840 - RSPCA
1850's - anaesthesia. - RSPCA object to
vivisection
1874 - Victoria objects to vivisection 1875 -
Bill presented to Commons 1876 Cruelty to
Animals Act
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Frances Power-Cobbe (1822-1904)

• Victoria Street Society for the Protection of
  Animals from Vivisection
• Victoria Street Society for the Abolition of
  Vivisection after 1876 Act
• 1898 - Founded the British Union for the
  Abolition of Vivisection

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Tissue and organ transplants

• Corneal transplants, 1800s. First human 1906.
• First work on organ transplants, 1912.
• First kidney transplants, 1950s initially in
  dogs.
• Heart surgery, 1940s initially in dogs.
• Heart transplants, 1960s. Monkey to human 1964
  human to human 1967.
• Initial bone marrow transplants in mice, 1970s.
• Replacement heart valves, 1970s.

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Corneal transplants early 1900s

• First successful transplants
• Work on animals for many years
• First human transplant in 1906

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1920s
Canine distemper vaccine
Insulin for diabetics
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1930s 1940s

• Broad spectrum antibiotics
• Modern anaesthetics
• Whooping cough and diphtheria vaccines

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1940s
Heart and lung machine for open heart surgery
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Kidney transplants

• Work carried out initially in dogs
• First human transplants in 1950s
• Problems with rejection many years of work with
  animals to understand and overcome.

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1950s

• Polio vaccine
• Hip replacement surgery
• Drugs for high blood pressure

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1960s

• Heart transplant operations initially in dogs
  monkey to human in 1964 and human to human in
  1967.
• 1965 - Genetic basis of tissue typing from work
  on animals.
• Rubella vaccine

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1970s
Drugs for gastric ulcers
Improved treatment for asthma
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Replacement heart valves

• Replacement valve, usually from pigs, washed,
  denatured and tanned to render it biologically
  inert.
• Developed after many years work in rabbits,
  Guinea pigs and rats.

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Coronary bypass surgery
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1980s

• Drugs to prevent transplant rejection
• Drugs for viral diseases

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Medical milestones

• 1900sCorneal transplantsLocal
  anaesthetics1920sInsulin for diabeticsCanine
  distemper vaccine1930sModern
  anaestheticsDiphtheria vaccine1940sBroad
  spectrum antibiotics for infectionsWhooping
  cough vaccineHeart lung machine for open heart
  surgery

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Medical milestones

• 1950sKidney transplantsCardiac
  pacemakersReplacement heart valvesPolio
  vaccineDrugs for high blood pressureHip
  replacement surgery
• 1960sGerman measles vaccineCoronary bypass
  operationsHeart transplantsDrugs to treat
  mental illness

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Medical milestones

• 1970sDrugs to treat ulcers, asthma and
  leukaemiaImproved sutures and other surgical
  techniques
• 1980sDrugs to control transplant rejectionCAT
  scanning for improved diagnosisLife support
  systems for premature babiesDrugs to treat viral
  diseases

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Medical milestones

• 1990sFeline leukaemia vaccineMeningitis
  vaccineNew drugs for some cancersBetter drugs
  for depressionCombined drug therapy for HIV
  infection
•  

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Ethics

• The philosophical study of the moral value of
  human conduct and of the rules and principles
  that ought to govern it
• Moral philosophy

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UTILITARIANISM

• Consequentialist theory
• The right action is the one which brings about
  the best aggregate consequences
• Total benefits outweigh total suffering

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DEONTOLOGY (Rights view)

• Value of animals not reducible to their utility
  relative to the interests of others
• Certain beings have certain moral rights
• The use of animals in research (or farming) is
  wrong because it violates the moral rights of the
  animals used.

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(1975) Animal Liberation -
Peter Singer
Proposed that moral consideration should
transcend the species boundary to include all
sentient animals. Called for reasoned
intellectual debate
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Peter Singer

• 'If a being suffers, there can be no moral
  justification for refusing to take that suffering
  into consideration. No matter what the nature of
  the being, the principle of equality requires
  that its suffering be counted equally with the
  like suffering of any other being.'

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Inherent value - Tom Regan

• 'Animals, it is true, lack many of the abilities
  humans possess. They can't read, do higher
  maths, build a bookcase or make baba ghanoush.
  Neither can many humans, and yet we don't (and
  shouldn't) say that they therefore have less
  inherent value, less of a right to be treated
  with respect, than do others.'

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Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965)

• Ethics must widen the circle from the narrowest
  limits of the family, first to include the clan,
  then the tribe, then the nation and finally all
  mankind.'
• ........'By reason of the quite universal idea of
  participation in a common nature, it is compelled
  to declare the unity of mankind with all created
  beings.'