Ethics and Research

1
Ethics and Research

• Jirí imek
• South Bohemian University in Ceské Budejovice,

2
Ethics and Research

• Ethics of doing research
• Ethics of biological research using living beings

3
Ethics of biological Research

• 17th century - no difficulties in ethical issues
• 19th to 20th century 17th
• necessity and availability of experiments on
  humans
• human rights
• animal welfare

4
Ethics of biological Research

• Process of establishment and implementation of
  new rules of conduct in biological research was
  difficult
• At the end of 20th century ethics committees,
  external bodies of governance were established

5
Scientists loss of credibility

• In 1874 Jules Verne The Mysterious Island
• 1975 Helsinki declaration recommended follow up
  of scientists through ethics committees
• 2001 EU opinion poll science is important but
  scientists should be controlled.

6
Eurobarometer 55.2

• 70.7 respondents believe that science and
  technology make our lives healthier, easier and
  more comfortable
• but
• 80.3 of respondents agree the authorities ought
  to formally oblige scientists to observe ethical
  rules.

7
Scientists loss of credibility

• Causes in postmodern consumer society
• Material welfare is highly valued good
• Doing science is no more mission but mainly
  profession. Scientists produce data, which they
  exchange for money and prestige
• Pleonexia (p?e??e??a) and hubris (?ß???) are
  honoured almost as virtues
• Truth is only relative to context

8
Scientists loss of credibility

• B. Causes in different lived worlds
• There exist examples of scientific misconduct
  from the end of ninetieth century until times of
  Tuskegee study
• Researchers do not understand language of ethical
  demands

9
Jan Patocka scholar of E. Husserl and M.
Heidegger and a friend of E. Fink

• Natural world as a philosophical problem (1936)
• Die natürliche Welt als philosophisches Problem.
  Phänomenologische Schrfiten I.
• Hrsg. v. Klaus Nellen und Jirí Nemec. 1990
  
• Le monde naturel comme un problème
  philosophique. 
• Translate by Jaromír Danek and Henri Declève. 
  The Hague Martinus Nijhoff, 1976

10
Scientific and natural worlds

• In different times and at different places people
  live in different models of the world
• E.g. medieval hierarchical model

11
Scientific and natural worlds

• During 19th and the first half of 20th century
  scientific model of world was created
• It was based on achievements of science.
• It was rather material and constructed from
  proven laws of nature
• There was no much room for human freedom

12
Scientific and natural worlds

• Lived natural world is different
• There are different meanings of human freedom,
  human time and space
• Patocka predicted that soon scientific model of
  the world will be left and people will
  accommodate in their natural world
• Science will be moved to service position

13
Scientific and natural worlds

• Todays conditions
• People live in unlimited fantasies
• They create and adore their new gods as healthy
  food, unusual adventures
• They live unreal lives of characters from TV
  serial stories
• Scientific truth does not matter

14
Scientific and natural worlds

• People believe that experts will produce and keep
  in function their devices (e.g. mobile phones)
  and that they safeguard their safety in travel
  and in other entertainment
• They do not ask on scientific background of their
  comfort
• Science and technology were moved to service role

15
Scientific and natural worlds

• Common people accommodated in natural world
• Scientists must at least partly remain in
  scientific world
• The two worlds use different languages
• Communication is difficult

16
Scientific and natural worlds

• In science pain is a sequence of reactions and
  usually has no impact on results
• In natural world pain is a bad experience which
  should be avoided
• In science venepuncture is a way how to get blood
  sample
• In natural world venepuncture is experience full
  of pain, anxiety and social distress.

17
Scientific and natural worlds

• World of science makes our lives safe and
  comfortable
• Natural world makes our lives livable
• In research we must balance demands from both
  worlds
• Research ethics committees are a good place for
  meeting and discussion of representatives of both
  worlds

18
Scientific and natural worlds

• Science became a special profession, which goes
  ahead governed by its own inner forces,
  regardless of our wishes and expectations
• Should we at least to try to influence somehow
  future directions of research or to set some
  limits on its efforts?
• Is it possible or reasonable?
• Open discussion is possible and reasonable

19
Jan Patocka

• Heretical essays in the philosophy of history
  (1975)
• Ketzerische Essais zur Philosophie der Geschichte
  und ergänzende Schriften
• Hrsg. v. Klaus Nellen und Jirí Nemec.
  1988.
• Éssais hérétiques sur la philosophie de
  l'histoire  Translated by Erika Abrams. 
  Lagrasse éditions Verdier, 1981.
• Heretical Essays in the Philosophy of History 
• Translated by Erazim Kohák.  Edited by James
  Dodd.  Chicago, IL Open Court, 1996.

20
Erazim Kohák

• Human, Good and Evil (1994)
• Being Human, More or Less Human Studies 1994

21
Is Progress so much desirable?

• Science and technology go very quickly ahead
• Our lives are more and more comfortable and safe
• Development of science is quicker than
  development of ethical assessments
• Differences between developed and developing
  countries increase

22
Is Progress so much desirable?

• Pleonexia and hubris used to be followed by
  Nemesis
• Nemesis following our hubris would have more
  subtle shape loss of
• compassion, affiliation and love
• respect to human dignity
• real authenticity

23
Is Progress so much desirable?

• Let us discuss how to manage
  that our world remains livable

24
Thank you for your attention