Ethical Dilemmas in Research

Philip J. NickelMarch 7, 2007

Ethical Dilemmas

Dilemmas, Decisions, and Considerations

Ethical Decisions

An ethical decision is any unqualified decision about how to act.

Ethical Considerations

An ethical consideration is a fact that makes a principled difference to an ethical decision.

Psychological Malleability of the Ethical

Psychological proliferation of ethical considerations.

Psychological Malleability of the Ethical

Psychological proliferation of ethical considerations.Psychological contraction of ethical considerations.

Psychological Malleability of the Ethical

The psychological malleability of the ethical does not imply that ethics is subjective.

A Case for Your Consideration

According to the newspaper Le Monde, reporting yesterday, 400,000 people die each year from sleeping sickness in Africa, which is spread by the tse-tse fly. A new method is being used to produce colonies of sterile male tse-tse flies, which will interrupt the life cycle of the flies by breeding with other flies, and kill off entire populations. The initial cost is higher for this new program than for conventional insecticide-based programs, but in the long run the new program would eliminate tse-tseflies altogether and wipe out sleeping sickness. Let us suppose, for the sake of the example, that there is no additional funding for the new program, so that health officialswould have to divert funding for it from insecticide spraying programs that are currently being used. This would lead to an immediate but temporary increase in cases of sleeping sickness.

Principles and TheoriesThe Principle of Utility: The right action is the one that maximizes happiness (pleasure).The best action is the one that maximizes happiness (utility, pleasure).Bentham: Seven Variables of Pleasure• Intensity (self-explanatory)• Duration (self-explanatory)• Certainty/Uncertainty (how likely it is that the pleasure

will be achieved)• Propinquity/Remoteness (nearness in time)• Fecundity• Purity• Extent (how many people are affected)

Principles and TheoriesKant: Basic Principles• Universalizability: Always act on motives

that could in principle be made into a law for all people.

• Respect: Always treat humanity as an end-in-itself, never merely as a means.

Derived Principles:• E.g., Never lie, Never steal, Always obtain

consent.

A Case Study

Hendrik Schön, the former researcher at Bell Labs and infamous publisher of fabricated and falsified data.

Interpretation I of Schön’sthoughts:

“I would like to enhance my salary and reputation, but my research is not working out. I will fill in what I think the data would look like if it had worked out, and try to publish the results.”

Interpretation II of Schön’sthoughts:

“I’m convinced that my overall project is correct and scientifically important, but it would be too time-consuming to perform all the necessary research. I will fill in what I think the data would look like if it did work out, and try to publish the results.”

What is an ethical dilemma?

Relation to Ethical Decisions

What is an ethical dilemma?

Relation to Ethical DecisionsCan it involve personal interest considerations?

What is an ethical dilemma?

Relation to Ethical DecisionsCan it involve personal interest considerations?Is it a choice between two (or more) competing ethical considerations of similar strength?

Special Features of Moral Dilemmas

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Special Features of Moral Dilemmas

Incommensurability

Special Features of Moral Dilemmas

IncommensurabilityMoral remainders

Frequently Occurring Motives in Scientific Pursuits

Conflicts between these motives can seem like ethical dilemmas to a person, even though they are not in fact ethical dilemmas.

How can we avoid the distorting effects of particular situations, or of individual psychology?

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How can we avoid the distorting effects of particular situations, or of individual psychology?

Avoid egotism about one’s values.Apply theory and/or principles.Find good models.