The Further Development of Human Experimentation - Essay Example

Ethical Problems in Human Experimentation of Learning Ethical Problems in Human Experimentation Modern science requires various types of experimentation, including human experimentation. It is reasonable in the sense that allows solving a variety of serious problems faced by humanity in the last few decades. As is it known, humanity continues to suffer from a variety of diseases, many of which are fatal. In this regard, human experimentation is viewed as extremely important for all of humanity. It can open the way to effective treatment of various diseases as well as to help in their prevention. In many ways, the development of modern human experimentation is associated with the work of a number of scientists in the field of behavioural psychology. The development of this industry has led to the fact science began to perceive the person as an object that can be explored. In this regard, the man-machine concept was extremely important because it allowed scientists to consider human psychology as an automated system operating in accordance with certain principles and laws. Despite the fact that such understanding of a man has allowed Ivan Pavlov to make a number of discoveries, however, modern human experimentation faces a number of ethical issues that have arisen largely due to behavioural psychology. On the one hand, human experimentation is of particular importance for humanity. As a result, there is an urgent need to address the ethical issues that arise in this area. In particular, it is about issues such as the conversion of a human being into a mechanical object, the violation of the human right to preserve one’s dignity, etc. This paper analyses the role of behavioural psychology in the development of the “man-machine” concept as well as ethical issues that characterize modern human experimentation. As it is known, the problem of human psychology and the human soul has always worried scientists and philosophers from around the world. This problem has always been interesting due to the fact that it allows one to answer the question of the interaction between body and soul, the physical and mental processes. Indeed, human thoughts and feelings are not like a physical object. They differ from the human body consisting of cells, blood, etc. Each person has the ability to control his or her body through his or her thoughts and emotions. The mind-body problem defines a constant search for the answer to the question about the essence of human psychology and the human soul. In this regard, the ancient philosophy has made a significant contribution to the development of psychology. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle paid special attention to the problem the organization of human consciousness and its interaction with the physical processes that occur in the human body. Aristotle came to the conclusion about the existence of different levels of the soul responsible for certain functions. In particular, he pointed to the special importance of the vegetative part of the soul that he believed was to control and provide a permanent impact on vital operations in the human body. In his writings, Aristotle argued the idea that psychic phenomena and processes are no less important than the physical ones (Des Chene, 2001). Moreover, he was convinced that it was the mental processes presented by the vegetative part of the soul that allow one to say that man is a living creature. This understanding enabled Aristotle to speak about the differences between living organisms and inanimate objects. After a few centuries, the French scientist René Descartes made a kind of revolution in psychology. He began to defend the idea that a person can be regarded as a machine where its organization depends entirely on the mechanistic laws and principles. In this respect, the mental processes occurring in the human body were not considered as being of primary importance. On the contrary, they have become dependent on the work of the body-machine. “The human soul has nothing to do with the vital operations that in Aristotelian physiology are referred to the vegetative part of the soul” (Des Chene, 2001). Such an interpretation of the human body as an automated system was instrumental in the framework of scientific research of the seventeenth century. This allowed scientists to draw an analogy between the human body and the different machines that were created in that period. In other words, understanding the human being as a machine and the study of human body was giving a lot of valuable information for the creation of automatic machines. Although the feasibility of this approach, it had a rather negative impact on the interpretation of a human being to within the framework of scientific research. This is due to the fact that the ideological revolution produced by Descartes in the field of psychology has led to the fact that science has lost landmarks to distinguish between living and non-living beings. Such a distinction is possible when science recognizes the critical importance and status of the human soul and mind, and it understands it substantial difference from the physical processes and the body. Otherwise, the soul becomes an appendage and loses its status. As a result, science is beginning to consider man primarily as a physical object that can be explored and studied. In many ways, the theory of Descartes and his followers defined this attitude to the man as a living being. Further development of behavioural psychology in particular in the work of Ivan Pavlov not only continued but also strengthened this trend. His scientific studies continued the tradition begun by the creators of the man-machine concept since he also considered the human being as a mechanical object, which must be subjected to various manipulations on the part of the scientist as if the scientist deals exclusively with a passive object. The following excerpt from one of his works makes it possible to understand the purely objective and indifferent scientific attitude to human personality: The entire activity of the highest parts of the central nervous system, as revealed to us by our point of view, stands before us in the form of two main nervous mechanisms: first, as the mechanism of a temporary union, i.e., the establishment of a new connection in the conducting paths between the phenomena of the external world and the answering reactions of the animal organism; and, secondly, as a mechanism of analysers (Pavlov, 1928). As a result, the modern human experimentation has faced a number of serious ethical problems and their solution is a challenge. In his work Philosophical Reflections on Experimenting with Human Subjects, Hans Jonas examines the various ethical problems that characterize scientific experimentation. The acuteness of the problem is that scientific experiments should not be completely rejected because they are extremely valuable for all people worldwide. As noted previously, they may give humanity a chance to get rid of many serious diseases, including those having a genetic basis, as well as to improve the quality and duration of human life, etc. On the other hand, Jonas says that one needs to recognize the existence of a number of ethical problems characterizing human experimentation. Firstly, one can find an extremely important form of injustice presented in human experimentation. In particular, in contrast to physical experimentation, where the experiment is being carried out in certain laboratory conditions, and then the findings are applied to a particular object outside the laboratory, human experimentation involves the direct study of human. The researcher “must operate on the original itself, the real thing in the fullest sense, and perhaps affect it irreversibly” (Jonas, 1976). In addition, in the course of human experimentation, there is a risk of violating human rights including those aimed at preserving human dignity and autonomy. Scientific experimentation regards man as if he is a mechanism that should be investigated. However, this study ignores the fact of human individuality and uniqueness turning a man into nothing more than an object for study. Jonas recognizes that scientific progress requires constant experiments, however, he believes that in any case they should not violate the moral and ethical standards that consider human primarily as a living being that has the right to respect and fair attitude towards him. Even if observance of morality will slow scientific progress, Jonas does not see anything wrong with that. Otherwise, the scientific progress is meaningless. To sum up, one can see that the revolution produced by Rene Descartes and his followers in the field of scientific research had extremely important consequences for the further development of human experimentation. The man-machine concept has played a crucial role in the development of behavioural psychology. Following the Cartesian tradition behavioural psychology has continued seeing man as a mechanical object operating according to certain rules. Despite the fact that all this contributed to the fast development of science nevertheless scientific experimentation is faced with different ethical problems. Their main point is that the person should be seen as a mechanism, for he/she is a complex biological system whose work cannot be likened to a simple mechanism. Man is presented by his/her emotions, feelings and inner experiences that make him/her a unique and unrepeatable being. Any scientific discipline including medicine should take into account the human rights that are aimed at preserving human dignity and autonomy of choice. References Des Chene, D. (2001). Introduction and tales of the bete-machine: Selections. Spirits and clocks: Machines and organism in Descartes. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press. Jonas, H. (1976). Philosophical reflections on experimenting with human subjects. In T. A. Shannon (Ed.), Bioethics: Basic writings on the key ethical questions that surround the major, modern biological possibilities and problems (pp. 209-235). Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist Press. Pavlov, I. (1928). Natural science and the brain. In W. H. Gantt (Trans.). Lectures on conditioned reflexes: Twenty-five tears of objective study of the higher nervous activity (behaviour) of animals (pp. 120-130). New York: International Publishers Company. Read More