Philosophical Reflection on Experimenting with Humans - Book Report/Review Example

This paper contains the analysis of the essay of Hans Jonas on the book “Intervention and reflection: basic issues in medical ethics” written by Ronald Munson. The aim of the book is to analyze the modern scientific, medical and social approaches to different problems. The text of the essay comprises the ethical theory of the author, applied to the experimental methods. Ronald Munson, at the beginning of his book writes: “The moral problems of medicine always have scientific, social, legal, and economic aspects, and to deal with them sensibly and thoroughly we need the knowledge and perceptions of people from a variety of disciplines” (1983). This work comprises the summary of the main points of his arguments in relation to this problem and comprises the scientific approaches, used to describe it from different angles. The author of the article concentrates the attention on the risks, undertaken by people in the field of experimental science and rejects the necessity to sacrifice human life in the sake of science. “Experimenting with human subjects is going on in many fields of scientific and technological progress” (1983). It is obvious, that the methodological problems of different areas of scientific studies have their own peculiarities in the fields of knowledge, as well as moral and ethical have their own specific characteristics. In some branches of science, especially those ones, related to the human knowledge, these problems are more complicated, than in any other field, which is more remote from the realities of everyday human existence. Research on the methodology of science is a completely independent field of knowledge, which has serious implications for discussion of ethical issues. The ​​interest in this direction of research was predetermined by the significant economic, social and political changes, in terms of which the modern science exists. Regarding to this, it is necessary to revise the terms of “social contract” between the science and society. The essence of this statement can be explained in the following way. The Company provides the conditions for the development of study: research funding, social support, free determination of scientists and the subjects of the experiment, the relevance and validity of the results obtained. The science provides: a) The continuous expansion of knowledge about the world; b) The description of this knowledge in the way, which helps to apply them for creation of the new and useful products and technologies; c) Training for those, who are able to create products and technologies and ensure their efficiency. One of the hidden assumptions, which made possible the contract between the science and society, was the notion that knowledge, achieved by different studies, was definitely good and useful in a variety of ways. Consequently, knowledge was considered as the cognitive activity as well as the semantic core of science and practical application. Certain technological advances could easily turn into the unexpected and very unpleasant consequences. It is impossible, not to mention in this context the so-called "technological imperative. According to this notion, everything that becomes technically possible for humanity, should certainly be realized in practice. Meanwhile, those who are not inclined to agree with the fatalistic "technological imperative" have long been trying to somehow influence the processes of social acceptance of new technologies. In this context, it makes sense to remember about the evaluation of technologies, which has been developed over the past decades. Its aim is not the abolition of dangerous studies, but predicting the possibility of negative effects on people and minimizing them. The discussion of ethical problems, created by the use of research results is a very important question in the scientific study. The ethical judgments and estimates can be applied not only to the practical use of the results of the research, but also to the processes of their preparation. In modern science arises a rough conflict between the freedom of scientific researches, on the one hand, and the need to protect the dignity, rights and interests of those, who find themselves in the role of subjects of these researches, on the other. The scientific community have been protecting the principle of freedom for a number of centuries and it has gained a very high status in the hierarchy of values. The modern research is directed to the analysis of the variety of ways of human exposure and the existing opportunities of the individual. This analysis is realized in numerous experiments, in which the person is involved as a test. Each experiment is designed to increase knowledge about the properties of a medicine, new devices, and so forth. The necessity for its appliance is predetermined by the requirements of the development of a particular branch of biology or medicine or other areas of knowledge. The set of the results, received from such experiments, provides us some knowledge about the person. Participation in them is always more or less risky in relation to the subject. It leads to the contradiction of interests between two sides: on the one hand, the researcher who seeks a subject for the experiment in order to obtain the new knowledge; on the other hand, the subject for the experiment, the main aim of which is the therapeutic effect or cure from a particular disease, which is also the main reason of his participation in the study. One of the most interesting philosophers of the twentieth century, Hans Jonas, discussing the problems of experiments on human beings, spoke about the necessity of restriction the experiments provided by the research industry. He drew the attention of the auditory to the fact that, the scientific community had to fight with a strong temptation - regular experimentation with the most affordable human material. “Having faith in the transcendent potential of man, I do not fear that the “source” will ever fail a society that does not destroy it—and only such a one is worthy of the blessings of progress” (1983). Jonas considered the experiments with humans as the extreme, not the regular way to serve the public good. Since the time, when H. Jonas first talked about the research industry, it has become a full-fledged reality. Moreover, such studies are seen not only in terms of risk, but also in terms of the benefits they can bring. Typically, the benefits of such acts studied the therapeutic effect of a new drug or a new treatment. The question of the legitimacy of these two interpretations of biomedical research deserves special consideration. It is important to emphasize that the ethical support was provided for all studies. In biomedical research, there are two basic mechanisms of regulation of this process. The first one is a procedure, which requires the agreement of the subject for the participation in it. Secondly, the modern practice of biomedical research is assumed that each research project can be carried out only after the application is approved by the independent ethics committee. The practice shows that the pharmaceutical companies themselves, when they test new drugs, are interested in getting the approval of ethical committees for their projects. It strengthens the authority and enterprises, and improves market prospects of the checked drugs. The area of biomedical research, and the ethical regulation, developed greatly due to the effects, which do not aim to improve human health. The scientific and technical progress, based on the direct satisfaction of human needs, created the new materials that surround us in everyday life (new appliances and devices, food products, cosmetics and so forth). Each of these items before getting to the consumer market was tested in terms of toxicological, environmental safety and many other points. Each of these verifications implies tests, provided by the ethical control. The continuous updating of the subjects of verifications, which means the new research organization is an unchangeable law of modern business life. Thus, the majority of events, which happen in the sphere of science, engineering, business, and so forth are involved in the orbit of ethical regulation. The main task of ethical regulation is to protect people from the risks involved. Special structures and mechanisms are responsible for the achievement of this purpose. As a result, none of the biomedical researches, which are carried on the person, can be started without passing the ethical control. In other words, the general plan and many details of the project should be considered by the independent ethics committee, and only after its approval, the study can be started. The risk must be justified in the eyes of the researcher-specialists, and the ordinary people who perceive the dangers of the experiment, differently from the professionals. Consequently, we can make a conclusion that any scientific research depends upon its ethical evaluations. This process can be generalized in the meaning of the “ethical industry”, established in the field of biomedical research. Nowadays there is a new period in the practice of experimenting with human beings. This process should not be considered as something extraordinary, as well as something that has to be practiced only in a few extreme cases. On the contrary, they should be treated as critical part of the present and the future progress of biomedicine. Along with this, we can see today that the concept of biomedical research and experimentation is understood more broadly and associates with the goals of medicine, such as the treatment of disease and the relief of the patients. Any decision is dictated by the cultural norms. The content of such concepts as biomedical research and experiment was expanded enormously. Many modern practices are critically dependent on the experiments on human beings, so these experiments are the obligatory part of the medical progress. The most important thing is to minimize the negative effects of these experiments on the human health. Works Cited Ronald Munson. Intervention and Reflection: Basic Issues in Medical Ethics. Eighth Edition. California: Wadsworth, Inc., 1983. Print.  Read More