Ethical Arguments

Research on human embryonic stem cells and therapeutic cloning 

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Theoretical views concerning epistemiology and systems theory, ethical arguments (animal testing) as well as limited financial, time and human resources are important factors as reasons for these fundamental limits to realisation. 

Fatty alcohols, by which the author means those in the range C and above, are split into two classes, petrochemical and oleochemical, or, as they are more usually referred to, synthetic and natural. The discussion of the relative merits of synthetic vs natural products has been at the forefront of surfactant technology for many years and has produced a wealth of literature. It is beyond the scope of this work to discuss whether oleochemicals have an inherent environmental benefit over petrochemicals. A good deal of scientific study on life cycle analysis and macro environmental impact is available but social and ethical arguments, as well as the perceptions of the end consumer, also play a part. On a strictly scientific basis, the author sees no inherent advantage in either source. The performance of a surfactant based on synthetic materials may differ from a naturally derived one but neither is intrinsically better than the other. In terms of impact on humans and the environment, there is also no clear evidence to suggest a difference between the two sources of hydrophobe. 

In school education we foster the reflective way, when we analyze ethical arguments. The reflective mode can be applied in a facultative manner when sufficient situational motivation and intellectual capacity are available. Strack and Deutsch (2004) distinguish in their two-process model the reflective system from the impulsive system. In the impulsive system, thinking processes proceed impulsively along with associated memories and influence immediately our motivational orientation. 

The conclusions of the Collective Opinion concerning retrievability are based on the following scientific/ technical and ethical arguments ... 

This chapter has shed light on the increasing role of ethical (fair) trade and its relationship with organic production and, subsequently, their key associations and differences have been illustrated. The authors expect the above discussion to prove beneficial and to provide further knowledge in this field of study. We also expect further research to be undertaken that could validate and/or contradict some of the key arguments cited in this work. 

No moral or ethical basis exists for the exposure of human subjects to pharmacologically active agents for purposes of demonstrations. The choice of the term demonstration in the basic reference is one of the most telling arguments contained therein. Whereas no legal basis has ever been established for experimentation on humans, nevertheless the officer and civilian physicians of the Chemical Corps feel morally, ethically and professionally Justified (both as physicians, and as professional civil and military servants of the nation) in using human subjects for research in, or under the control of, the Chemical Research and Development Laboratories. Any use of LSD-25 in which we participate will be an experiment, not a demonstration. 

Although some of these arguments against the use of a placebo involve questions of ethics, the use of a placebo treatment is often preferable to the continued use of treatments of unproven or dubious efficacy or safety. Some old remedies that are still in current use have never been subjected to a placebo-controlled trial, and the opportunity to include them in a placebo comparison may only be during the development of a new medicine. 

However, there is a counter argument. In the ECMO trial, after the result of the nineth patient became known the RPW design requires that the patients be randomised to ECMO compared to the standard ventilator in the ratio 9 1. Clayton argues that if the one treatment is so much superior to the other that 90% of patients are allocated to it, it is unethical to withhold it from the remaining 10%. If we accept that argument, is it also true if the ratio is 8 1 or 7 1 How much information is sufficient to make us, ethically, refuse to randomise patients Such questions are not simple. 

Discuss the implications of the argument that behaving ethically makes good business sense. Relate this argument to the behavior of companies today. 

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