Ethical Questions

Continuing dependence on fossil fuels raises several major ethical issues. Ethical questions concerning our responsibilities to future generations arc raised by the fact that fossil fuels are a nonrenewable energy source, so that eveiy barrel of oil or ton of coal burned today is forever lost to future generations. Further, the by-products of fossil fuel combustion pose hazards to both present and future generations. 

There are major problems with this individualistic approach to energy policy, however. The ideal market of economic theoiy exists nowhere in reality. Further, even market defenders acknowledge cases in v hich markets fail. Significantly, some paradigmatic examples of market failure, such as the externality of pollution and monopolistic control of production, are associated with the production of energy. More importantly, perhaps, crucial ethical questions can be missed if we only consider the perspective of individual values and choice. 

Many energy polices also raise important ethical questions concerning justice across generations. Wliat, if any, responsibilities does the present generation have to posterity This question can be raised at many points as we consider alternative energy policies. 

Although there is no substitute for individual action based on a firm philosophical and ethical foundation, designers have developed guidelines for professional conduct based on the experience of many of them who have had to wrestle with troublesome ethical questions and situations previously. These guidelines can be found in the published codes of ethics for designers and engineers of a number of industry and technical societies such as the Industrial Designer societies. 

The first strategy is to rmdertake a superficial scan of mainstream textbooks that everyday situations have been connected to cormnon school chemistry textbooks. For example, student-exercises may contain informatiorr, about contaminants in a river such as lead salts, about acid-base indicators in plants or about food additives for the preservation of wine. However, implicit confusion may (and frequently will) occur when the textbook and the teacher aim at reaching the right answer, for example the correct calculation of the concentration of an additive in gram per litre or parts per million (ppm). Students may still pose questions such as How many glasses of wine can I drink before 1 will get sick What is the effect of alcohol on my body Why is the addition of sulphite to wine important Is the same fact tme for red wine Or even further Shouldn t the government prohibit the addition of sulphite In this way students can become personally involved in subjects that can be related to their learning of chemical substances, and even to atoms and molecules. But, the student-activities in mainstream school chemistry textbooks often are not focused on this type of involvement they do not put emphasis in the curriculum on personal, socio-scientific and ethical questions that are relevant to students lives and society. 

The obvious problem with prescribing placebos is the fact that it generally entails deception. When physicians prescribe placebos, they don t tell their patients that the treatment is a placebo.13 Instead, the patients are led to believe that they are receiving an active treatment. This raises a serious ethical question. Is it ethical to deceive patients if the deception is likely to make them better ... 

Because gene therapy involves making changes to the body s set of basic instructions, it raises many unique ethical concerns. The ethical questions surrounding gene therapy include ... 

Stem cells and cell therapy is the use of pluripotent and multipotent cells to generate healthy cells and tissues to replace the faulty ones in disease conditions. The main ethical questions are the source of the cells and the possibility of cloning humans. 

I believe that the biggest and greatest challenge my generation will face will be ethical dilemmas created by scientific discoveries and advances. There has been a boatload of things discovered in this century, especially in the time period of the last few decades. Humankind is able to avail itself of a plethora of opportunities it heretofore was unable to take advantage of But some very difficult ethical questions have been raised by these opportunities. They have given us new power over nature, hut this power can easily be abused and misused. 

Besides the poor specificity of many of the assays used to determine plasma drug concentrations, another problem which has arisen from these studies has been the length of the "wash-out" period necessary before the patient is given the neuroleptic under investigation. As a result of the prolonged duration of blockade of dopamine receptors in the brain by conventional neuroleptics and their metabolites, it is necessary to allow a wash-out period of several weeks before the patients are subject to a pharmacokinetic study. This raises serious ethical questions. Perhaps with the advent of new imaging techniques it may be possible in the near future actually to determine the rate of disappearance of neuroleptics from the brain of the patient. This may enable the relationship between plasma concentration and clinical response to be accurately determined. 

The basic ethical questions raised by clinical research should never be underestimated. The pharmaceutical physician will need to be aware that failure, intentionally or because of misguided enthusiasm, to protect the health and well-being of each study subject can have very serious consequences. In an age where the medical profession is constantly under scrutiny, the drug industry is heavily criticised and the communication industry extremely active, mistakes in clinical trials are pimished. Therefore, before a study is commenced, a review should be made that the scientific approach is current, the motivation is clear, the processes are imambiguous, and there should be sufficient data to judge the safety and effectiveness of the interventions proposed. 

Clearly, there is an ethical question as to whether the foreseeable risks and inconveniences to a study subject or patient participating in a clinical trial are outweighed by the anticipated benefits to that patient. Even more critical is the question of whether the risks being undertaken by the healthy volunteer are considered acceptable when the volunteer will not benefit medically. 

Choose one of the ethical questions that can be raised about application of our new knowledge about the genome (e.g., see pp. 1518,1519,... 

I have referred to several ethical questions in Chapter 6 and this appendix, and I close with a more personal one. Were it not that someone in the Legislature might revive the ancient cry of the ultra-Protestant, Would you have celibacy practiced in the open streets a case could be made for academic celibacy. As C. S. Lewis remarks somewhere, academics do not work hard, they just work all the time, and this can put an enormous burden on a spouse, particularly if he or she is not an academic. No doubt there are some who, like Euler, can write their papers in the midst of the domestic hubbub, but most of us get increasingly irritable and obsessed as a deadline approaches or a book is nearly finished (or abandoned). I must admit that I have, at times, been oblivious to the distress I have caused my wife, whose loyalty and support have ever been beyond my desserts. It is one of the blessings of retirement that, busier than ever although one may be, there are not the pressures that one feels in the thick of a career and no excuses for neglecting a relationship without which the career itself would be little worth. 

Participants in public-health studies that measure hundreds of biomarkers might give informed consent only with respect to the general objectives of the study on the grounds that detailed discussion of each biomarker is not feasible. However, failing to provide more detailed information raises ethical questions. The committee recommends research... 

With respect to providing information to study participants, the committee considers that failing to provide detailed information about all biomarkers to be measured, no matter how many chemicals are involved in the study, raises ethical questions. 

The drugging of children for behavior control should raise profound spiritual, philosophical, and ethical questions about ourselves as adults and about how we view the children in our care. Society ignores these critical questions at great peril to itself, to its values, and to the well-being of its children.45... 

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