The Ethics of Animal Research: Exploring the Controversy (Basic Bioethics) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0262516918 ISBN 13: 9780262516914

Publisher: MIT Press, 2012

Synopsis

A balanced, accessible discussion of whether and on what grounds animal research can be ethically justified.

An estimated 100 million nonhuman vertebrates worldwide―including primates, dogs, cats, rabbits, hamsters, birds, rats, and mice―are bred, captured, or otherwise acquired every year for research purposes. Much of this research is seriously detrimental to the welfare of these animals, causing pain, distress, injury, or death. This book explores the ethical controversies that have arisen over animal research, examining closely the complex scientific, philosophical, moral, and legal issues involved.

Defenders of animal research face a twofold challenge: they must make a compelling case for the unique benefits offered by animal research; and they must provide a rationale for why these benefits justify treating animal subjects in ways that would be unacceptable for human subjects. This challenge is at the heart of the book. Some contributors argue that it can be met fairly easily; others argue that it can never be met; still others argue that it can sometimes be met, although not necessarily easily. Their essays consider how moral theory can be brought to bear on the practical ethical questions raised by animal research, examine the new challenges raised by the emerging possibilities of biotechnology, and consider how to achieve a more productive dialogue on this polarizing subject. The book's careful blending of theoretical and practical considerations and its balanced arguments make it valuable for instructors as well as for scholars and practitioners.

About this title

About the Author:

Jeremy R. Garrett, is a Research Associate at the Children's Mercy Bioethics Center at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Missouri–Kansas City.

Jeremy R. Garrett, is a Research Associate at the Children's Mercy Bioethics Center at Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, and Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Missouri–Kansas City.

Mark Rowlands is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Miami. He is the author of The Body in Mind: Understanding Cognitive Processes, Body Language: Representation in Action (MIT Press, 2006), The Philosopher and the Wolf, and other books.

Nathan Nobis, M.A., is a member of the Philosophy Departmentat the University of Rochester. He works primarily in analytical ethical theory, epistemology, and metaphysics. He has published articles in a wide range of scholarly journals.

Review:

The volume as a whole does a thorough job of arguing that the problem is a real one, given what our current practices of biomedical research on animals mean both for them and for us.

―Quarterly Review of Biology

As I complete my overview of the book's sixteen chapters, I find myself marveling at how much good work was included in a medium-sized anthology. This is an outstanding contribution. If there is a better, more helpful collection of essays on the ethics of animal research, I certainly have not encountered it.

―David DeGrazia, J Value Inquiry

About this edition

• Publisher: MIT Press
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0262516918
• ISBN 13: 9780262516914
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 341
• Editor: Garrett Jeremy R