Ethical considerations and standards

道德考虑和标准

• 批准号: 239649889
• 负责人: Professor Dr. Urban Wiesing
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Internationales Zentrum für Ethik in den Wissenschaften (IZEW)
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Research Units
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 德国
• 起止时间: 2012-12-31 至 2016-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/239649889?language=en
• 关键词: Ethical; considerations; standards

There is great controversy on the questions whether, when and how experiments with non-human primates are ethically justifiable. Because of the close phylogenetic relationship, many claim that non-human primates are the best model to address particular research questions. On the contrary, others argue that exactly the evolutionary similarities are the reason why they object experiments with non-human primates as a matter of principle. They argue that ethical justification supporting non-human primate research should also hold true for doing the research directly on humans. There is no reason to expect that the moral dissent with respect to ethical justification of research involving non-human primates, particularly in a global context, will disappear. Regardless of the fundamental dissent, practical decisions have to be made. The main objective of this ethical research project is to provide the ethical and historical background for enabling non-arbitrary decisions in a situation of fundamental dissent. Therefore, five research goals are essential: 1. Systematic Overview A systematic overview of the different ethical positions on using non-human primates for research will be given. Positions will be described and ordered with respect to the degree of promoting or objecting research on non-human primates. The criteria of ethical relevance will be presented and implicit presuppositions will be explicated. 2. Historical Overview of Ethics of Non-human Primate Research and Its Cultural Background A historical overview of the ethics of non-human primate research and its cultural background will be elaborated. On the basis of official decisions and regulations, cultural differences will be set out and correlated to the systematic overview of ethical positions and arguments. 3. Gradualist Paradigm With respect to the fundamental dissent, a gradualist model will be set up concerning the ethical acceptability of non-human primate research. Proceeding pragmatically, this paradigm will provide a ranking order, which presents research settings step by step from the most acceptable ones to ethically more problematic ones. This pragmatic proceeding is based on the conviction that even in case of moral dissent a consensus might be possible about the question concerning which options are more and which options are less acceptable. The underlying arguments for the gradual assessment of the different options will be analysed. Against the backdrop of such a gradualist model, arguments can be provided as a basis for a decision in coherence with other moral decisions in biomedical research. 4. Directory of Official Decisions All relevant official decisions, regulations and laws with respect to non-human primate research in North-America and Europe will be documented in a directory. Via an internet platform we will provide open access to this database for all members of the research group and others. 5. Ethics Consultation During the funding period of the research group, we provide ethical consultation for planning research projects. We offer to give advice on how to design experiments with non-human primates with consideration of the ethical dimension.

关于非人类灵长类动物实验是否、何时以及如何在伦理上合理的问题存在很大争议。由于密切的系统发育关系，许多人声称非人类灵长类动物是解决特定研究问题的最佳模型。相反，其他人则认为，正是进化上的相似性才是他们原则上反对用非人类灵长类动物进行实验的原因。他们认为，支持非人类灵长类动物研究的伦理理由也应该适用于直接对人类进行研究。没有理由期望对涉及非人类灵长类动物的研究的伦理正当性的道德异议将会消失，特别是在全球范围内。无论根本分歧如何，都必须做出实际决定。该伦理研究项目的主要目标是提供伦理和历史背景，以便在存在根本异议的情况下实现非任意决策。因此，五个研究目标至关重要： 1. 系统概述 对使用非人类灵长类动物进行研究的不同伦理立场进行系统概述。将根据促进或反对非人类灵长类动物研究的程度来描述和排序立场。将提出道德相关性的标准，并解释隐含的预设。 2. 非人灵长类动物研究伦理的历史概述及其文化背景 将阐述非人灵长类动物研究伦理的历史概述及其文化背景。在官方决定和法规的基础上，文化差异将被阐明，并与道德立场和论点的系统概述相关联。 3. 渐进主义范式针对根本性的异议，将建立一个关于非人类灵长类动物研究的伦理可接受性的渐进主义模型。从务实的角度来看，这种范式将提供一个排名顺序，从最可接受的研究环境到道德上更有问题的研究环境逐步呈现。这一务实的程序基于这样的信念：即使存在道德异议，也可能就哪些选项更可接受、哪些选项更不可接受的问题达成共识。将分析逐步评估不同选项的基本论点。在这种渐进主义模型的背景下，可以提供论据作为与生物医学研究中其他道德决策相一致的决策基础。 4. 官方决定目录 所有与北美和欧洲非人类灵长类动物研究相关的官方决定、法规和法律都将记录在目录中。通过互联网平台，我们将为研究小组的所有成员和其他人提供对该数据库的开放访问。 5.伦理咨询在课题组资助期间，我们为研究项目的规划提供伦理咨询。我们就如何在考虑伦理维度的情况下设计非人类灵长类动物实验提供建议。