IN SCIENCE

Why study animals?

Minimising the harm done to animals used in science

Benefits of animal-based science

Balancing harm and benefit

The three dimensions of science

Ethics and animal use in science

Control of animal use in science

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The Three Dimensions of Science

Animal-based science, just like all science, has three dimensions.
They are:

The acquisition of knowledge – finding out new things about how the bodies of animals and people work.
The application of knowledge – using our knowledge of the way the body works to help animals and people in various ways.
The ethical dimension – thinking about values, thinking about the right and wrong ways to find out new things about animals and people, and thinking about the right and wrong ways to use that knowledge to help animals and people in various ways.

The Three Dimensions of Science

Animal-based scientists have been very successful with the first two dimensions – finding out new thing and using that new knowledge [see Benefits of Animal-Based Science] - but until a few years ago thinking about ethics was not something that scientists spent much of their time doing. That was because they used to be taught that ethical thinking was not part of what scientists were meant to do. They were taught instead that ethical thinking was the job of philosophers and theologians.

This did not mean that animal-based scientists were unethical, nor that they behaved badly. Far from it! Most scientists working with animals had clear ideas about what was right and wrong, or good and bad, and they behaved well. The difficulty occurred at a deeper level of ethical thinking. Because scientists were not familiar with thinking about the foundations of values, they were not good at explaining how they arrived at their judgements that particular things were right and wrong, or good and bad. That meant that when they were asked to explain why they thought particular things were right or wrong, good or bad, they had real trouble doing so.

That has changed now. Animal-based scientists now give a lot more thought to ethical questions like those listed below.

Is it right to study animals to find out how their bodies work?
Is the overlap between the way animal and human bodies work sufficient to justify using animals to help people?
Are the good things that we can do with our knowledge of the way the body works – like curing diseases in animals and people – enough to justify using animals to get that knowledge?
When we do use animals to get more knowledge, what are our special responsibilities to the animals we use?

For more discussion about these questions and others see Ethics and Animal Use in Science.

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