From the now infamous Tuskegee Syphilis Study and Stanley Milgram's Obedience experiments, to lesser known but equally important landmarks in research ethics-such as the Willowbrook experiment, in which residents of a
state home for mentally retarded children were intentionally infected with a virus that causes hepatitis, and the Kennedy-Krieger Lead Abatement study,
which tested the efficacy of a new, inexpensive lead paint removal procedure by
offering to low-income parents of young children reduced-rate housing in lead-
abated units and testing those children for lead exposure-in this sophomore tutorial we'll closely examine a series of contemporary and historical cases of human experimentation (roughly, one case per week) with an eye toward elucidating the moral norms that ought to govern human subjects research. A number of
conceptual themes will emerge throughout the course of the term, including notions of exploitation and coercion, privacy and confidentiality, and the balance
between public interests and individual rights. Specific issues will include the
ethics of placebo research, deception in research, studies of illicit/illegal behavior, genetic research, experimentation with children, pregnant women and fetuses, and persons with diminished mental capacity, among other topics. Students will meet with the professor in pairs for approximately one hour per week,
writing and presenting 5- to 7-page essays every other week, and commenting
orally on their partners' essays in alternate weeks.
Format: tutorial. Evaluations will be based on written work, on oral presentations of that work, and on oral critiques.
Prerequisites: none. Enrollment limit: 10 (expected: 10). Preference will be given to prospective philosophy majors and students committed to taking the tutorial.