TY - BOOK
T1 - The role of ethical theories in the decision making of Australian animal ethics committees: a multi-method examination
AU - Ciprian, Mikaela
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - [Truncated] In Australia, the decision as to whether animals can be used in scientific experiments
are made on a case by case basis by animal ethics committees (AECs) made up of
veterinarians, scientists, animal welfare representatives and lay people. AECs make
their decision as a consensus based on ‘The Australian Code of Practice for the Care
and Use of Animals for Scientific Purposes’. The Code prescribes that decisions should
be made using cost benefit analysis, adhering to the principles of the 3Rs and made in a
way that best provides for the animal’s welfare. The Code can be interpreted to suggest
that decisions be made using a mixture of the ethical theories utilitarianism, deontology
and virtue ethics. However, the extent to which AECs use each theory in their decision
making, and how they are influenced by subjectivism and cultural relativism, is
unknown.
Ethical decision making is influenced by three classes of factors. The first are individual
factors, such as the stakeholder role of the AEC member. The second is the ‘moral
intensity’, or ethical characteristics of the problem, which in animal experimentation
include the species used, whether the animals are suffering, and the ‘human interest’ of
the experiment. The third is the social context, or the environment in which the decision
is made, so the group dynamic of the committee will influence decision making. This
thesis investigated how AEC members use three normative ethical theories,
utilitarianism, deontology and virtue ethics, and the metaethical position of relativism,
to justify animal experimentation, and how their decision making is influenced by
stakeholder role, moral intensity and social context.
AB - [Truncated] In Australia, the decision as to whether animals can be used in scientific experiments
are made on a case by case basis by animal ethics committees (AECs) made up of
veterinarians, scientists, animal welfare representatives and lay people. AECs make
their decision as a consensus based on ‘The Australian Code of Practice for the Care
and Use of Animals for Scientific Purposes’. The Code prescribes that decisions should
be made using cost benefit analysis, adhering to the principles of the 3Rs and made in a
way that best provides for the animal’s welfare. The Code can be interpreted to suggest
that decisions be made using a mixture of the ethical theories utilitarianism, deontology
and virtue ethics. However, the extent to which AECs use each theory in their decision
making, and how they are influenced by subjectivism and cultural relativism, is
unknown.
Ethical decision making is influenced by three classes of factors. The first are individual
factors, such as the stakeholder role of the AEC member. The second is the ‘moral
intensity’, or ethical characteristics of the problem, which in animal experimentation
include the species used, whether the animals are suffering, and the ‘human interest’ of
the experiment. The third is the social context, or the environment in which the decision
is made, so the group dynamic of the committee will influence decision making. This
thesis investigated how AEC members use three normative ethical theories,
utilitarianism, deontology and virtue ethics, and the metaethical position of relativism,
to justify animal experimentation, and how their decision making is influenced by
stakeholder role, moral intensity and social context.
KW - Animal ethics
KW - Decision making
KW - Bioethics
KW - Ethical decision making
KW - Discourse analysis
M3 - Doctoral Thesis
ER -