In this section we list books, articles, videos, and websites that are
useful resources for preparation for, or use, in classes that integrate
ethics and values into the teaching of science. No doubt there are many
other valuable resources that are readily available in this growing area
Books and Articles:
Annas, G. and M. Grodin, The Nazi Doctors and the Nuremberg Code
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1992).
Bebeau, M., K. Pimple, K. Muskavitch, D. Smith, and S. Borden, Moral
Reasoning in Scientific Research: Cases for teaching and Assessment
(Bloomington, IN: Poynter Center for the Study of Ethics, 1995).
Belmont Report: Ethical Principles and Guidelines for Protection
of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research, Publication
no. OS 8-0012 (Washington, D.C.: DHEW, 1978).
Benditt, J., G. Taubes, J. Cohen, and E. Marshal, "Conduct in Science,"
268, 23 June 1995, pp. 1705-1718.
Broad, W. and N. Wade, Betrayers of Truth (New York: Simon and
Brown, M., Laying Waste (New York: Pantheon Books, 1979).
Callahan, D. and S. Bok, Ethics Teaching in Higher Education
(New York: Plenum, 1980).
Committee on Science, Engineering, and Public Policy, On Being a
Scientist, 2nd ed. (Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press,
Damon, W., The Moral Child (New York: Free Press, 1988).
Fourtner, A., C.R. Fourtner, and C.F. Herreid, "Bad Blood--A Case Study
of the Tuskegee Syphilis Project," Journal of College Science Teaching,
March/April 1994, pp. 277-285.
Gibbs, Lois, Love Canal: My Story, as told to Murray Levine (Albany,
NY: State University of New York Press, 1981).
Gilligan, C., In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women's
Development (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1982).
Glass, Bentley, Science and Ethical Values (Chapel Hill, NC:
The Univ. of N. Carolina Press, 1965).
Goldfarb, T., Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Environmental
Issues, 8th ed. (Guilford, CT: Dushkin Publishing Group,
Gray, F.D., The Tuskegee Syphilis Study (Montgomery, AL: Black
Belt Press, 1998).
Jackson, I., Honor in Science (New Haven, CT: Sigma Xi, 1986).
Jennings, B., K. Nolan, CS. Campbell, S. Donnelley, New Choices,
New Responsibilities: Ethical Issues in the Life Sciences (Briarcliff
Manor, NY: The Hastings Center, 1990). [A teaching resource on bioethics
for high school biology. A second edition in preparation.]
Jones, J.H., Bad Blood (New York, Free Press, 1993).
Kevles, D.J. and L. Hood, The Code of Codes (Cambridge, Mass.:
Harvard University Press, 1992).
Kohlberg, L., Essays on Moral Development, Vols. I-II (San Francisco:
Harper & Row, 1981, 1984).
Kohn, A., False Prophets: Fraud and Error in Science and Medicine
(New York: Basil Blackwell, 1986).
Korenman, S., and A. Schipp, Teaching the Responsible Conduct of
Research Through a Case Study Approach (Washington, D.C.: American
Association of Medical Colleges, 1994).
Macrina, F.L., Scientific Integrity: An Introductory Text With Cases
(Herndon, VA: ASM Press, 1995).
Martin, M., "The Goals of Science Education," Thinking, 4(2),
1985, pp. 19-22.
Martin, M., "Science Education and Moral Education," Journal of Moral
Education, 15(2), 1986, pp. 99-108.
Matthews, M.R., Science Teaching: The Role of History and Philosophy
of Science (New York: Routledge, 1994).
Miller, D.J. and M. Hersen, Research Fraud in the Behavioral and
Biomedical Sciences (New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1992).
National Academy of Science, Responsible Science: Executive Summary
(Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1992)
Nelkin, D. and M.S. Lindee, The DNA Mystique: The Gene as a Culture
Icon (New York: Freeman, 1995).
Penslar. R.L., ed., Research Ethics: Cases and Materials (Indianapolis:
Indiana University Press, 1995).
Pritchard, M.S., Reasonable Children (Lawrence, KS: University
Press of Kansas, 1996).
Rest, J. R., "Moral Development in Young Adults," in R. Mines and K.
Kitchener, eds., Adult Cognitive Development: Methods and Models (New
York: Praeger, 1986), pp. 92-111.
Sayre, A., Rosalind Franklin and DNA (New York: Norton, 1975).
Sieber, J.E., Planning Ethically Responsible Research (Newbury
Park, CA: Sage, 1992).
Stern, J.E. and D. Elliott, The Ethics of Scientific Research: A
Guidebook for Course Development (Hanover, NH: University Press of
New England, 1997.
Watson, J., The Double Helix (New York: Atheneum, 1968).
Ziman, J., An Introduction to Science Studies: The Philosophical
and Social Aspects of Science and Technology (New York: Cambridge University
"Academic Integrity," produced at the Center for Applied Ethics, Duke
University, 1995. Contact P. Aarne Vesilind: 919-660-5204. (4 vignettes
in which college students are portrayed making decisions about fabricating
data, cheating on tests, plagiarism, and whistleblowing.)
"Biomedical Research: Is It Really Necessary?," produced by Lockwood
Films, London, Canada, 1993. Available from Partners in Research: 519-433-7866.
"The Deadly Deception," NOVA, written, produced and directed by D. Di
Anni, WGBH Boston, 1993. Distributed by Films for the Humanities, P.O.
Box 205, Princeton, NJ 08543-3053.
"Do Scientists Cheat?", produced by NOVA. No longer distributed, but
written transcripts available from Journal Graphics: 1-800-825-5746. [The
video is in the collection of many libraries, academic institution and
other archives from which it may be borrowed. One such source is the Wisconsin
Regional Primate Research Center, phone (608) 263-3512, fax to (608) 263-4031,
e-mail to email@example.com, write to the Primate Center Library,
1220 Capitol Court, Madison, WI 53715, or request it (video #VT0113) through
interlibrary loan at your local library.]
"Ethics and Scientific Research," in Ethical Issues in Professional
Life series. Available from: GPN, P.O. Box 80669, Lincoln, Nebraska
68501-0669. Phone: 1-800-228-4630. Website for entire series: http://gpn.unl.edu.
(Features Robert Sprague, whistleblower in the Bruening case.)
"Evolving Concerns: Protection of Human Subjects," produced for the
National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) by the National Library of Medicine.
"Gilbane Gold," produced by and available from the National Society
of Professional Engineers's Institute for Engineering Ethics: 703-684-2800.
(Fictional dramatization of situation raising questions of whistleblowing,
environmental protection, business ethics, and journalistic ethics.)
"Group Dynamics: Groupthink," CRM Films, 1995. Available from CRM Films,
249 South Highway 101, Suite 514, Solana Beach, California 92075. Or call
CRM Films: 1-800-421-0833. (Application of Irving Janis's "symptoms of
groupthink" to the Challenger disaster.)
"Moral Development," produced by McGraw-Hill, CRM films. Available from
McGraw-Hill Films, 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020.
(A simulation of Stanley Milgram's obedience experiments, with an analysis
in terms of Lawrence Kohlberg's theory of moral development.)
"Obedience," produced by Stanley Milgram. Available from Penn State
Audio Visual Services, University Park, PA: 814-6314. (Original footage
from Milgram's famous obedience experiments, which raised fundamental questions
about deceiving research subjects.)
"The Race for the Double Helix," a BBC/Horizon Films/A&E 1987 production.
Distributed by Films for the Humanities and Sciences, P.O. Box 205, Princeton,
"Scientific Research Integrity Video Series," directed by Mark S. Frankel and Albert H. Teich, sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), 1996. Contact AAAS: 202-326-6600. (Five short vignettes portraying ethical issues in laboratory research.)
"Susceptibility to Kindness," produced by Larry I. Palmer. Available
from Cornell University: 607-255-2090. (Excerpts from David Feldshuh's
play, Miss Evers' Boys, dramatization of the 1932-1972 Tuskegee
Syphilis Study, with commentary by governments officials, nurses, physicians,
and James Jones, author of Bad Blood.)
Here we list just a few websites that seem especially useful. Our exploration
of the internet is by no means exhaustive, and the internet changes daily.
Still, one thing leads to another. Websites typically contain links to
other websites. So, try these and see where they take you.
This is the bioethical case studies site of Dr. J. R. Hendrix and University Computing Services
of Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana. Six case study scenarios
are presented along with Dr.Hendrix' model for bioethical educational analysis.
This is the WWWeb Ethics Center for Science and Engineering. It contains
a wide variety of useful resources and links on research ethics, moral
leaders in science and engineering, women and minorities in science and
engineering, and codes of ethics. Try the Education bullet for some good
The University of Massachusetts K-12 ethics education site. Contains
a course syllabus and links to other ethics education sites.
The Awesome Library site. Search under ethics and ethics center for
useful sites and references on a variety of ethics topics and issues.
This is the search page on the Eisenhower National Clearinghouse site.
Search under ethics for a variety of useful resources.
This is the Home Page of the University of British Columbia's Centre
for Applied Ethics. It contains numerous links to applied ethics sites
including Health Care Ethics, Business Ethics, Professional Ethics, Science
and Technology Ethics, Environmental Ethics, Animal Rights, Media Ethics,
and Computer Ethics. From the Home Page click on the Applied Ethics Resources
on World Wide Web button.
Frank C. Jahn and Carol L. Mitch's grade 9-12 Biology and/or Student
Research: essays and lesson plans. Woodrow Wilson biology Institute.
Genevieve M. Nelson's bioethics teaching site. Good links to other sources.
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's ELSI Project. Materials for
middle and high school.
This is Western Michigan University's Center for the Study of Ethics in Society.
1. The writing of this text was supported by National Science Foundation Grant No. SBR-9601284: "Infusion of Ethics and Values in Pre-College Science Training."
2. National Science Foundation Grant No. SBR-9320255: "Workshops For High School Science Teachers: Ethics in the Classroom."
3. For example, since July 1990 the National Institutes of Health have required that all recipients of their research training grants receive a program of instruction in the responsible conduct of research.
4. A notable exception is the work of physics professor Marshall Thomsen, who has developed and taught an undergraduate course on ethics in physics, and organized workshops on ethical issues in physics in 1993 and 1996, the proceedings of which may be obtained by writing to him at: Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI 48197
5. National Research Council, Science Education Standards (Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1996).
6. Florida Department of Education, Florida Curriculum Framework: Science (Tallahassee, FL: Florida Department of Education, 1996).
7. Michigan State Board of Education, New Directions for Science Education in Michigan (Lansing Michigan: Michigan Department of education, 1991).
8. John Ziman, An Introduction to Science Studies: The Philosophical and Social Aspects of Science and Technology (Cambridge, England: Cambridge Univ. Press, 1984), p. 1.
9. Ziman, p. 2.
10. Committee on the Conduct of Science of the National Academy of Sciences, On Being a Scientist (Washington: National Academy Press, 1989), p. 1.
11. Ibid, p. 2.
12. Ziman, p. 84
13. Nicholas Rescher, in Philosophy and Science: the wide range of interaction, Frederick E. Mosedale, editor (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1979)
14. Ibid, p. 317.
15. Rescher, in Mosedale, p. 325.
16. For this observation, we are indebted to Alasdair MacIntyre, After Virtue, 2nd Ed. (Notre Dame, IN: Notre Dame University Press, 1985), p. 38.
17. Plato, The Trial and Death of Socrates, G.M.A. Grube, trans. (Indianapolis, IN: Hackett, 1975).
18. English translations vary, including piety, righteousness, and holiness as possible renderings. The precise word does not matter here, as it is the nature of Socrates's demand that is under consideration.
19. Thomas Reid, On the Active Powers of the Mind, in Philosophical Works, Vol. II, with notes by Sir William Hamilton (Hildesheim: Gekorg Olms Verlagsbuchanlung, 1995), p. 642.
21. See, e.g., Richard A Shweder, Elliot Turiel, and Nancy C. Much, "The Moral Intuitions of the Child," Social Cognitive Development: Frontiers and Possible Futures, John H. Flavell and Lee Ross, eds. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981), p. 288.
22. Gareth Matthews, "Concept Formation and Moral Development," in James Russell, ed., Philosophical Perspectives on Developmental Psychology (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1987), p. 185.
23. For balanced, accessible discussions of recent findings in moral development see, e.g., William Damon, The Moral Child (New York: Free Press, 1988) and Daniel K. Lapsley, Moral Psychology, (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1996).
24. See, for example, Lawrence Kohlberg, The Philosophy of Moral Development: Essays on Moral Development, Vol.1 (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1981).
25. Michael Pritchard has written extensively on many of them elsewhere. See his On Becoming Responsible (Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 1991) and Reasonable Children (Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 1996).
26. Reid, p. 643.
27. Sissela Bok, Common Values (Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press, 1995).
28. Albert R. Jonsen and Stephen Toulmin, The Abuse of Casuistry: A History of Moral Reasoning (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988), p. 17. Jonsen was a member of the commission, Toulmin a consultant.
29. The Belmont Report: Ethical Principles and Guidelines for Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research, Publication no. OS 78-0012 (Washington, D.C. DHEW, 1978), pp. 1-2.
30. W.H. Sibley, "The Rational and the Reasonable," Philosophical Review, 62 (1953), p. 557. Where Sibley refers to "conduct" and "behavior," we can substitute "judgment" without changing the essence of what he has in mind.
31. For discussions of some of these difficulties see, for example, see Richard Whately, "Critique of the Golden Rule," and Marcus G. Singer, "Defense of the Golden Rule," in Marcus G. Singer, ed., Morals and Values (New York: Scribners, 1977); Jeffrey Wattles, The Golden Rule (New York: Oxford, 1996); and James A. Jaksa and Michael S. Pritchard, Communication Ethics: Methods of Analysis (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1994).
32. Here one is reminded of David Hume's sensible knave, who reasons: "That honesty is the best policy, may be a good general rule, but is liable to many exceptions; and he, it may perhaps be thought, conducts himself with mot wisdom, who observes the general rule, and takes advantage of all the exceptions." [David Hume, Enquiries Concerning Human Understanding and Concerning the Principles of Morals, 3rd ed., edited by P.H. Nidditch (New York: Oxford University Press, 1975), pp. 282-3.
33. Universalizability is widely discussed in philosophical ethics. See, for example, Kurt Baier, The Moral Point of View (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1958), ch. 8; Marcus G. Singer, Generalization in Ethics (New York: Knopf, 1961), ch. 2; and any of the writings of R.M. Hare.
34. Sissela Bok, Lying: Moral Choice in Public and Private Life (New York: Random House, 1978), p. 28.
35. Thomas Reid, Practical Ethics, edited with commentary by Knud Haakonssen (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1990), p. 110.
36. See Daniel Callahan and Sissela Bok, eds., Ethics Teaching in Higher Education (New York: Plenum, 1980). The Hastings Center, located in White Plains, New York, has been at the forefront of developments in biomedical ethics since its founding in 1969. It regularly publishes The Hastings Center Report, which contains timely articles not only on biomedical ethics, but many other areas of practical ethics as well.
37. Samuel Florman, "Moral Blueprints," Harper's, Oct. 1978, p. 31.
38. If it is going too far to say that the moral character of students is likely to be modified in the classroom, it is not going too far to say that their moral judgment may be modified.
39. This is based on two case studies presented and discussed by Roy V. Hughson and Philip M. Kohn in Chemical Engineering, May 5, 1980, pp. 100-107.
40. Barbara Toffler, Tough Choices: Managers Talk Ethics (New York: John Wiley, 1986), p. 288.
41. This study received federal government support for more than 40 years, until it was exposed in the press in the early 1970's. We will discuss this case in some detail in Chapter 4.
42. For an excellent discussion of how routinely social science students used to accept deception of human subjects in experimental research, see Thomas Murray, "Learning to Deceive," Hastings Center Report, Vol. 10, April 1980, pp. 11-14.
43. These others include not only other scientists who depend for their own work on the reliable work of their scientist colleagues, but also the public who take medications, undergo medical procedures recommended by physicians, drive over bridges, go up and down elevators, drive automobiles at high speeds, and so on -- all the while depending on the reliable work of scientists and engineers.
44. William F. May, "Professional Virtue and Self-Regulation," in Joan Callahan, ed., Ethical Issues in Professional Life (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988), p. 408.
46. Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes in The Kalamazoo Gazette, December 23, 1990.
47. William Grigg, "The Thalidomide Tragedy -- 25 Years Ago, FDA Consumer, February 1987, pp.14-17.
48. This is true even though there are many instances in which researchers have failed to observe this basic form of respect for persons in their research.
49. Even here not everything is indeterminate. When we recognize something as a dilemma, this means that we see that some options really are undesirable. It is precisely because we believe that several things really do matter that the choice is so difficult.
50. Demets, David, "Statistics and Ethics in Medical Research," forthcoming in Science and Engineering Ethics. (P. 29 of draft.) At the 1994 Teaching Research Ethics for Faculty Workshop at Indiana University's Poynter Center, DeMets recounted in great detail the severe challenges he and his team of statisticians faced in carrying out their investigation.
51. Eugene Braunwald, "Cardiology: The John Darsee Experience," in David J. Miller and Michel Hersen, Research Fraud in the Behavioral and Biomedical Sciences (New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1992, pp. 55-79.
52. May, William F., "Professional Virtue and Self-regulation," in Joan Callahan, ed., Ethical Issues in Professional Life (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988), p. 408.
53. Sprague, Robert L., "The Voice of Experience," Science and Engineering Ethics, Vol. 4, Issue 1, 1998, p. 33.
54. "The Belmont Report," by The National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research, OPPR Reports, NIH, PHS, HHS , April , 1979.
55. A British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) / Horizon Films / Arts & Entertainment Network (A&E) 1987 production, owned by many libraries and currently distributed by Films for the Humanities and Sciences, P.O. Box 205, Princeton, NJ 08543 - 2053
56. The Double Helix, by James Watson (New York: Atheneum, 1968).
57. Case Study 4, "The Search For the Structure
of DNA" in Chapter 4 of Part I is strongly recommended as preparation for
teachers who plan to lead this discussion.
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