Just as philosophy has been central to medical, engineering, and legal ethics, it is central to research
ethics. A study of moral theory can help scientists to identify moral problems and differentiate these
from legal, social, and economic problems. An approach centered in philosophical tradition will also help
scientists clarify the value of making their positions and their arguments explicit. It will expose
inconsistencies in the scientist’s approach in dealing with ethical matters. On a problem-by-problem
basis, a philosophical approach can assist scientists in separating actions that are morally neutral, and
thus morally permitted, from those that involve responsibilities and are thus morally required, from
those that are unacceptable and thus morally prohibited. Moral theory need not be learned in great detail,
and it is not necessary to learn about the variety of moral theories that have become accepted as the
“standard” theories. What is necessary is learning to approach moral problems in a systematic way.
We designed our graduate course with an eye toward those topics that we felt would provide the best
foundation in ethical decision making. We began by reviewing the topics covered during two years of our
University Seminar, and from these we chose those topics that we felt would be of the greatest value in
conveying conventions and responsibilities to students at an early stage in their careers.
The content areas covered in the University Seminar included methodology, reporting research,
professional honesty, research relationships and communication, institutional responses, conflict of
interest, journalism and science, human and animal experimentation, and objectivity in science. From
these we chose to concentrate in the graduate course on topics of immediate importance “at the bench”:
methodology, reporting research, institutional responsibility, peer review, human experimentation, and
animal experimentation. We also included a session on interpersonal interactions in the lab. Issues of
social responsibility, including such topics as “journalism and science” and “objectivity in science,” were
set aside.