Transcript History and Ethics of Vivisection

The History and Ethics of Vivisection
Rowan (1984)*
“It is just not adequate for scientists
to argue that there is a quantum
difference between the moral status
of humans and other animals if they
are unable to give reasons for such a
belief and defend their reasons in the
arena of modern philosophical
debate.”
* In “Of mice and men – a critical evaluation of Animal Research”
Cave painting from Altamira
- drawn up to 15,000 years ago
Lascaux caves drawn over
10,000years ago
Mural from Egyptian tomb
- painted c. 4000 years ago
Galen of Pergamum (129-199)
- first record of vivisection?
Alcmaeon of Croton - C. 500 BC - brain, not
heart the central organ of
sense, optic nerve function
Hippocrates - born in 460 BC. Observation and
study of human body. Rational explanation for
disease.
Aristotle (c. 350 BC)
- Man rational and therefore at head
Romans
- up to 5000 animals a day slaughtered
in amphitheatres
Virgil, Ovid, Cicero
- great compassion for
animals
Plutarch, Seneca
- man has a duty of kindness
to humans and animals
St. Francis
- compassion for animals
St. Thomas Aquinas
(1225-1274)
- only humans are rational.
Animals exist for human needs
and have no moral status /soul
1348 - Bubonic plague
Almost half of Europe’s population
wiped out. Local, regional or panEuropean outbreaks for next 200
years.
Hunts - mass extinctions
Animals for sport
Bull baiting
Cock fighting
Renaissance
- renewed interest in
Science and Philosophy
Witch trials
- animals treated as rational beings tried and sentenced, especially when
suspected of being mediums for witches.
Vatican
- sparrows excommunicated
Rene Descartes (15961650)
Expanded on Christian humanist philosophy
- the soul distinguishes the human from
all other animals
- 'beast machine'
- unoiled cogs of robots
William Harvey (1578-1657)
Demonstrated blood
circulation
using vivisection (C. 1620)
A significant increase in
vivisection followed
Samuel Johnson in The Idler (c.1770)
"Among the inferior Professors of medical knowledge is
a race of wretches, whose lives are varied only by
varieties of cruelty; ............the truth is that by knives,
fire and poison knowledge is not always sought and very
seldom attained. .......and if knowledge of physiology has
been somewhat increased, he surely buys knowledge
dear who learns the use of the lacteals at the expense of
his humanity."
O'Meara (1655)
"the miserable torture of vivisection surely places the
body in an unnatural state".
Robert Boyle, Robert Hooke
Concern for welfare of their subjects but
convinced that the costs were justified.
Jeremy Bentham
(1748-1832)
"The question is not - Can they reason?
nor Can they talk ? but Can they suffer?"
Bentham (cont.)
- All humans worthy of equal and humane
consideration
- 'the day may come when the rest of animal
creation may acquire those rights which never
could have been withholden from them except
by the hand of tyranny'
- 1790's - agitation for anti-cruelty laws.
(butchers convicted after cutting off sheep's
feet).
- 1822 - Martin's Act
Offence to wantonly abuse, beat or ill-treat any
animal the property of any other person or
persons.
- 1835 - Joseph Pease
- others property clause removed.
Francois Magendie - 1820's
- public lectures and
demonstrations involving
vivisection
Marshall Hall (1830s)
5 guiding principles - basis of 1876 CAA
Five guiding principles
1. Is the experiment necessary ?
2. Does it have the possibility of achieving the
desired result?
3. Can the protocol be modified to reduce
discomfort?
4. Has the experiment been done before?
5. Will the protocol produce valid results?
1824 - SPCA founded by
Richard Martin
1835 - Royal patronage
1840 - RSPCA
1850's - anaesthesia.
- RSPCA object to vivisection
1874 - Victoria objects to vivisection
1875 - Bill presented to Commons
1876 – Cruelty to Animals Act
Frances Power-Cobbe (1822-1904)
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Victoria Street Society for the Protection of
Animals from Vivisection
Victoria Street Society for the Abolition of
Vivisection after 1876 Act
1898 - Founded the British Union for the
Abolition of Vivisection
Tissue and organ transplants
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Corneal transplants, 1800s. First human – 1906.
First work on organ transplants, 1912.
First kidney transplants, 1950s initially in dogs.
Heart surgery, 1940s initially in dogs.
Heart transplants, 1960s. Monkey to human 1964;
human to human 1967.
Initial bone marrow transplants in mice, 1970s.
Replacement heart valves, 1970s.
Corneal transplants – early 1900s
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First successful
transplants
Work on animals for
many years
First human transplant
in 1906
1920s
Canine distemper vaccine
Insulin for diabetics
1930s – 1940s
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Broad spectrum
antibiotics
Modern anaesthetics
Whooping cough
and diphtheria
vaccines
1940s
Heart and lung
machine for
open heart
surgery
Kidney transplants
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Work carried out initially
in dogs
First human transplants in
1950s
Problems with rejection –
many years of work with
animals to understand
and overcome.
1950s
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Polio vaccine
Hip replacement
surgery
Drugs for high blood
pressure
1960s
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Heart transplant
operations – initially in
dogs; monkey to human
in 1964 and human to
human in 1967.
1965 - Genetic basis of
tissue typing from work
on animals.
Rubella vaccine
1970s
Drugs for gastric ulcers
Improved treatment
for asthma
Replacement heart valves
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Replacement valve,
usually from pigs,
washed, denatured and
tanned to render it
biologically inert.
Developed after many
years work in rabbits,
Guinea pigs and rats.
Coronary bypass surgery
1980s
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Drugs to prevent
transplant rejection
Drugs for viral
diseases
Medical milestones
1900s
Corneal transplants
Local anaesthetics
1920s
Insulin for diabetics
Canine distemper vaccine
1930s
Modern anaesthetics
Diphtheria vaccine
1940s
Broad spectrum antibiotics for infections
Whooping cough vaccine
Heart lung machine for open heart surgery
Medical milestones
1950s
Kidney transplants
Cardiac pacemakers
Replacement heart valves
Polio vaccine
Drugs for high blood pressure
Hip replacement surgery
1960s
German measles vaccine
Coronary bypass operations
Heart transplants
Drugs to treat mental illness
Medical milestones
1970s
Drugs to treat ulcers, asthma and leukaemia
Improved sutures and other surgical techniques
1980s
Drugs to control transplant rejection
CAT scanning for improved diagnosis
Life support systems for premature babies
Drugs to treat viral diseases
Medical milestones
1990s
Feline leukaemia vaccine
Meningitis vaccine
New drugs for some cancers
Better drugs for depression
Combined drug therapy for HIV infection
Ethics
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The philosophical study of the moral value
of human conduct and of the rules and
principles that ought to govern it
Moral philosophy
UTILITARIANISM
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Consequentialist theory
The right action is the one which brings about
the best aggregate consequences
Total benefits outweigh total suffering
DEONTOLOGY (Rights view)
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Value of animals not reducible to their utility
relative to the interests of others
Certain beings have certain moral rights
The use of animals in research (or farming) is
wrong because it violates the moral rights of
the animals used.
(1975) Animal Liberation
- Peter Singer
Proposed that moral consideration
should transcend the species boundary
to include all sentient animals.
Called for reasoned intellectual debate
Peter Singer
'If a being suffers, there can be no moral
justification for refusing to take that suffering into
consideration. No matter what the nature of the
being, the principle of equality requires that its
suffering be counted equally with the like suffering
of any other being.'
Inherent value
- Tom Regan
'Animals, it is true, lack many of the abilities
humans possess. They can't read, do higher
maths, build a bookcase or make baba ghanoush.
Neither can many humans, and yet we don't (and
shouldn't) say that they therefore have less
inherent value, less of a right to be treated with
respect, than do others.'
Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965)
Ethics must widen the circle from the narrowest
limits of the family, first to include the clan,
then the tribe, then the nation and finally all
mankind.'
........'By reason of the quite universal idea of
participation in a common nature, it is
compelled to declare the unity of mankind with
all created beings.'