Japanese Medical Experiments Video

Well those of us who stayed to watch the video were no doubt pretty moved by it. There is a copy on the student file server for anyone who missed it.

I want to raise a couple of issues for discussion

1. Could a utilitarian justify the experiments? By that I mean, if the war aims of the Japanese had been good and the experiments were the most effective means to achieve those aims, would they have been justified ethically?
2. Similarly, could a utilitarian justify the subsequent use of the data by the US? The argument would probably go that the data was already there so it is better to use it and provide some benefits to humanity than to leave it to rot. What do you think about this issue?

3. When I lived in Japan it struck me that enormous damage has been done to the culture by the refusal to acknowledge past wrongs. Do you think it matters that the experimenters basically got of scott free?

Welcome

Hi
Thanks for joining in the discussion. This blog has been set up so that students on the MED 200 Ethics unit can discuss issues, ask questions, seek clarification or just sound off on topics related to Ethics. I will be posting occasional questions and notices here.
Best wishes
Richard