From: "Amit Ron" <amitr-AT-polisci.umn.edu>
Subject: BHA: research ethics
Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2000 09:59:04 -0600


Hello everyone,

I apologize for interrupting the discussion with an irrelevant question, but
I can think of no better place to find assistance than the members of this
list.  I would appreciate any response, either through the list or directly
to my email.

I am currently participating in an experimental seminar on research ethics
for graduate students in the department of political science who are writing
their dissertation.  Since the students are from different sub-fields the
course tries to cover all forms of research ethics.  In the course, we found
out that although there is a lot of written work on the ethics of fieldwork
and interview (taking medical research as a paradigm), there is virtually
nothing on ethical problems facing researchers of other kinds.  So I took on
myself the project of trying to find resources for students of political
philosophy.  What I am looking for are not the "big" (crucial, important,
inescapable…) ethical questions that face any academic (and non-academic)
work in natural science, social sciences, or humanities nor the mundane
problems such as plagiarism.  What I am looking for are "mid-level" genuine
ethical dilemmas that students who work on philosophical questions and
interpretation of texts might face.

One of the questions that need to be clarified is of the harm that unethical
behavior can cause.  With the "big" questions, the harm done by an unethical
work is to society in general, by contributing to the reproduction of
existing injustices or by failing to take the social responsibility that
intellectuals need to take.  In plagiarism, the harm done is to something
like the basic trust of good faith that constitutes the academic profession
or speech in general.  In research that uses human subjects the harm can be
done to the participating subjects themselves.

So here are my questions:

1. Are there any other kinds of ethical problems in research that do not
fall into these categories?  Put differently:  did any of you face other
kinds of ethical problems in the process of research in philosophy?

2. I am also looking for articles that deal with ethical problems in
research for philosophers.  Again, I am not looking for philosophical
arguments about ethics but more for something like "advise columns" for
graduate students on these issues.  It can also be in autobiographies of
philosophers that discuss their problems.

Thanks for the help.

Amit Ron
Graduate Program
Department of Political Science
University of Minnesota



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