An Expanded View from An Ethicist
Dr. Karen Houle, Associate Professor of
Philosophy, University of Guelph, November
2013
Although I am certainly not arguing that we ought never to make judgments – they are
urgently necessary for political, legal and personal life alike – I think that it is important
to remember that not all ethical relations are reducible to acts of judgment.
Judith Butler
 Under the terms of the Tri-Council
Policy Statement on Ethical
Conduct for Research Involving
Human Participants (2nd edition)
institutions, not just individual
researchers are responsible for
“building a culture of research
integrity” and “fostering a positive
research environment.”
 That ‘culture of integrity’ includes
but is not exhausted by the
important & good rights-based
governance work overseen by
Research Ethics Policy and its
administration—
 That ‘positive environment’
includes but is not limited to what
is found in, happens in, and comes
out of, labs & field work; that is, it
includes but exceeds the ‘conduct
of research.’
Two
Wider
Interpretations
 Therefore, the scope and nature of
ethical responsibility of an
institution for ethical
responsibility exceeds its formal
organizational structures,
legislative practices, models of best
practice, its rules, its policies and
mandated routines… no matter
how clear the rules, no matter how
well the guidelines are crafted, no
matter how ‘secure’ its systems, no
matter how skilled its
administrators & advisors are at
defining & understanding ‘harm to
human subjects,’ discerning
‘compliance,’ ‘certifying eligibility,
spotting ‘conflicts of interest,’
policing ‘falsification,’ judging
‘reasonableness’ and identifying
‘consensus.’
The Upshot
 Professional norms and practices of staff,
faculty, students, collaborators, sponsors
and visitors- Individual and collective ethical decision
making processes - Leadership, training and expertise (or lack)
in ethics and ethical theory- Authenticity and Character (Virtue Ethics)
 Value-Creation & Destruction in acts,
images, attitudes, objects: (racism,
sexism, homophobia, environmental
apathy,
 Aesthetics (contemplation, ugly spaces)
 Power relations
 Financial management policies and
auditing
 Civility and Etiquette, Cultural Sensitivity
 Production of & access to information;
accumulation and circulation patterns of
academic capital
 Terminology, concepts, language and
discourse of, and for, values—
 Governance of Research Conduct
involving Human Participants, Animals,
Biological Specimens, Hazardous Goods,
Environmental Impacts…
The ‘Value Domain’
of a University
Includes:
Dr. Karen Houle, Associate Professor of
Philosophy, University of Guelph, November
2013
..The sense of morality as higher, an ethos or ethical stance toward
existence…contrasted with morality in the narrower sense; what the moral worth of
actions consist in: a functionalist view…
Schopenhauer
(World as Will and Representation, Part 2, p. 47)
Dr. Karen Houle, Associate Professor of
Philosophy, University of Guelph, November
2013
Dr. Karen Houle, Associate Professor of
Philosophy, University of Guelph, November
2013
Dr. Karen Houle, Associate Professor of
Philosophy, University of Guelph, November
2013
Ideal (admittedly utopian) expansion:
 Ensure all faculty, students and researchers take at least one full semester
course in Ethics (and Ethical Theory) taught by someone with professional
accreditation & training as an Ethicist- Ensure that all Research Ethics Officers have background in Ethics (MA or
PhD) and that all staff in Research Office take professional training
workshops in Ethics–
 Award models of good personhood, good relationships, healthy working
climates, beautiful spaces rather than only react to infringement.
 Officially promote a vision of ethics that includes but goes well beyond the
functions performed by the Research Ethics offices Actively promote a broad spread understanding of ethics that sees it is not
the same as ideology or theology: it is a mode of critical engagement with
the world and ones activities which enables value to evolve & grow- Promote and support an expanded, positive, robust vision of ethics as
integral to the betterment of science and its practices, rather than
antithetical to it, hostile to it, or something that just gets in the way of the
functioning of the enterprise of research—
.
 DISCUSSION: What is possible? What has been done elsewhere?
Dr. Karen Houle, Associate Professor of
Philosophy, University of Guelph, November
2013
Dr. Karen Houle, Associate Professor of
Philosophy, University of Guelph, November
2013