said...
Quotes by Sammie Young at the inaugural meeting of the first advisory committee on compounding resonate deeply here--the quotes come from a report by the Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments (ACHRE):
[Excerpt from Chapter 4: an Ethical Framework]
Basic Ethical Principles
Basic ethical principles are general standards or rules that all morally serious individuals accept. The Advisory Committee has identified six basic ethical principles as particularly relevant to our work: "One ought not to treat people as mere means to the ends of others"; "One ought not to deceive others"; "One ought not to inflict harm or risk of harm"; "One ought to promote welfare and prevent harm": "One ought to treat people fairly and with equal respect"; and "One ought to respect the self-determination of others." These principles state moral requirements; they are principles of obligation telling us what we ought to do.[2]
Every principle on this list has exceptions, because all moral principles can justifiably be overridden by other basic principles in circumstances when they conflict. To give priority to one principle over another is not a moral mistake; it is a reality of moral judgment. The justifiability of such judgments depends on many factors in the circumstance; it is not possible to assign priorities to these principles in the abstract.
Far more social consensus exists about the acceptability of these basic principles than exists about any philosophical, religious, or political theory of ethics. This is not surprising, given the central social importance of morality and the fact that its precepts are embraced in some form by virtually all major ethical theories and traditions. These principles are at the deepest level of any person's commitment to a moral way of life.
It is important to emphasize that the validity of these basic principles is not typically thought of as limited by time: we commonly judge agents in the past by these standards. For example, the passing of fifty years in no way changes the fact that Hitler's extermination of millions of people was wrong, nor does it erase or even diminish his culpability. Nor would the passing of a hundred years or a thousand do so.
This is not to deny that it might be inappropriate to apply to the distant past some ethical principles to which we now subscribe. It is only to note that there are some principles so basic that we ordinarily assume, with good reason, that they are applicable to the past as well as the present (and will be applicable in the future as well). We regard these principles as basic because any minimally acceptable ethical standpoint must include them.
[End Excerpt]
[https://bioethicsarchive.georgetown.edu/achre/final/chap4_2.html]
[Excerpt from Chapter 4: an Ethical Framework]
Basic Ethical Principles
Basic ethical principles are general standards or rules that all morally serious individuals accept. The Advisory Committee has identified six basic ethical principles as particularly relevant to our work: "One ought not to treat people as mere means to the ends of others"; "One ought not to deceive others"; "One ought not to inflict harm or risk of harm"; "One ought to promote welfare and prevent harm": "One ought to treat people fairly and with equal respect"; and "One ought to respect the self-determination of others." These principles state moral requirements; they are principles of obligation telling us what we ought to do.[2]
Every principle on this list has exceptions, because all moral principles can justifiably be overridden by other basic principles in circumstances when they conflict. To give priority to one principle over another is not a moral mistake; it is a reality of moral judgment. The justifiability of such judgments depends on many factors in the circumstance; it is not possible to assign priorities to these principles in the abstract.
Far more social consensus exists about the acceptability of these basic principles than exists about any philosophical, religious, or political theory of ethics. This is not surprising, given the central social importance of morality and the fact that its precepts are embraced in some form by virtually all major ethical theories and traditions. These principles are at the deepest level of any person's commitment to a moral way of life.
It is important to emphasize that the validity of these basic principles is not typically thought of as limited by time: we commonly judge agents in the past by these standards. For example, the passing of fifty years in no way changes the fact that Hitler's extermination of millions of people was wrong, nor does it erase or even diminish his culpability. Nor would the passing of a hundred years or a thousand do so.
This is not to deny that it might be inappropriate to apply to the distant past some ethical principles to which we now subscribe. It is only to note that there are some principles so basic that we ordinarily assume, with good reason, that they are applicable to the past as well as the present (and will be applicable in the future as well). We regard these principles as basic because any minimally acceptable ethical standpoint must include them.
[End Excerpt]
[https://bioethicsarchive.georgetown.edu/achre/final/chap4_2.html]
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