80-537 Seminar on Research Ethics: Philosophical Foundations

9 units, Carnegie Mellon University

This course covers foundational issues in the ethical evaluation and regulation of research involving human subjects. It begins with a brief overview of the historical origins of research ethics after World War II and the development of the regulatory system for oversight of research with humans in the US. It then examines philosophical questions such as whether there is a moral imperative to conduct research and, if so, what such an imperative justifies whether the system of prospective review of research is necessarily paternalistic or whether it can be grounded in alternative norms how to think about and regulate risk in research what is the nature and purpose of informed consent and under what conditions can it be waived and what requirements should be imposed on research sponsored by entities from highincome countries that is carried out in low or middleincome countries. In addition, the course covers ethical issues in clinical trial design, the concept of equipoise, the use of placebo controls, and the requirements of justice in the research context.

Prerequisites: none listed

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