Ethics (Dombrowski) pgs. 81-121

Nazi Records: The Origen and Use of Information

*genocide was coined after this horrible time of massive killing in Nazi Germany
*When technical objectivity is emphasized, sometimes ethics are compromised.
*Therefore, technical documents are not as ethically neutral as you might think.
*In the case of the Nazi regime, “science” was not actually science, but a means to obtain an end result: racial supremacy.
*When determining whether a document is ethical, you must consider not only the content, but also how and from where the information was obtained.

Controversy in the Present
*Due to the unethical “scientific” or pseudoresearch of the Nazi’s, scientific research in Europe and America is scrutinized much more closely by the government and objective panels.
*Recently, the Israelis have protested that some universities in Germany are using human organs from the Nazi prison camps for research. They protest because these people did not have any informed consent or choice about this, not to mention there was no reason for their execution, and therefore it is unethical to use them.
*The New England Journal of Medicine took a strong stance against using the hypothermia research of the Nazis even though there could be possible medical implications because the research was unscientific, gathered by unsound methods.
*In Journal of American Medical Association Jeremiah Barondess stated that the there was a huge reversal that happened in the Nazi regime, from medicine as healing to medicine as killing. It became a means to justify and carry out mass genocide rather than aid in helping sustain life.

Values in Nazi Medical Science
*Physicians held a lot of power in the Nazi regime. Reasons for this: the unemployment of medical school graduates in bad economy and the need for the regime to “legitimize” its foul practices.
*Facts should be seen as things that can be severely altered by social circumstances and are not completely certain.
*Masked language become prominent:
*Physicians were seen as killing with reason when the people were seen as “already dead” or in other words “not worthy of life”
* “Euthanasia” is known as mercy killing but is suppose to be by the knowing consent of the person. The Nazi’s termed their killing as “Euthanasia” but their people had no consent, no choice.
* “Special treatment” is usually very strong treatment used in extreme cases with the purpose of still helping the person. The Nazi’s used this for mass killing.

Nazi Antiscience
*Some say that the “science” of the Nazi’s was indeed science and shows how its objectivity is inhumane and impersonal and the enemy of human values.
*Others argue that what the Nazi’s were doing was not at all science, but the exact opposite. They opposed traditional science and its objectivity, its formal logic, its emotional neutrality in order to bring about their desired end result.

Research in the United States
*There are strict standards that not only must the information of research be accurate but the means by which it was obtained must meet specific guidelines. If not, the evidence is inadmissible, no matter how “beneficial” it could be to society.
*An example if the Tuskegee syphilis experiment in the 1920s where only African American patients were treated with placebos and effective drugs.
*Another instance is the research of the effects of radiation on humans by the utilization of unknowing humans.
*Another point of controversy is the utilization of animals in research.

Nazi Technical Memorandum
*science has become the goal, the end, itself instead of a means by which to obtain a goal
*expediency and efficiency is a top priority, some say it even surpasses the content of the research being done and the goal of which the technology is being used for
*the Just memorandum is full of masked language, ellipses (the glaring absence of key words), and technical purpose
-disguises the true subject and meaning of the document
-takes away any emotions that could be associated with the subject
-for instance there was a ellipsis of the subject because people are never mentioned.
-people are referred to as "subjects" or "cargo" but never people
-the purpose is solely technical and has no care for people
*the Dr. Becker excerpt is all about the the soldiers chosen to clean the death vans
-the soldiers are treated with care in the document but the people being killed were treated as nothing
*circular self justification of Nazi Germany- "What we can do, we should do, largely because we can do it."
-There is no room for critisism.
-The genetic engineering industry has taken this stance on cloning.
*in the Hirt document the purpose is to secure the skulls of Jews
-once again completely technical and scientific with no regards to ethics.
-uses term "induced death" instead of cold blooded murder
*Report on Experiments Concerning X-Ray Castration is a highly technical document that is so technical that is "masks" the true purpose of the technology

Graphical Images
*Social Darwinism developed in the late 1800s and it was used by the Nazi's to justify that the Aryan race was the dominant race and therefore only they should survive because they were the fittest
*The Nuremburg Race Laws required that one's race be clearly identified and used the chart (pg.110) to clearly establish who was Aryan
*tons of overlap in science and politics
*Facial features were also measured to determine the race (pg. 111)

Aristotle
*would not have agreed with Nazi Germany because ethics are based on honesty, virtue, fairness, compassion
*on the question of using technical information obtained from that time, he would say use it

Kant
*assumes that all people are equal and you should treat everyone the way that you want to be treated so he would not approve of the Nazi Germany
*on the question of using the technical information, he could go either way. On one hand, some would benefit from it, but on the other hand families of victims would not benefit

Utilitarianism
*did not agree with racial differences in worth
*would say to use the technical information because it would benefit the most people

Feminist and Ethics of Care
*Authoritarianism is the opposite of feminist beliefs so they would not at all agree with Nazi Germany
*and they were so uncaring towards their victims which is completely opposite to the ethics of care
*on the question of using the technical information, if it could care for the people of today, then they would say use it