Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Just to play devil's advocate...
Yes of course what was done in the Tuskegee Study was completely unethical for todays standards. Sure, back when the case was being done (1932-1972) many individuals could have protested it's moral value. However, we have to look at the time in which the case was conducted. Society was much different than today, and racial inequality was clearly accepted with communities. Not only was this a study of African American Males, from the south, but the majority of these men were illiterate, and were not adequatley informed about the study. Segregation and racial descrimination was all over the country during this time, especially in the south. We can see an example where certain people felt they had no choice but to participate in the study, like a nurse from one of the articles we looked at. She said she felt she had no other option but to 'follow the doctor's order'. I must say, that I do sympathize with her. In the example of the Nazi scientists performing expiraments on some of the forced labor camp victims, even some of the Nazi leaders knew what they were doing was wrong. I'm not exactly sure where I read this, but one Nazi leader did not follow the orders he was given because he didn't believe it was fair. He was then put into a forced labor camp, just because he DID have morals!! Surprisingly, I wasn't too shocked by this. And personally, I'm not sure what i would do if put in that situation. Of course, looking back on these events in hindsight we have a clear opinion about what we would do, we wouldn't even think of participating in these atrocities. But putting yourself in the shoes of these people, What would you do? would you be able to stand up against authority even if it means putting your life on the line? Or would you just go with the orders you receive, in an attempt to save yourself?
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The Nazi allusion is an interesting one and another is the Stanley Milgram experiment in which subjects fake shock actors and they test their ability to fight authority, very few faught back until the shock supposedly knocked the other person unconscious. More so than the fear of being punished the ingrained inability to fight authority is what allows atrocities such as this to occur in a society that places a high value on morals. In my current situation I would most likely drop kick the scientist if they continued after the discovery of penicillin. However the only reason I would do that is because we live in a school system that promotes individuality and deep thinking. If I were cultured in the 1930's I would most likely be too regimented to speak out and therefore would go along with the study. This is a hard question considering the circumstances then and now. Either way I gave my scenario for both.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Connor in a sense. If I were a white nurse, brought up in the culture of the 1930's I would have been taught that black people were technically dsiposable to society. Therefore, I'm sure I would have acted upon what I had been taught was right and simply listened to orderes. But if this were to take place now, I would not let the experiment continue, especially after the discovery of penicillin. After all, how threatening could a group of scientists(non nazi!) be?
ReplyDeleteI disagree sort of. Even though this was taking place in a time where discrimination wasn't seen as bad by all people, it doesn't mean that everyone agreed with slavery. There were still many people who fought for black rights. I believe that growing up back then wouldn't change the person I am today. That is, I believe that I see this only as an excuse for not doing the right thing. People still had morals knew that killing is wrong. By not giving the men the penicilin, they were really killing thm. In the Nazi case, I think it's different but, the nurse was afraid but not going to die if she disobeyed. The men in the study would die if they didn't recieve the already found cure.
ReplyDeleteWell those ordered by the nazi's may have feared for their lives however the nurse still did what she did. That demonstrates that even without the fear of death people still did horrible things upon orders from authority figures. Holly you may say that killing is wrong and that you would be a different person but when you are brainwashed your whole life to believe something it is too ingrained in your culture to go against it. To eat with your hands in a fine restaurant would merit strange gazes and gossip. In that era treating blacks as civil people is like eating mashed potatoes with your hands. Racism was ingrained deep enough that this was allowed to happen.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Connor about how the people (white) back then were raised to look at blacks as animals and that they had no purpose to be living. I'm sure a few people were against racism but the majority were for it. These people only did what they were taught. I am in no way supporting this but just making a point. Even today people just go with the crowd because they don't want to stand out or be criticized.
ReplyDeleteRefering to the the Nazi scientist, I believe what happened was wrong, however the scientist may have been forced to do the things he was doing. Thus, the only people to blame were the commander who forced upon their commands onto the scientists.
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