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Protecting Human Dignity in Research Involving Humans

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Abstract

Human dignity is the supreme criterion for protecting research participants, and likewise for numerous ethical matters of ultimate importance. But what is meant by “human dignity”? Isn’t this some vague criterion, some sort of lip service of questionable relevance and application? We shall see that it is nothing of the sort, that to the contrary, it is a very definite and very accessible criterion. However, how is this criterion applied in protecting research participants? These are the matters that we will examine now. My presentation is divided into four parts. 1/Recognizing Human Dignity; 2/Practical Definition of Human Dignity; 3/The Human Being in a Weakened State; 4/ Conclusion.

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Notes

  1. Ricoeur 1988.

  2. Cheng 1997, p. 68 sq. According to Marcel Granet, all Confucian doctrine of “the supreme virtue”, ren (or jen) is defined as [translation] ”an active feeling of human dignity”, based on respect for oneself and respect for others, from which the golden rule is derived. Cf. La pensée chinoise [trad.: Chinese thought], Paris, Albin Michel, 1968, p. 395–398. See Confucius, Discourses (trans. Anne Cheng, coll. “Points Sagesse”, Paris, Seuil, 1981), XII, 22; cf. VI, 23; IV, 15. For the Laws of Manu and other parallel texts from various traditions, see C. S. Lewis, L’abolition de l’homme [original title: The Abolition of Man], trans. Irène Fernandez, Paris, Critérion, 1986, p. 179–201.

  3. Cf. I Kings 21; Isaiah, 58, 6–10; Deuteronomy 15, 1–15; 24, 10–15; 26, 12; Proverbs 14, 21; 17, 5; 22, 22–23; 23, 10–11; Matthew 5, 3–12; Luke 6, 20–26; 10, 29–37; Mark 12, 41–44; Luke 16, 19–25; Matthew 25, 31–46; and Azim Nanji, Islamic Ethics, in A Companion to Ethics, ed. Peter Singer, Oxford, Basil Blackwell, 1991, p. 108 sq.

  4. On wisdom and compassion in Buddhism, see Florida 1991.

  5. Quoted by Lewis 1947.

  6. Oedipus at Colonus, 430, translated by Robert Fagles, in Sophocles, The Theban Plays¸ New York, The Viking Press, 1982, p. 286.

  7. For detailed references, cf. T. De Koninck, De la dignité humaine, Paris, PUF, 1995 (2e edition, «Quadrige», 2002), p. 7–10; C. S. Lewis 1947.

  8. Cf. Emmanuel Levinas, Totalité et infini, La Haye, Martinus Nijhoff, 1971; Humanisme de l’autre homme, Paris, Fata Morgana, 1972; and the particularly clear presentations in Éthique et Infini, Paris, Fayard, 1982, p. 89–132.

  9. Dominique Folscheid points out that the human embryo which he does not hesitate to call “notre plus-que-prochain” [our more-than-neighbour], does not have a face, either: cf. “L’embryon, ou notre plus-que-prochain”, in Ethique, no. 4, 1992, pp. 20–43, especially 25. Furthermore, see Philosophie, éthique et droit de la médecine, edited by Dominique Folscheid, Brigitte Feuillet-Le Mintier and Jean-François Mattéi, Paris, Presses Universitaires de France, 1997, p. 195–208.

  10. Cf. Jeanne Hersch (dir.), Le Droit d’être un Homme. Anthologie mondiale de la liberté, Recueil de textes, Paris, UNESCO and Robert Laffont, 1968; reprinted J. C. Lattès/ Unesco, Paris, 1984 and 1990.

  11. De Civitate Dei, XXI, 8, op. cit., translation, p. 981.The uniqueness of each individual is corroborated by neuroscience; cf. Gerald Edelman, Bright Air, Brilliant Fire. On the Matter of the Mind (1992), London, Penguin Books, 1994.

  12. See Tractatus in Iohannis Evangelium, VIII,1; Augustine speaks of the “admirable and stupendous works of God in each grain of seed” (Tractatus..., XXIV, 1); the “infinite power of seeds” (De utilitate credendi, 16, 34); cf. Tractatus..., I, 9; Epistulae, 102, 5; P. L., 33, 372; Sermo 247, 2; P. L., 38, 700. For the Tractatus in Johannis Evangelium we use the edition provided in Bibliothèque Augustinienne,71, printed with French translation and excellent notes by M.-F. Berrouard, Paris, Desclée De Brouwer 1969; for the De utilitate credendi, the text provided in Bibliothèque Augustinienne, 8, with French translation and notes by J. Pegon, 1951; second revised edition by G. Madec, Paris, Desclée De Brouwer, 1982; for the Epistulae and the Sermones, we use Patrologie latine (P. L.), ed. J.-P. Migne, Paris, 1841 sq., indicating each time the volume and the page; translations into English are our own. See also G. W. F. Hegel, Vorlesungen über die Geschichte der Philosophie, I, Werke 18, Frankfurt am Main, Suhrkamp Verlag, 1986, pp. 39–47. Finally, we quote from Wolpert 1991.

  13. Tractatus.., loc. cit. (VIII, 1).

  14. Sermo 242, 1; P. L. 38, 1139; cf. Tractatus..., IX, 1; XLIX, 1.

  15. De Civitate Dei, X, 12, op. cit., translation, p. 390.

  16. Immanuel Kant, Fondements de la métaphysique des moeurs [Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals], second section, tran. Victor Delbos reviewed and annotated by Ferdinand Alquié, in Kant, Oeuvres philosophiques II, Paris, Gallimard, coll. Pléiade, 1985, p. 301–302 (AK IV, 434–435). In this quotation from Kant, as in those which follow, the words underlined are underlined in the text.

  17. Kant, ibid., p. 293–294 (AK IV, 428). This idea of the human being as an end in itself dates back to the time of ancient Greece in the conception of freedom as the opposite of servitude: “[translation] we call free he who is his own end and exists for no other” (Aristotle, Metaphysics, A, 2, 982 b 25–26). For a developed discussion of this point and connections with Kant, see Emerich Coreth, Vom Sinn der Freiheit, Innsbruck-Wien, Tyrolia -Verlag, 1985, especially p. 22–34; cf. in addition Jacqueline de Romilly, La Grèce antique à la découverte de la liberté, Paris, Editions de Fallois, 1989 (repeated in the collection «Biblio Essais» by Livre de Poche). See also in the records of the Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican “Gaudium et Spes”, paragr. 24: “[translation] man, the only creature on the earth that God wanted for itself…”.

  18. Cf. saint Bernard, treatise On the Love of God, chapter II, in Oeuvres mystiques, trad. Albert Béguin, Paris, Seuil, p. 31–32. As for St. Thomas, see Summa theologiae, Ia-IIae, Prologus, and the discussion thereof proposed by Otto Hermann Pesch, in Thomas d’Aquin. Grandeur et limites de la théologie médiévale [grandeur and limits of medieval theology], tran. Joseph Hoffmann, Paris, Cerf, 1994, p. 489 sq.; cf. also Ia Pars, q. 93. For more nuances and references than we can provide here, and good introductory presentation, see Servais Pinckaers, «La dignité de l’homme selon Saint Thomas d’Aquin», in De dignitate hominis, Mélanges offerts à Carlos-Josaphat Pinto de Oliveira, Freiburg Schweiz, Universitätsverlag, 1987, p. 89–106.

  19. Dante, The Divine Comedy, Paradise, Canto V, 19–24 (tran. Alexandre Masseron, Paris, Albin Michel, 1950).

  20. Naturae rationabilis individua substantia (Contra Eutychen and Nestorium, c. III, PL 64, 1343). Cf. Ladrière 1991; cf. 47–51.

  21. Cf., sub verbis, respectivement, aitia et causa, Liddell and Scott, and Ernout and Meillet, quoted above note 4; Alan Montefiore, loc. cit., p. 691 a, referring to Amelia Rorty 1976; John Locke, Essay Concerning Human Understanding, II, XXVII, 26. We also owe the following definition of person to Locke: “…a thinking intelligent being, that has reason and reflection, and can consider itself as itself, the same thinking thing, in different times and places” (Essay II, XXVII), which was subject to devastatingly just criticism by Charles Taylor in his book Sources of the Self, Cambridge University Press, 1989, c. 9, pp. 159–176 (cf. the corresponding notes also, 542–544), The first part of the definition, concerning intelligence and reflection repeat, of course, classical, obvious concepts; the second part, concerning intellectual awareness of self-identity through time, is problematic, however, and has trapped more than one follower of a certain “bioethics” (for more details, see our book, De la dignité humaine, op. cit., p. 6; p. 47–50; 54–56).

  22. Paul Ladrière, loc. cit., p. 54.

  23. Science teaches us specifically that the neural structure of the brain of every human being, even an identical twin, is different from that of every other brain. See Gerald M. Edelman, Bright Air, Brilliant Fire. On the Matter of the Mind (1992), London, Penguin Books, 1994, especially Chapter 9 and the afterword; and Jean-Pierre Changeux, L’homme neuronal, Paris, Fayard, 1983, p. 277–284.

  24. Aristote, Métaphysique [Aristotle, Metaphysics], 1, 3, 1047 a 9–10, trans. Tricot, in his famous refutation of the Megarians who are unable to see the reality of potential. The philosopher to whom we owe the most enlightening determinations regarding the union of the soul remains Aristotle, particularly in his treatise, De anima, as we are reminded by Hegel in the last century and Hilary Putnam today. For a more detailed preliminary approach to this matter of the soul and body, see our book, De la dignité humaine, op. cit., chapter III, p. 81–114.

  25. Tung Chung-shu (circa 179–104 BC), Cg’un-ch’iu fan-lu (Luxuriant Gems of the Spring and Autumn Annals), ch. 35; in A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, translated and compiled by Wing-tsit Chan, Princeton University Press, 1963, p. 275.

  26. On the attempt by some to create a new classification, that of human beings who would not be persons, see our criticism in De la dignité humaine (especially p. 6, 48–49, 54–56, 83–84, 114). Cf., on the other hand, the very thorough study by Roberto Andorno, La distinction juridique entre les personnes et les choses, Paris, L. C. D. J., Bibliothèque de droit privé, 1996 and by the same author, the small work, La bioéthique et la dignité de la personne, Paris, Presses Universitaires de France, coll. «Médecine et société», 1997.

  27. Philippe P. Meyer 1993; cf. p. 74 et 214.

  28. Piaget 1963; cf. Alain, “Entendre”, in Les passions et la sagesse, Paris, Gallimard, Pléiade, 1960, p. 144: “l’activité technique et cette nuit de pensée, impénétrable, qui la recouvre” [translation: technical activity and this impenetrable night-time of thought that covers it]. See also Hottois 1984.

  29. Dostoïevski, Carnets des Démons [trans.—notebooks for The Possessed (Demons)], tran. Boris de Schloezer, Paris, Gallimard, Pléiade, 1955, p. 974.

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    Thomas De Koninck

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De Koninck, T. Protecting Human Dignity in Research Involving Humans. J Acad Ethics 7, 17–25 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10805-009-9086-z

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