ISSN 打印: 2151-805X
ISSN 在线: 2151-8068
Imposing Harm to Preserve Life: The Ethics of Physician Involvement in Developing Nonlethal Technology
摘要
A new generation of nonlethal weapons (NLWs) has emerged that may alter the future of warfare by reducing casualties and preserving life. Since NLWs are increasingly reliant upon biomedical advances in neuroscience, physiology, and pharmacology, their safe and effective deployment will depend upon medical expertise, insight, and experience. Given that medicine is devoted to the goal of saving lives, physicians and medical scientists are confronted by an ethical dilemma as to whether they are permitted to support NLWs research. Considering the stakes involved, it is unrealistic to examine the ethics of medical involvement exclusively in terms of a pledge never to do harm. Assuming NLWs fulfill their intended purpose to reduce injury and prevent mortality on the battlefield, this author argues that physicians may be permitted to contribute to the development of nonlethal technology based upon theories of harm reduction, utility, double effect, and mixed agency.