Abstract

This textbook is the output of the project "European Textbook on Ethics in Research", funded by the European Commission and delivered by members of the Centre for Professional Ethics at Keele University. It is designed for use in the training of science students, researchers and research ethics committee members throughout Europe and beyond. It is intended to be accessible to scientific and lay readers, including those with no previous experience of ethical theory and analysis. The scope of the textbook is the ethics of scientific research involving human beings. It contains case studies relating to a variety of scientific disciplines, including biomedical and human life sciences, new technologies and the social sciences. These have been chosen to illustrate and facilitate discussion of key ethical issues, and to give a flavour of the range of research settings in which these issues occur. Readers will be introduced to a range of philosophical perspectives and concepts, but without any particular approach being promoted. Similarly, reference will be made to major religious views where relevant, but without endorsing or rejecting any particular view.