Journal of Dental Research, Vol 75, 825-831, Copyright © 1996 by International & American Associations for Dental Research Online Journals
The moral foundations of scientific ethics and responsibility
P. F. Camenisch
Department of Religious Studies, DePaul University, Chicago, Ilinois 60614, USA.
Any significant involvement of AADR/IADR in ensuring responsible research
among their members must be grounded in a widely accepted consensus that
there are good moral reasons for such involvement. One important source of
such reasons is AADR/IADR's identity as a scientific research, a
professional, and a dental association. These identities and the
commitments to society and to clients implicit in them generate several
mutually reinforcing reasons for taking responsibility for the reliability
of members' research. With regard to scientific research, these reasons
arise from what it means to do such research, and from the various ways the
larger society supports that activity. With regard to the professional
dimension, the reasons arise from what it means to be a profession in this
society and can be best seen in relation to the four major characteristics
of professions. With regard to AADR/IADR's being a dental profession, such
reasons arise from dental researchers' specific role in the dental family
of professions' goal of delivering optimal care to the clients of
practitioners. The clients' perspective, specifically the need to be able
to trust that one will receive the best care possible, is a final source
for such reasons. Two current issues, the sharing of findings and
commercial/industrial support for research, give new urgency to this
question of the Association's role in ensuring responsible research.
