The Ethics of Animal Research: What Are the Prospects for Agreement?

Few human uses of nonhuman animals (hereafter simply “animals”) have incited as much controversy as the use of animals in biomedical research. The political exchanges over this issue tend to produce much more heat than light, as representatives of both biomedicine and the animal protection community accuse opponents of being “Nazis,” “terrorists,” and the like. However, a healthy number of individuals within these two communities offer the possibility of a more illuminating discussion of the ethics of animal research.