Colleagues may be interested to learn that the Research & Alternatives
Sub-Committee of the Animal Procedures COmmittee is willing to commission
research into ethical and philosophical studies. The Committee's "role is
to advise the Home Secretary on matters concerned with the Act and his
functions under it, relating to any experimental or other scientific
procedures applied to a protected animal which may have the effect of
causing that animal pain, suffering, distress or lasting harm; and also, to
examine other related subjects we consider worthy of further study."
The APC website is at http://www.apc.gov.uk/ and mail should go to
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The Committee is currently considering the cost-benefit analysis required
under the Act before any animal experiment is licensed. Other issues might
include notions of 'natural life' or the reasons why killing an animal is
not generally considered to be a wrong. These aren't official suggestions.
Please do make sure that any proposal is one that can be recognized as
significant by scientists and welfarists as well as philosophers (these
groups are not, of course, exclusive).
Stephen Clark
Dept of Philosophy
University of Liverpool
Liverpool L69 3BX
UK
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http://www.liv.ac.uk/~srlclark/stephen.html
http://www.liv.ac.uk/Philosophy/philos.html
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