Prompt: On what grounds might we doubt a claim?
Theme: Knowledge and Science
Science is made up of a body of knowledge and the method by which it is created. Scientists test
validity, control variables, reproducible findings, and the scientific method to publish publicly so
that the community of scientists may assess them and use them in later experiments.1
There are two different types of areas of knowledge considering science, for example, Natural
Sciences (bio, chem) and Human Sciences (i.e. psychology). The focus of this IA will be on
Human Sciences and investigate objects that are specific to unethical experiments and how they
benefit and harm society.
Object 1: The Stanford Prison Experiment
The first object I have chosen is the Stanford Prison Experiment, it was conducted at Stanford
University and funded by a part of the government because they wanted to see the psychology
behind being a prisoner and what the prison system is like. This experiment was started by
Doctor Phillip, and it was created to answer questions such as ‘Are we hiring evil prison
guards?’ Or ‘is the environment naturally making people evil?’. 2Soon, the experiment became
1
Carpi, A. (2011). The Nature of Scientific Knowledge . Retrieved from Vision learning:
https://www.visionlearning.com/en/library/Process-of-Science/49/The-Nature-of-
Scientific-Knowledge/185
2
Kulig, T. C. (2016, April 12). Revisiting the Stanford Prison Experiment: A Case Study in
Organized Skepticism. Retrieved from Taylor & Francis Online:
unethical. It became biased, as Doctor Philip asked the guards to act ‘mean’ and like ‘regular
prison guards’, which affected the outcome, as well as the results of this ‘experiment’. The
expected result could be true, but as a result of the flawed behavior and the way the experiment
was tampered with, the volunteers had the mentality of actual prisoners and guards– essentially
embedding the mentality in their heads. The instruction given by Doctor Philip was flawed
already– the volunteers had a notion regarding how to behave and roleplay the roles they were
given. This experiment has also been used as a defense by an attorney that said: “Given the
situation anyone will become sadistic if they have the ability or resources”– which summarizes
the enormity of the effect the experiment had on the volunteers.3
Through this experiment, the claim that can be questioned would be “Is scientific knowledge
considered accurate even if conducted in an unethical manner?”. This object enhances my
exhibition because it specifically outlines the unethical way in which science exploits humans
and lacks remorse for any effect that can be had mentally simply for the sake of a meaningless
result and experiment, as well as the pleasureful sadistic feeling that comes with inflicting pain
on people.4
Object 2: Dolly the sheep experiment
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10511253.2016.1165855
3
Carnahan, T. (2007, May 1). Revisiting the Stanford Prison Experiment: Could Participant
Self-Selection Have Led to the Cruelty? Retrieved from SAGE Journals:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0146167206292689
4
Konnikova, M. (2015). The Real Lesson of The Stanford Experiment. The New Yorker.
My second object is the Dolly the sheep experiment which was announced to the public on the
22nd of February 1997 and caused a craze in the media. The Roslin Institute was trying to
develop a better method for producing genetically modified livestock so they tested on a sheep
named Dolly. Dolly was an important sheep considering she is the first mammal to be
successfully cloned from an adult cell. The problem is because she was cloned from an adult
mammal she had older genetic information so she died at a younger age than she should have.5
The scientists at Roslin claimed was successful, this would ensure that future trials would require
fewer animals. The media was still furious at the mistreatment of animals and not letting Dolly
have a decent life as a sheep, but some people thought otherwise. Since the experiment worked
out people said that now we have an idea of cloning and Roslin researchers were also interested
in learning more about how cells change throughout development and whether a specialized cell,
such as a skin or brain cell, might be utilized to create a whole new animal. Others disagreed
with the idea of cloning. Through this experiment, the claim that can be questioned would be, “Is
scientific knowledge considered knowledge if it was obtained in an immoral manner?”. Even
though this experiment ended with Dolly having a shorter life span than she should’ve had we
still now have a closer idea of cloning and the pros and cons behind it. Harming animals
5
Shiels, P. G. (2004, July 5). Analysis of Telomere Length in Dolly, a Sheep Derived by Nuclear
Transfer. Retrieved from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.:
shouldn’t be ordinary and accepted because they can’t defend themselves when being harmed
and we humans should protect and cherish them as they give us life.6
Object 3: Kentler Experiment
My third object is a Psychological Experiment where a psychologist let pedophiles adopt young
kids for fun. This lasted until 2003 and it involved letting young boys live with certified
pedophiles. Helmut Kentler started this experiment and was a German psychologist, sexologist,
and professor of social education at the University of Hannover. This experiment was held to
create knowledge through immoral ways in which they risked the lives of innocent children for
the sake of ‘knowledge’. 7This experiment is supposed to keep pedophiles off the street if they
had someone to provide them pleasure. They completely disregarded the feelings of the children
and did this experiment without the children’s consent. This experiment lasted 30 years which
affected the mental health of the children who were forced into it. 8
6
N/A. (n.d.). The Life of Dolly. Retrieved from Dolly Roslin:
https://dolly.roslin.ed.ac.uk/facts/the-life-of-dolly/index.html
7
Ahrbeck, B. (2022). Neo-Emancipatory Sex Education in Germany: Sexual Abuse and
Gender Confusion. Retrieved from Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and
Violence : https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/dignity/vol7/iss1/2/
8
Annet. (2021 , July 29). The German Government Deliberately Placed Homeless Children
With Pedophiles. Retrieved from History Of Yesterday:
https://historyofyesterday.com/the-german-government-deliberately-placed-homeless-
children-with-pedophiles-8c6532ffcdba
This object enhances my exhibition because it questions “would people consider human science
as true even if it was conducted under morally unexcepted grounds?. One of the kids that goes
by the name of Marco saw an item in a Berlin newspaper with a photo of a professor he
remembered from his childhood.9 He said “I didn’t think what was happening was good, but I
thought it was normal. I thought of it a little bit like food. People have different tastes in food,
the way some people have different tastes in sexuality”. Marco reflecting his experiences with
his foster father and how he thought it was normal because it was all he was taught and this
completely affected him and the way he grew up once he left this experiment.
Bibliography
Carpi, A. (2011). The Nature of Scientific Knowledge . Retrieved from Vision learning:
https://www.visionlearning.com/en/library/Process-of-Science/49/The-Nature-of-Scientific-
Knowledge/185
9
Aviv, R. (2021). The German Experiment That Placed Foster Children with Pedophiles.
The New Yorker. Retrieved from The New Yorker:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/07/26/the-german-experiment-that-
placed-foster-children-with-pedophiles
N/A. (n.d.). The Life of Dolly . Retrieved from Dolly Roslin:
https://dolly.roslin.ed.ac.uk/facts/the-life-of-dolly/index.html
Baader, M. S. (2020). independent investigation into helmut kentler’s activities in the berlin child
and youth welfare services. Universitätsverlag Hildesheim.
Shiels, P. G. (2004, July 5). Analysis of Telomere Length in Dolly, a Sheep Derived by Nuclear
Transfer. Retrieved from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.:
https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/15204559950020003
Ahrbeck, B. (2022). Neo-Emancipatory Sex Education in Germany: Sexual Abuse and Gender
Confusion. Retrieved from Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence :
https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/dignity/vol7/iss1/2/
Annet. (2021 , July 29). The German Government Deliberately Placed Homeless Children With
Pedophiles. Retrieved from History Of Yesterday: https://historyofyesterday.com/the-
german-government-deliberately-placed-homeless-children-with-pedophiles-
8c6532ffcdba
Carnahan, T. (2007, May 1). Revisiting the Stanford Prison Experiment: Could Participant Self-
Selection Have Led to the Cruelty? Retrieved from SAGE Journals:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0146167206292689
Kulig, T. C. (2016, April 12). Revisiting the Stanford Prison Experiment: A Case Study in
Organized Skepticism. Retrieved from Taylor & Francis Online:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10511253.2016.1165855
Konnikova, M. (2015). The Real Lesson of The Stanford Experiment. The New Yorker.
Aviv, R. (2021). The German Experiment That Placed Foster Children with Pedophiles. The New
Yorker. Retrieved from The New Yorker:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/07/26/the-german-experiment-that-
placed-foster-children-with-pedophiles
