Table 1.
Examples of value judgements analyzed on basis of the interview study
| Examples of value judgements | Examples of descriptive premises (DP) | ‘The alternative method A has/does not have characteristics Z’ |
Examples of (possible) Descriptive Backings (DB) |
Epistemic processes, infrastructure, work environment … |
| ‘The alternative method A is good/better with regard to X (than the animal model/experiment B)’ | Examples of Evaluative Premises (EP) | ‘X is good/bad, right/wrong, etc.’ |
Examples of (possible) Evaluative Backings (EB) |
Interest(s)/need(s), emotions, values … |
| 1. Alternative method A has less serious consequences (esp. for animals) when the experiments fail than animal experiment B (*) | DP: Alternative method A has the consequences Z / does not have the consequences Z’ (esp. for animals) when the experiments fail | DB: The animal experiments in this kind of research imply (mostly) problematic consequences (work environment) | ||
| EP: Serious consequences (esp. for animals) when experiments fail are bad (should be avoided) | EB: Animal welfare (value), efficiency (value) | |||
| 2. Alternative method A is not cruel (compared to the animal experiment B) | DP: Alternative method A is equivalent to the animal experiment in the field in terms of knowledge gain without inflicting Z on animals (e.g., inducing strokes in rats) | DB: It is necessary to do Z to animals (epistemic processes) to investigate this topic | ||
| EP: The animal experiments (in this kind of research) are cruel [= ethically bad] (*) | EB: Animal welfare (value) | |||
| 3. Animal experiment B is justifiable when no alternative method A is available and when it contributes to less harmful animal experiment conditions in the long run | DP: There was no alternative method A for the important research question that would have been worked on anyway | DB: Funding for cell culture research was discontinued | ||
| EP: One’s own handling of laboratory animals would be respectful (and, therefore, the best possible way to contribute to animal welfare). Respectful handling of laboratory animals should be transferred into the training of future researchers (*) | EB: Animal welfare (value), assigning an intrinsic value/moral status to an animal /avoiding the instrumentalization of animals (value) | |||
*Elements that were explicit in the interview