ABSTRACT

Brute Science investigates whether biomedical research using animals is, in fact, scientifically justified.
Hugh LaFollette and Niall Shanks examine the issues in scientific terms using the models that scientists themselves use. They argue that we need to reassess our use of animals and, indeed, rethink the standard positions in the debate.

part I|104 pages

Understanding the Debate

chapter 1|16 pages

A First Look

The prima-facie cases

chapter 2|16 pages

The Problems of Relevance

chapter 3|19 pages

Claude Bernard

The founder of the paradigm

chapter 4|18 pages

The Current Paradigm

chapter 5|15 pages

Evolution I

Species and species differences

chapter 6|18 pages

Evolution II

The widening synthesis

part II|102 pages

Evaluating Animal Experimentation: The Scientific Issues

chapter 7|12 pages

Causal Disanalogy I

Strong models and theoretical expectations

chapter 8|20 pages

Causal Disanalogy II

The empirical evidence

chapter 9|21 pages

Causal Disanalogy III

Weak models

chapter 10|21 pages

Evading Causal Disanalogy

It just works

chapter 11|12 pages

Avoiding Causal Disanalogy

Transgenic animals

chapter 12|14 pages

Basic Research

part III|63 pages

Evaluating Animal Experimentation: The Moral Issues

chapter 13|18 pages

The Moral Debate in Historical Context

chapter 14|20 pages

Speciesism

The deontological defense

chapter 15|15 pages

Incalculable Benefits

The consequentialist defense

chapter 16|8 pages

Conclusion