Transformative Research Module: Ethics

Develop an understanding in research ethics, and different ways to reflect on ethical dilemmas in research.

Ethics

This module can help you to develop an understanding of ethics in research, specifically more collaborative forms of research. The aims of this module include understanding what research ethics is and different ways to reflect on ethical dilemmas in research. Join Julia Wittmayer and Katharina Bauer bringing focus on building an understanding of the specific context of more collaborative forms of research, such as transformative research and their implications for research ethics. You will be able to engage deeply with the material through a workshop to trial utilising ethical theories with diverse, transformative research dilemmas. We look forward to your joining us.

Learn more:

Ethics in Transformative Research_Infographic

Katharina Bauer

is an Associate Professor of Practical Philosophy at Erasmus School of Philosophy. She was a research fellow of the “Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)”at Ruhr-Universität Bochum, visiting researcher of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation at Rijksuniversiteit Groningen and Goethe Universität Frankfurt a.M. and Visiting Professor at Freie Universität Berlin. In her research and teaching projects, she is connecting different philosophical traditions, and building bridges between academic philosophy, other disciplines, and civic society. Against the background of fundamental ethical concepts and ideals (such as: dignity, authenticity, autonomy, hope), she investigates the impact of current societal, technological, and ecological challenges on moral agents.

Julia Wittmayer

works as an Associate Professor at the Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences and as a senior researcher and advisor at DRIFT, Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR). Her work focuses on social innovations and their governance in the context of just sustainability transitions in urban areas and energy systems. To support the development of knowledge and action that address societal challenges, she develops and implements a variety of collaborative action-oriented research formats. An academic role at EUR’s Design Impact Transition Platform allows her to analyse the academic context and the roles of universities in and for just sustainability transitions in her recent work.

Classical Theories

Virtue Ethics:

Aristotle (2012). Nicomachean ethics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Book II.
Annas, Julia (2006). Virtue ethics. In: D. Copp (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ethical Theory. Oxford University Press. pp. 515-536.

Duty-based Ethics / Deontology:

Kant, Immanuel (2013). Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Moral. In: R. Shafer-Landau, Ethical Theory: an Anthology. West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell. 485-498.
Hill, Thomas E. (2006). Kantian normative ethics. In: D. Copp (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Ethical Theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 480-514.

Utilitarianism:

Bentham, Jeremy (2007). Of the Principle of Utility. An introduction to the principles of morals and legislation. Mineola: Dover Publications. Chapter 1.
Mill, John Stuart (2006). What Utilitarianism Is. In: J.M. Robson (ed.), Collected works of John Stuart Mill, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, Routledge & Kegan Paul. Chapter II.

Additional Approaches

Care Ethics:

Collins, Stephanie (2017). Care Ethics: The Four Key Claims. In David R. Morrow (ed.), Moral Reasoning. New York: Oxford University Press.

Ubuntu Ethics:

Thaddeus Metz & Joseph B.R. Gaie (2010) The African ethic of Ubuntu/Botho: implications for research on morality, Journal of Moral Education, 39:3, 273-290, DOI: 10.1080/03057240.2010.497609Links to an external site.

Pragmatism

John Dewey (1922). Human Nature and Conduct: An Introduction to Social Philosophy (The Project Gutenberg eBook of Human Nature and Conduct, by John Dewey.)

Ethical situationism:

Becker, L. C. (1995). Situation ethics. In Audi Robert (ed.), The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy. Cambridge University Press. pp. 738.
Taylor, Richard. “Joseph Fletcher’s situation ethics, once again.” Free Inquiry, vol. 15, no. 4, fall 1995, pp. 47+.

Moral / Ethical Dilemmas:

Statman, Daniel (1995). Moral Dilemmas. Amsterdam, Atlanta: Rodopi. 5-27.

Medical Ethics / Bioethics:

T.L. Beauchamp & J.F. Childress. The Four Principles Approach. In: Richard Ashcroft, Angus Dawson, Heather Draper, John McMillan (eds.) Principles of Health Care Ethics. second edition Wiley, Chichester 2007, 3-10

Additional Materials

You can find reliable information on core concepts and theories here:

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: https://plato.stanford.edu/
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: https://iep.utm.edu/

Introductions:

Simon Blackburn (2001). Being Good: A Short Introduction to Ethics. Oxford: Oxford University Press
David Wiggins (2006). Ethics: Twelve Lectures on the Philosophy of Morality. Penguin Books.
Russ Shafer-Landau (3rd ed., 2015). The Fundamentals of Ethics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
J. Rachels (2003), ‘A Short Introduction to Moral Philosophy’. In: The Right Thing to Do, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1-19.
M. van Hees, T. Nys, I. Robeyns, Basisboek ethiek. Amsterdam, Boom, 2019.

Research Ethics:

Iphofen, R. (2020) (ed.) Handbook of Research Ethics and Scientific Integrity. Springer (Living Reference Work)

To learn from concrete cases, download the EUR Dilemma Game App:

https://www.eur.nl/en/about-eur/policy-and-regulations/integrity/research-integrity/dilemma-game

Transformative Research Introduction

Wittmayer, J.M., Loorbach, D., Bogner, K., Hölscher, K., Hendlin, Y., Lavanga, M., Vasques, A., von Wirth, T., and de Wal, M. Transformative Research: knowledge and action for just sustainability transitions. DIT Working paper for positioning transformative research. Rotterdam, Design Impact Transition Platform, Erasmus University Rotterdam (2021)
Mertens, D. M. Transformative research: personal and societal. International Journal for Transformative Research 4, 18 24 (2017).
Bradbury, H. et al. A call to Action Research for Transformations: The times demand it. Action Research 17, 3–10 (2019).
Hölscher, K. et al. Transforming science and society? Methodological lessons from and for transformation research. Research Evaluation 1 17 (2021) doi:10.1093/reseval/rvaa034.