Western Michigan Medical Ethics Professor Has Plot to Secretly Spread Tick-Borne Disease, Inject Everyone With Drugs

 Parker Crutchfield, a medical ethics professor at Western Michigan University, has sparked controversy with his extreme proposals on moral enhancement through covert means. His ideas suggest administering substances to individuals without their consent to make them morally better, particularly through disease propagation.

1. Covert Moral Enhancement:

Crutchfield argues in his book, Moral Enhancement and the Public Good, that everyone should be injected with substances to improve moral behavior. He believes this should be done secretly, as people would be more likely to accept the intervention without knowledge of it.

2. Inspiration from Dystopia:

Crutchfield’s ideas mirror narratives found in dystopian literature, such as The Giver, where citizens unknowingly take medication that affects their emotions and behavior. He thinks covert methods are necessary to ensure widespread acceptance of moral enhancements.

3. Propositions for Administration:

He has suggested various methods for administering these substances, including vaccines, public water supplies, and air systems in buildings. He claims this would reduce the likelihood of people opting out of receiving the drugs essential for moral improvement.

4. Disease as a Tool for Moral Enhancement:

In a contentious paper, Crutchfield proposes spreading ticks that cause a disease (alpha-gal syndrome) that results in meat allergies. He considers this a solution to the moral dilemma of meat consumption, citing ethical grounds for reducing meat intake through illness.

5. Arguments and Responses:

While he promotes these ideas as moral obligations for scientists, Crutchfield does not address significant ethical concerns, such as infecting people with a harmful disease. Instead, he emphasizes the covert nature of the intervention as beneficial for moral development.

6. Cultural Insensitivity:

Crutchfield claims that most cultures do not have a special right to practice meat-eating while proposing that some indigenous groups should be exempt for cultural reasons. This has raised questions about his understanding of cultural practices and ethics.

7. Defense of Theories:

When challenged on his proposals, Crutchfield dismissed them as theoretical, claiming his papers were meant for discussion rather than action. Ironically, he continues to consume meat himself, contradicting the strict moral stance he promotes.

Parker Crutchfield's radical views on moral enhancement through covert drug administration and disease propagation present unsettling ethical dilemmas. His theories encourage discussions around the limits of academic discourse and the moral implications of enforced behavior modification. The ethical concerns raised by his proposals illustrate a troubling trend in discussions surrounding autonomy and individual rights in academic settings.

https://spectator.org/western-michigan-medical-ethics-professor-has-plot-to-secretly-spread-tick-borne-disease-inject-everyone-with-drugs/