Nazi Records - Dombrowski - Ch 4

Nazi Records: The Origin and Use of Information
- Emotional disengagement of the researcher from the human research subject, and the implicit superiority of the researcher by which the subject is deliberately kept in the dark about what is really going on.
- Technical communicators and technical documents produced are not ethically neutral

Origination, Dissemination, and Use of Information
- Values of Nazi Medical Science
- Objectivization
- Impersonalness
- Emotional disengagement

“Research” Information
- Nothing ventured, nothing gained: does not apply to human research

Values in Nazi Medical “Science”
- Traditional View
- Justifying actions by looking at the big picture
- Masked Language
- “Euthanasia” reinterpreted as putting someone to death in a way that is perceived as humane and on the basis of their unworthiness to live

Means and ends could ethically taint technical information we are dealing with.

Kant – sentient beings should be treated alike and is more essential than bare humanness in deciding ethical responsibility.

Nazi Technical Memorandum
- What we can do, we should do, largely because we can do it. Circular logic and values

Graphical Images
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Ethical Appraisal
- Aristotelian perspective
- condemns Nazi regime based on virtue and cultivated ethics
- argue to use technical information for potential benefit of others
- Kantian perspective
- condemns Nazi regime for not treating all sentient beings equal (ethics)
- if one were to benefit (yes)
- if one was a victim (no)
- Utilitarianism
- according to the book – no one knows because they did not think of this circumstance
- however they would probably condemn the regime
- in favor of communication
- Feminist and Ethics of Care
- condemn Nazi regime because of authoritarian government
- recommended to share findings

So if all the theorists’ say yes, why do we not use the information.

Conclusion: This chapter does a great job of telling us why to not treat subjects with objectivity and distance ourselves from them. It gives you the consequence of doing so; however, it fails to take into account the fact that the technical writers did not have much of a choice in Nazi Germany. You either cooperated with your government or you and your family died. Simple as that. So book neglects to tell you when it would be appropriate to do so, if at all.