B.C. prof denied funding to research/watch people kill themselves

A large handful of academics were outraged by the decision made by Kwantlen University College in British Columbia to withdraw its approval of one professor's research proposal. Prof. Ogden specializes in death and suicide. His area of proposed research included watching people kill themselves. No, really.

Granted, to fully understand the methods and thought processes of a person who is committing suicide, witnessing this act may be necessary. If not necessary, it would doubtlessly expand the general knowledge regarding the topic. That said, there are some obvious unethical aspects of this issue. If a person were going to commit suicide, and had someone watching it in order to gather research to benefit the "greater good"/academic community, that person might be more likely to go through with it, even if holding back crosses their mind. The person committing suicide would most likely shy away from looking scared or like they're having second thoughts. Which could lead to a horrible situation.

Professor Ogden would inform the person whom he would watch end their life that he could not interfere. He could not tell the person to got through with it if they were having second thoughts. He couldn't encourage the idea in any way. (Mind you, isn't watching it intently encouraging it, in a way?) This also means that Ogden could not DISCOURAGE the idea in any way. In the name of research, this is a the proper method to approach the situation. But in the name of humanity, how could you watch someone put a gun to their head without at least trying to make them stop? Telling them they had something to live for? Both outcomes--watching the person go through with it or otherwise--would be equally interesting, according to Ogden. So if the person with the gun to their head said to Ogden, "Do I have a reason to live? Should I end it all?" Ogden could not respond.

Research is undeniably an important part of a developing world. The academic community thrives on it, and the rest of the population benefits from it, certainly, in most cases. But suicide is such a questionable topic. Research has a very high value, but can one really put a value on a person's life? The university withdrew its approval of Ogden's research because of "legal risks associated with the proposed research," but according to many (very upset) academics, they break the law lots in the name of research. This is definitely a moral issue for the university as much as it is a legal one. And for good reason.

How someone could watch another human being end their life, without interfering whatsoever, is beyond me. But there is an interesting side to this issue. According to the article in the NP,

.....
"Mr. Ogden also refuses comment, citing his "concern for keeping my job."

He directed inquiries to a sympathetic criminologist at nearby Simon Fraser University in Burnaby. John Lowman says the "stop research" demand made by Kwantlen is typical of academic administrations in Canada that "have become afraid of controversy." It isn't clear what prompted Kwantlen to undertake due diligence of Mr. Ogden's work, or why the school chose yesterday to refer to it as "proposed research."

"The research was funded, it was underway, it was in progress," Mr. Turk said. "This is the first time we've been made aware of a university prohibition on research that had already been vetted and approved."
.....

I agree that Canadian universities are all about avoiding controversy. If anything goes against the norm, they're all over it, silencing it ASAP. And it was very irresponsible of the school to begin funding Ogden's research and then withdraw, for whatever reason. Personally, I wouldn't have approved the funding in the first place, on the basis of unethical grounds. The university put themselves in a tricky situation here.

I don't know. Research is important, but life is fundamental. Without life, there would be no research at all. There would be no inquiry into issues such as these. The right to life is not equated to the right to death. Life is precious--death is unknown. And witnessing voluntary death, for whaetver reason, is not only illegal, it is more than likely a form of encouragement.