Physics and Astronomy Calendar

In Germany the Vivisection Debate was one of the first public arguments between the so-called lay-public and specialised scientists about ethical boundaries to biosciences. The article presents the vivisectors, their opponents and their campaign, within which gendered positions of men and women as well as gender metaphors played a highly ambivalent, but crucial role. The debate focussed on the most spectacular of the new laboratory techniques: the physiological, pharmacological and surgical experiment on the living animal. In the background, however, rivalling medical worldviews, moral values and concepts over the relations between humans and animals were negotiated. The outcome of this debate marks a successful power play of science and state. This alliance succeeded in defending its science-ethical defining power and marginalizing the science-critical public.