Tolle Lege: An Augustinian Journal of Philosophy and Theology

Human experimentation is a systematic, scientific investigation that can be either interventional or observational and involves human beings as research subjects. The most pivotal question in research ethics is not whether we should be doing research and experimentations on humans but can we justify exposing individuals to risks associated with it, just for the sake of progression of medicine? It is of paramount importance that pros and cons be balanced before the start of any study and correct procedures followed for every step of the research and human experimentation, keeping in mind the ethics involved.This paper looks at the problem of human experimentation from the prism of Igwebuike philosophy. Igwebuike philosophy is a branch of African philosophy that places a strong emphasis on concepts such as the sacredness of life, complementarity, virtue and our shared humanity. In the course of this research, the phenomenological and hermeneutical methods of inquiry were employed. The paper submits that human experimentation, even though advantageous to medicine, poses a challenge to the African worldview when viewed from the prism of Igwebuike philosophy.

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