title: Counterfactual Consent and the Use of Deception in Research.
abstract: The use of deception for the purposes of research is a widespread practice within many areas of study. If we want to avoid either absolute acceptance or absolute rejection of this practice then we require some method of distinguishing between those uses of deception which are morally acceptable and those which are not. In this article I discuss the concept of counterfactual consent, and propose a related distinction between counterfactual-defeating deception and counterfactual-compatible deception. The aim is to show that this proposed distinction will be useful in furthering the debate regarding the use of deception for the purposes of research.
authors.forename: Alan T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Wilson
mesh_terms: D008192:Deception; D032984:Ethics, Research; D006040:Goals; D006805:Human Experimentation / Q000941:ethics*; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent / Q000941:ethics*; D028681:Moral Obligations; D009014:Morals; D033281:Nontherapeutic Human Experimentation / Q000941:ethics; D026684:Personal Autonomy; D012107:Research Design; D035842:Research Subjects / Q000523:psychology; D036302:Therapeutic Human Experimentation / Q000941:ethics
keywords: consent; deception; research ethics