Scenario E

In an investigation of higher moral standards, an experimental psychologist was interested in the strength of people's moral convictions. An experiment was designed in which participants were told that a child was in critical need of a drug that could be derived from a fungus found in a particular limestone cave. The fungus grew in abundance in this cave, and only a small portion was needed for treatment. However, the owner of the cave refused to allow anyone to use the fungus. The experimenter found that a large percentage of participants reported that they would trespass to obtain samples of the fungus. In a second part of the experiment, the researcher asked some of the participants to obtain the fungus illegally. In justifying the procedure, he argued that a higher moral principle was served and that the results would have a major impact on the knowledge of civil disobedience.