Edison Electrocution – Jonathan A

I think that Edison’s actions during this time were extremely unethical. All those dogs that were killed did not prove whether it was painless or not. Edison stated that he was an expert electrician, which he was, but how would he know how much electricity it would take to kill a human without pain and instantly? He would have to experiment with humans or animals. I also think that Edison’s views on this topic were obviously biased because he had his direct current company. Technically, both forms of electricity could kill a man, but one was stronger and could therefore do it with less volts. This time period where the war of the currents occurred seemed to go against every code of ethics that I have seen for engineers. Safety for the public was on every code of ethics I saw, yet Edison was trying to do the complete opposite.

16 B Edison Capital Punishment ~ Desire’ Bounds

I believe that Edison is indeed an expert in electricity in the time period, but I believe it was misrepresented in this case. I think Edison gave a phony testimony to prove his point that AC was much too deadly for people to use. In his case he claimed that AC would kill you instantly. He tried to scare the people away from AC with his testimony. I believe this was very unethical of Edison. He used his influence in the wrong way. He knew that people would believe his every word so he gave a biased testimony and people would believe him. When kemmler was sentenced to death, they strapped him to the electric chair and turned on the AC current. They shut it off only to find that he wasn’t dead and that he was still alive, and they had to turn it on again. This caused some kemmler some serious suffering. If Edison hadn’t given such a fake testimony just to discredit AC, this man would never have had to suffer in this way. I believe that this was very wrong of Edison to use his influence in this way.

16b Edison and Electrocution Michael B

I believe that Edison’s position on electrocution is unethical, because he changes his views rather quickly, when he realizes the advantages.  When he was first asked about the use of electricity in execution, Edison responded in a unmistakeable no.  He stated that he was both against the death penalty and he was against the use of electricity in execution.  It is seemingly only after he realizes that he could use this to discredit AC, that he changes his position on capital punishment, and suggests that somewhere around 1000 volts of AC from a Westinghouse generator would be enough to kill a person.

Capital Punishment – Eric B

I believe Thomas Edison’s postition on electrocution was very unethical. Capital punishment should occur for one and only reason, that the person being executed was convicted of a crime worth being executed for. People should not be able to benefit in any way from such a terrible thing as capital punishment, especially financially. However, Edison used capital punishment to try and discredit his competitor George Westinghouse and gain further success in the electrical industry. By helping to implement Westinghouse’s alternating current into the electric chair Edison sought to show the great dangers of AC and convince the public to invest in DC because it wouldn’t kill people. In Empires of Light Jill Jonnes gives an example of Edison’s position on the issue “Arrayed on the DC side were, of course, Harold Brown and Thomas Edison, both delighted that a human being was to be officially and specifically electrocuted with the ‘man-killing’ Westinghouse generators.” Although Edison was without a doubt one of the greatest inventors and most brilliant men of our time, his business decisions were sometimes not thought out very well and also unethical.

Edison and Electrocution – Stephen I

Edison’s opinion on electrocution was unethical because he was only out to save his DC system.  There was no stopping Edison on his path to save his company because now even human lives don’t mean anything to him.  First it was animal testing and then he moved on to humans.  Edison would have thought differently if he personally knew the subject but Kemmler was an axe murder and disliked by many.  Edison did not know for sure that the AC current would be enough to kill a person.  In the trial he use his reputation and people believed him.  Edison was only out to discredit Westinghouses’ Company.  The defense had proof that high voltages did not always kill people because he had  survivors from lighting strikes.

16b Edison Punishment – Chris C

The position taken by Edison was completely unethical because of the assumptions made upon his misinformation.   Testing performed on animals involved no rigorous scientific method to guarantee pure data (or close to) and no autopsy to confirm and explain the cause of death from electric treatement.  Basing the voltage and current to kill a man, off the assumption that what kills a “healthy” horse must kill a man.  I say “healthy” because again, nothing was confirmed with his testing.  To continue to judge a man and submit him to an untested procedure which is supposedly instant and painless despite his willingness to accept the previous form of capital punishment is more or less wrong.  Making everything worse is the lack of “ethics” in the courtroom.  Despite experience and training the judge allowed himself to become biased, and accepted the words of “The Wizard”, who only assumed it was safe, against that of an established lawyer, who proved that this method of execution was unproven and should not be used.  Edison was not the only one at fault, but that he would use his prestige and abandon ideals he once followed to secure business in the future is a perfect display of  immorality.

16 B Edison Capital Punishment – Heera J

Edison’s position on electrocution is very unethical. He tried to save his business by saying that AC was dangerous and to prove his point he electrocuted animals. The animals that he bought of little kids on the street were victims to Edison’s experimentation. After he used all the little animals he moved onto a horse and then later and elephant. When Edison wanted electrocution to be the capital punishment, he only thought about how to make Westinghouse look bad. He didn’t even stop for one moment to consider what the victim of the electrocution might suffer. All Edison had in mind was to take down Westinghouse. Edison would not have supported electrocution if someone close to him was to be experimented on. He wasn’t thinking of it would affect other people. It is a good thing that Edison wanted the public to be aware of the dangers in AC but the way he went about it was wrong. And even more to solidify his theory, he put a man through unexplainable pain and torture before he died. Kemler was a crazy murderer and he deserved to die but no human whether he is evil or not should be put to death through electrocution.

16 B Edison- Keya Z.

I believe that Edison’s position on electrocution is very unethical in my opinion. First of all, I believe that it is wrong to kill a man with electricity regardless of what he has done in his past. They deserve life in prison, but thats it. People do change over time, so they should be given a chance to do some right. But Edison even went on to say that getting killed in the electric chair will not hurt, or the person will not get burned. He said that it would be quick and painless, and the best way to kill someone. That is so wrong. Edison believed that nobody really knew the true extent of the possibilities of the electric chairs potential, and the only way to find out was to test it on someone. Edison’s thinking skills are somewhat bazaar and very unethical, even though he was a brilliant man.

Edison Electrocution – Robert S.

I believe Edison’s position on electrocution was unethical, as he only changed his position to discredit the AC system as “safe”. Initially, Edison strongly opposed capital punishment. However, about a month later, Edison suggested to Dr. Southwick, who was looking for a better way to execute people, that alternating current would be the ideal way to execute a person. This was most likely an attempt to discredit AC and promote his own system as the safer of the two.

16b – Edison Ethical Position – Jhonny E

Edison during the War of the Currents was doing everything in his power to make people believe that his form of electrity was not only superior, but also safer to use. Edison would use many method to show the consumers that his product was safer and would take it as far as killing many helpless animals and killing people as a form of capital punishment. I think that Edison was using unethical means for his own pride, killing Kemmler with the electric chair using AC, at a period were many didn’t understand the total capacity electricity would do on a body. Another reason why I believe that it was unethical is propably that I personally would never be able to kill another man, and less kill a man for my own need.