16b – Edison and Kemmler -Rafael R.

Edison really takes advantage of the title he has obtained as the “Wizard.” When he was being interviewed by Bourke Cockran, he stated that artificially generated electric current would instantly bring death to human beings in every case (Jonnes 195). He really had no evidence that this was true and when this information was released to the public, they would accept this information because of the reputation Edison had already won himself. Edison was indeed unethical, rather than misconceived. When electrocution of Kemmler had not gone as planned, he stated that the electrodes were not placed in the right places.

Something else that Edison hid from the public was his connection with Brown. He stated that Brown was just another person having the honor to work in his Laboratory. This was also unethical of Edison and Brown. The letters between Edison and Brown were later stolen from Brown’s office and delivered to the public revealing the unethical behaviors between them.

16B Edison – Laurence

Edison was a very intelligent man, but he did not take defeat well. I personally think that Edison was wrongfully named the expert in this situation. Everyone thought that because he invented the light bulb, he knew everything about all forms of electricity. His position on electricity was obviously extremely biased towards his direct current, and he wanted alternating current to be seen as the ‘killer current’. His position on electrocution was unethical, not because he was a bad person, but because he had his life’s work on the line. Edison was just trying to save his business.

Side note: It was interesting to see how hard these lawyers fought for Kemmler. I know they were fighting for the bigger issue of electrocution being cruel and unusual punishment, but Kemmler was an axe murderer. My favorite part of the reading was Westinghouses’ quote on the electrocution at the end of the chapter: “I do not care to talk about it. It has been a brutal affair. They could have done it better with an axe.”

Edison Ethical Position: Matthew Harrison

Edison was always seen as someone that would create something for the greater good of the world, his inventions in electrify changed the face of the world and would impact not only the past but the future. Although Edison did create great achievements in engineering, he would soon lose the battle for electrify America. Edison would do whatever it took to take over his competitors as seen in the book Empires of Light. His views on electrical execution where unethical in the sense that he had no idea how it would react on the person being electrocuted. He would electrocute animals to get his point across that AC generators are bad and can actually kill people. This electric war would fuel his curiosity in killing a human by electric power, and soon would be seen by people as not only as a great inventor but as a support of cruel execution. His view on execution where very unethical because he made someones life not be about the crime he committed but the way the world is going to use electricity.

16b Edison and Kemmler – Andrew Graham

Edison’s belief in capital punishment was partially based on himself and his company.  The electrical system chosen for the electric chair was Westinghouse’s AC system.  Edison wanted for Kemmler to be killed by the electric chair, because of what it make people think of Westinghouse’s AC system.   The hope was that if Kemmler was killed then people would not want AC in their homes because of how dangerous it was.  This was the main reason that Edison was for capital punishment, only to discredit Westinghouse and make his DC system seem better to the public.  Westinghouse hired his own lawyer to try and stop Edison from killing a man with electricity only for his own gain.

Edison and Electrocution – David G

I think that Edison was partially right and partially wrong when it came to his position on th electric chair. He says that Alternating current was more deadly, and I don’t know if he is right, but he had no evidence to back up his claim. I feel that it is alright to test on animals and humans, but only after a large amount of research. I feel that this test should of been done at some point, but not for the reason it was done. Edison got this electrocution done with the electric chair, because he wanted to discredit the Westinghouse company, by scaring the people that AC was dangerous. With all the evidence supporting the fact that the chair may not kill on the first shock though, there should of been more testing done, to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the electric chair will kill quickly and painlessly. The defence attorney had proof that extreme voltages do not always kill. For instance, they had someone talking about being struck with lightning directly, and it not killing them. They also had instances of people grabbing high voltage wires, getting shocked and living. This proved that the electric chair may not instantly kill people. With this piece of evidence, Kembler should not of been put in the electric chair, until it was proved to kill instantly and painlessly.

Edison and Electrocution- Keya Z.

I beleive 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 don 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.

16b Edison Capital Punishment – Alexander Skinner

Thomas Edison was considered the all-around expert on electricity in his day.  During the electricution trial periods, especially the Kemmler execution, there was a large debate on if Edison and Westinghouse’s positions were ethical.  The point that I believe is important to look at is the basis that the two men positioned themselves on. Particularly, Edison’s position was not ethical in my opinion.  Thomas Edison had the prestige to override opinions of a large majority of people. But I would argue, Edison was not qualified to make the assumptions that he made.  If any man were to agree with Thomas Edison’s position on execution through electricity they would need to completely understand the physical and medical effects of electricution.  At the time, no one completely understood the effects of electricity on the human body.  Though men on both sides of the case made many great arguements, the only way to prove that electricution execution was an ethical way to execute a man was to provide definite and clear proof of the proper and safe voltage to use for a painless and quick death.  Westinghouse stood on the opposite side of the fence than Edison, and argued against the execution.  Though Westinghouse may not have argued against it for the same reasons as I do, he understood that no man including himself could provide an accurate definition to the problem that eletric execution provided.  The problem was what electric shook would cause an instant (quick) and painless death.  The law states that you can not enforce cruel or unusual punishment on any criminal.  And what we saw in Kemmler’s execution was down right cruel.  The lack of understanding in electrical effects on the human body provided the strong posibility of a mess up in an execution.  And of course, the strong posibility occured for Kemmler.  Though Kemmler was a terrible human being,  Edison’s prestige and lack of developmental though in his arguements brought him a terrible execution that no man deserves no matter the case.

Edison and Electrocution – David G

I think that Edison was partially right and partially wrong when it came to his position on th electric chair. He says that Alternating current was more deadly, and I don’t know if he is right, but he had no evidence to back up his claim. I feel that it is alright to test on animals and humans, but only after a large amount of research. I feel that this test should of been done at some point, but not for the reason it was done. Edison got this electrocution done with the electric chair, because he wanted to discredit the Westinghouse company, by scaring the people that AC was dangerous. With all the evidence supporting the fact that the chair may not kill on the first shock though, there should of been more testing done, to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the electric chair will kill quickly and painlessly. The defence attorney had proof that extreme voltages do not always kill. For instance, they had someone talking about being struck with lightning directly, and it not killing them. They also had instances of people grabbing high voltage wires, getting shocked and living. This proved that the electric chair may not instantly kill people. With this piece of evidence, Kembler should not of been put in the electric chair, until it was proved to kill instantly and painlessly.

Edison Electrocution – Eric B

The public relations campaign of Thomas Edison and Harold Brown against alternating was, in my opinion, very unethical. Although I am not necessarily against the experimentation of animals, I believe that it should be done in a way that is strictly scientific and not just to prove a point to the public. I believe that this business move by Edison had both its benefits and set backs. Because the public viewed Edison as a know-it-all wizard, they believed him for the most part on anything he said and therefore, by showing the execution of a fairly sized animal by alternating current to the public would, convince them that if AC was unsafe, then DC must be safe. But this move also discredited Edison, in my opinion, and made him look desperate because the reason he used the defend his direct current was that it was less dangerous than ac. A better approach would have been to focus on the positive aspects of DC and why it was better than AC.

Any form of electricity can be hazardous if used inproperly, that is why companies must take the necessary actions to design a safe and consumer friendly product. Edison may have been right that AC was more dangerous, but that should only mean that more measures should be taken to make it safer especially if the positives outweigh the negatives.

Brown-Nicole O.

Harold Brown is  known for abhorring the usage of alternating current. Harold teams up with eidson to take down Westinghouse and his alternating current system. Harold Brown conducted several harsh and unethical experiments to try to prove that ac is unsafe. These experiments were done without any legitmate theories that  ac system was dangerous. The reason why ac was unsafe  was because westinghouse’s company  wanted to save a large sum of money  not using heavier copper. Along with these faulty experiments, Edison and Harold provided biased testimonies to prove that using dc is alot safer than ac. One experiment that harold performed was on a dog that was elecitcally shocked by 1000 volts of dc. The dpg remained alive until but was than shocked moments later by 300 volts of ac electricity. How do we know if the dog was not  affected tremendously by the dc power, that by the time Harold added any sort of electricity to the dog, the dog was going to die. A more legit experiment would have been putting to dogs of the same bred and age and applying the same amount to voltage to one dog with one electricity and vise versa. I do not believe in animal cruelty but that procedure of Harolds experiemtns were poorly done and therefore did not prove anything. And because Edison allowed this sort of behavior to go on under his name and company, he lost more business.