Human Cloning - Individualistic vs. Communitarian
In many controversial topics around the world, we can
find differing positions, and opinions. Many of these arguments, can be narrowed
down to two different views, or constructs: individualistic and communitarian
(an image of collectivism). An individualistic viewpoint "stresses the rights of
the individual as a unique being" (class review). A communitarian viewpoint is
more concerned with the good for the greatest number, "even if an individual
must suffer or sacrifice" (class review). These different elements do not
necessarily label the people as opposed to, or in favor of the topic here. They
just show where your motivations lie, is your involvement for self fulfillment
or for the good of society? Within the contents of this paper, I will analyze
the elements of individualism and collectivism that exist in the controversial
topic of cloning.
When Dr. Ian Wilmut, a 52-year-old embryologist at the Roslin
Institute in Edinburgh announced on that he had replaced the genetic material of
sheep's egg with the DNA from an adult sheep, and created a lamb (Dolly), the
topic of cloning "created" many new questions of its own. None were as
controversial as: Will they apply this to humans as well? According to Dr.
Wilmut, the answer was "there is no reason in principle why you couldn't do
it"(clone humans), but he added, "All of us would find that offensive."(Wilmut
as quoted by NYTimes, Daniel Callahan, 02/26/97).
From an individualistic viewpoint, those in favor of cloning human
beings, do not see it as morally, or ethically wrong. Many see it as an
opportunity to have children, or possibly to "re-create" a child who is dying
from a terminal illness. Using a deterministic argument, many infertile couples
are worried that any "government restrictions on human cloning might hurt their
chances some day for bearing children through new medical technology" ( Newsday,
Thomas Maier, 03/14/1997). In a form of expressive individualism, Tom Buckowski,
from Studio City, California said, "It's my body, my choice, right? But what if
I want my body cloned and warehoused for spare parts? Upon what basis can
government decide what I can or cannot do with my body?"(Los Angeles Times,
3/07/1997). In both examples, the predominant voice is that of the first
language of individualism. The first language refers to the "individualistic
mode that is the dominant American form of discourse about moral, social, and
political matters" (Bellah et al, Habits of the Heart, pg.334).
Anita Manning, a writer for USA TODAY revealed another
individualistic argument in favor of cloning. In her article "Pressing a
"right" to clone humans," Manning interviews a group of gay activists, who see
There are two basic kinds of ethical judgments. The first have to do with duty and obligation. For example: "Thou shalt not kill, lie, or steal." "You just keep your promises." These judgments often uphold minimal standards of onduct and (partly for that reason) assert or imply a moral ‘ought.’ The second kind of judgment focuses on human excellence and the nature of the good life. These judgments employ as their most general terms "happiness," "excellence," and perhaps "flourishing" (in addition to "the good life"). For example: "Happiness requires activity and not mere passive consumption." "The good life includes pleasure, friendship, intellectual development and physical health." I take these to be the two general types of ethical judgment, and all particular ethical judgments to be examples of these. The main contention of this paper is that we must carefully distinguish these two types of judgments, and not try to understand the one as a special case of the other.
...is case, full inclusion means that all students, regardless of handicapping condition or severity, will be in a regular classroom full time. Although some may argue that that it is important to give every student equal opportunities to learn, and that it is only fair to include all students in regular learning environments, Decisions about including children with autism into fully integrated settings must be made consistent with the principle of the "least restrictive environment" as a guiding principle. No person with autism should be unnecessarily or inappropriately denied access to meaningful educational activities. However, it should be noted that the concept of least restrictive environment requires that appropriate learning take place. Placement decisions also require that students be capable of meaningful learning and functioning within the setting selected.
Dix’s life work has had a lasting effect on the care and treatment of the mentally ill. Her goals were never concretely set in her mind, she simply did what was best for the people and accomplished immeasurable good in her lifetime. Not only did she bring to light the plight of the mentally ill, she helped to open the door for hospitals and asylums to be built across the country and bring about overall change in the care and treatment of the patients. She believed, and was able to show, that the “insane” weren’t a lost cause. With proper care and treatment many were able to recover and lead normal lives. This was something that professionals at the time didn’t think was possible. She awoke the nations conscience to the plight of the mentally ill.
This paper will evaluate the merits of the argument “Too high for humanity” against the validity the theory Utilitarianism. More specifically we will introduce the argument, Milner’s responses to the argument then analyze the arguments’ structure, validity and soundness.
Since it was believed that human beings reach their highest levels of morality and virtue by participating in government, (pg. 6) it would only make sense to create a government for the people by the people. But in order to limit the government and protect the rights of citizens, the new government would have to consist of checks and balances type of system. This is the reason for the three...
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Spearmann thought of cloning as a way to study cell differentiation. Briggs and King used the technique of nuclear transfer on amphibians and it was successful (Campbell). “Subsequently John Gurdon demonstrated the potential to reprogram differentiated cells by producing adult Xenopus using epithelial cells from developing tadpole intestine as nuclear donors,” says Alberio Campbell. Unfortunately, later studies show that this method of cloning tadpoles didn’t allow them to develop to the adult stage of life (Campbell). “The use of enucleated metaphase II oocytes as recipient cytoplasts proved more successful and in 1986 resulted in the production of live lambs using blastomeres from 8 to 16-cell stage embryos as nuclear donors,” says Campbell. This success in sheep was also used on other mammals such as cattle and swine. There were limitations to the technology. First, the “frequency development was very low”...
Imagine yourself in a society in which individuals with virtually incurable diseases could gain the essential organs and tissues that perfectly match those that are defected through the use of individual human reproductive cloning. In a perfect world, this could be seen as an ideal and effective solution to curing stifling biomedical diseases and a scarcity of available organs for donation. However, this approach in itself contains many bioethical flaws and even broader social implications of how we could potentially view human clones and integrate them into society. Throughout the focus of this paper, I will argue that the implementation of human reproductive cloning into healthcare practices would produce adverse effects upon family dynamic and society due to its negative ethical ramifications. Perhaps the most significant conception of family stems from a religious conception of assisted reproductive technologies and cloning and their impact on family dynamics with regard to its “unnatural” approach to procreation. Furthermore, the broader question of the ethical repercussions of human reproductive cloning calls to mind interesting ways in which we could potentially perceive and define individualism, what it means to be human and the right to reproduction, equality and self-creation in relation to our perception of family.
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Nineteenth century British philosophers, Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill sum up their theory of Utilitarianism, or the “principle of utility,” which is defined as, “actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness” (Munson, 2012, p. 863). This theory’s main focus is to observe the consequences of an action(s), rather than the action itself. The utility, or usef...
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Classical utilitarianism is a normative ethical theory which holds that an action can only be considered as morally right where its consequences bring about the greatest amount of good to the greatest number (where 'good' is equal to pleasure minus pain). Likewise, an action is morally wrong where it fails to maximise good. Since it was first articulated in the late 19th Century by the likes of Jeremy Bentham and later John Stewart Mill, the classical approach to utilitarianism has since become the basis for many other consequentialist theories such as rule-utilitarianism and act-utilitarianism upon which this essay will focus (Driver, 2009). Though birthed from the same utilitarian principle of maximising good, rule-utilitarianism and act-utilitarianism provide two very different accounts on how the maximising of good should be approached. This essay will compare these two approaches and try to ascertain whether rule-utilitarianism is indeed preferable to act-utilitarianism.
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Since Autism doesn’t present the same in each person, everyones needs are unique. Where some will excel others may drag behind, it 's important to figure out what areas need to be focused on more so than others early on so you can target them with structured programs and activities. Most people with Autism have underlying medical conditions as well as behavioral conditions so being on the correct medication and monitoring that is very important. Often times it 's recommended for children with Autism to go to therapy sessions for speech, social interaction skills, and general development. It 's extremely important to focus on social skills since that 's one of the main components of Autism is a lack or strain on social skills. Enrolling your children in specialized structured activities to help them work on their social skills is important for their
The Utilitarian Approach: the ethical decision should provides the greatest good for the greatest number;