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Surrogacy and the rights of the child essay
Surrogacy and the rights of the child essay
Discussion of surrogacy
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Michael Sandel’s What Money Can’t Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets is a set of two lectures that argue whether there are some things money cannot purchase. Sandel addresses this argument by clarifying how markets and market-oriented thinking extends to and affects many aspects of life. These aspects of life were once previously thought to have been uninfluenced by the pressure of markets, and Sandel states that this is a “development that should be resisted” (Sandel, 94). The lectures address two objections to the power of markets, which are coercion and corruption, to describe how these factors affect both free-will and morality associated with making decisions. Corruption, however, is not measured definitively for each situation. In the last lecture, Sandel focuses on corruption through describing different cases where markets corrupt ideals. Ultimately, the lecture does not attempt to denounce commodification, but rather …show more content…
Additionally, the act of selling a baby is considered to be immoral, as “certain things should not be bought and sold” (Sandel, 100). This implies that there are some objects or people in the world that must be treated in a certain way in order to be regarded in a proper manner. While motherhood and pregnancy is typically treated with respect, the male reproductive system is seen very differently. Sperm banks are a commercialization of fatherhood, but this usually does not instill frustration in society as surrogacy does. In general, Sandel’s argument attempts to convey the idea that coercion questions how the market affects society’s free-will, while corruption questions the morality of an object or good. In this case, the differing views that society has of fatherhood and motherhood reveals that corruption must be analyzed differently for some goods, as well as how views should be altered to be more befitting of the
John Stapleford’s book, Bulls, Bears, and Golden Calves, provides a thorough overview with a Christian perspective of economic and ethical analysis. He reviews the moral challenges of macro, micro, and international economic issues. Stapleford covers a variety of important public policy issues such as self-interest, economic efficiency, and private property rights. He begins the book by laying a foundation of ethical thought and an analytical framework. Stapleford provides a Biblical perspective on the practical issues facing our current society. For example, there are three billion people in the world who live on less than $2 a day (Stapleford, 2009). The wealthy Americans continue to get richer. The greed and lawlessness of America’s corporate boardrooms is increasing. Legalized gambling continues to increase every year. The expansion of pornography and its accessibility to America’s younger generations has become a rapidly growing epidemic (Stapleford, 2009). This text is grounded solidly in biblical principles. A number of the problems he discusses are not specifically addressed in the Bible, but one of the author's strengths is to develop a Christian rationale for contemporary issues, based on biblical principles. An example of this skill is found in his forceful chapter on "False Hope . . . The Boom in Legalized Gambling" (Stapleford, 2009).
While Darwin left the qualities associated with maternity as a given, Gamble describes the results of natural selection in detail. By juxtaposing the “extreme egoism” (86) of males and the “altruism” (86) of females with “the unequal struggle for liberty and justice” (87), Gamble alters the connotations of the qualities of each sex. No longer are men envisioned as physically and mentally superior hunters that provided for families, but instead as tyrannical oppressors in the classic struggle for liberty. Gamble furthers her explanation of male oppression through sexual selection. With this, Gamble turns the connotation of male superiority on its head, suggesting that this supremacy is in fact a societal artifact, not a biological
One popular objection is: if it is immoral to deprive someone of a future, or a “future-like-ours”, then it is immoral to deprive a sperm or egg of a “future-like-ours”. Because it is immoral to deprive someone of a future, one must conclude that it is immoral to deprive a sperm or egg of a “future-like-ours”. This objection is in reference to different modes of contraception, such as condoms and birth control. Nevertheless, the biggest problem with Marquis’ argument that allowed for this objection was its indecisiveness and improbability to draw a definitive line. Marquis criticized the pro-lifers and pro-choicers for being unable to have a definitive definition and made the same mistake in his own argument. One could object to his argument by merely questioning where the decision would end; are we to believe that one is depriving a sperm or an egg a future when we use contraception? Another important note is the idea that a “future-like-ours” is even an even more ambiguous term than a “person” or “human being”. It is impossible for the average individual to know which of his sperm or her eggs carries a genetic abnormality that may cause their child to not have a
She presents the idea that primitive forms of birth control are no longer ethical in today’s society as their methods would violate various mores that have been set by present day society by saying that that “primitive man have achieved the same results by infanticide, exposure of infants, abandonment of children, and abortion.” She uses examples of seemingly barbaric primitive methods to exemplify that in present times there is a need for a more civilized and humane method of family planning. By using this extreme example, Sanger effectively appeals to ethos to hopefully persuade the audience by showing how the old methods would themselves be contradictory to the set of morals the opposers are trying so hard to hold on to. She also appeals to ethos in the very end of the speech by identifying three separate and conflicting social classes that are based on intelligence and wealth. She describes the first class as being “intelligent and wealthy members of the upper classes who have obtained knowledge of birth control and exercise it in regulating the size of their families.” She then compares the highest class to the mid-level group by saying they they too are “equally intelligent and responsible” but can not gain knowledge and there fore can not plan their families. By comparing the first two alone it appeals to ethics as two groups with equal knowledge and wealth should both have knowledge and control over the size of their families. She ties in the last group by saying that the lowest group is “irresponsible and reckless” and states that this group reproducing in large numbers is bad for society as it will spread disease and the increase in size of this “feeble-minded” group. This in itself is not fair to the other members of society as it makes it more dangerous for the others. She uses the unfairness of this negligence
It has pitilessly torn asunder the motley feudal ties that bound man to his ‘natural superiors’, and has left remaining no other nexus between man and man than naked self-interest, than callous ‘cash payment’. It has drowned the most heavenly ecstasies of religious fervor, of chivalrous enthusiasm, of philistine sentimentalism, in the icy water of egotistical calculation. It has resolved personal worth into exchange value, and in place of the numberless indefeasible chartered freedoms, has set up that single, unconscionable freedom-Free Trade. In one word, for exploitation, veiled by religious and political illusions, it has substituted naked, shameless, direct, brutal exploitation. The bourgeoisie has stripped of its halo every occupation hitherto honored and looked up to with reverent awe. It has converted the physician, the lawyer, the priest, the poet, the man of science, into its paid wage-laborers.
This paper aims to provides a full understanding of the free market system and how it can potentially benefit individual’s needs. The free market system is fully explained and classical economist’s views are considered separately as well as in contrast with one another. The specific economists discussed include Ricardo, Marx, and Mill. Their individual opinions on how the free market system could impact the economy is examined and the effects of an economic system controlled by the government is also discussed.
Many people regard Surrogacy as “baby-selling” due to the large sums of money exchanged for the service. Surrogacy is often viewed as a negative idea because people think that Surrogates are forced to deliver babies. In both cases, Surrogacy is viewed as bodily services such as selling their bodies and their function for the money and. Society plays a huge role in surrogacy because what others think of Surrogacy impacts others views and choices.
In closing, it is ludicrous to romanticize that the tendency toward capitalism in man is as primal as eating or procreating. On the other hand, the same curiosity hard-wired into humans that compels us toward theism compels us toward advancement, gain and acquirement. Initially, conquering these curiosities, as history has shown us, is through a method of ‘by any means necessary’. Eventually, dare I say- inevitably, it becomes by the most efficient means available; consequently, an accurate description of capitalism. Therefore, it follows that although man faces struggle that require his ingenuity, this in no way undermines the occurrence of inevitable events; it merely reinforces the existence of them.
The current issues that have been created by the market have trapped our political system in a never-ending cycle that has no solution but remains salient. There is constant argument as to the right way to handle the market, the appropriate regulatory measures, and what steps should be taken to protect those that fail to be competitive in the market. As the ideological spectrum splits on the issue and refuses to come to a meaningful compromise, it gets trapped in the policy cycle and in turn traps the cycle. Other issues fail to be handled as officials drag the market into every issue area and forum as a tool to direct and control the discussion. Charles Lindblom sees this as an issue that any society that allows the market to control government will face from the outset of his work.
However, Sandel ignores this effect of technology when he asserts ethics as one of the most important reasons why certain things in life should not be commodities. Arguing “the uses of markets to allocate health, education, public safety, national security, criminal justice, environmental protections, recreation, procreation, and other social goods were for the most part unheard of thirty years ago”, Sandel points out that moral corruption is the reason of why people started to trade commodities that were not for sale thirty years ago (8). However, contrary to his opinion of contemporary people have become more morally deprived, the truth is some things were simply not offered thirty years ago due to the lack of scientific means. The evidences he mentions include the sales of quality-guaranteed eggs and sperms along with the employment of surrogate mothers from third world countries for assisted reproduction process (8). This sort of transactions did not exist; not because people back then were more ethical than us and refuse to take a part in the outsourcing reproduction process, but because of the lack of technology to do so. In this case, new application of science allows the market to expand its products. Newly invented fields such as genetic control should not subject to moral standards from thirty years ago, since we only just began to adjust our ethics as a response to these
For example, “In a capitalistic society, anyone can start a business and make decisions for that business as well as receive profits from the business… Since there is economic freedom and people can make their own choices, the government does not control or own the right to decide on production or what the price is for goods. This creates a society which can make political decisions based on what the people want, rather than what the government controls,” (“List of Pros and Cons of Capitalism”). In other words, people have the opportunity to start businesses, which can lead to the creation of more jobs, and with limited government involvement, more can be achieved for the good of society. However, this reasoning excludes the corruption that happens behind the scenes, away from the public eye, such as the unfair treatment of workers or the creation of monopolies. Monopolies have an influence on prices in the market and can make it difficult for other businesses to compete against the dominating forces, creating an unfair disadadvantage to the newcomers in the market. For instance, “Nearly daily, mass media report political corruption across the world. Government bureaucrats, from local to national to international, are exposed for having abused their offices for personal gain. That gain is usually financial, but can involve career advancement. Much of that corruption is driven and financed by capitalist
The main objective of this essay is to understand how market society emerged, but first the defintion and characteristics of a market society must be understood. According to Polanyi, “Market economy implies a self-regulating system of markets.... it is an economy directed by market prices and nothing but market prices”(Polanyi 43). Similarily, Heilbroner explains how the market “allows society to ensure its own provisioning”(Heilbroner 12). Both of these explanations describe how the market economy is self regulated, meaning that this “economic system is controlled, regulated and directed by markets alone...
With every choice made, the perceived good should be weighed to the known or unknown risks. In so many issues facing “The People” this reasoning is skewed for what can only be perceived as Graft and Racketeering within current Political Economy.
A woman enters into a contract that consists on her getting pregnant with a strangers sperms, and after the baby is born, to give up the baby. The stranger is going to pay the medical expenses and $10,000 in exchange of claiming all the parental rights when the baby is born. The stranger is a good person who has not been able to have children on his own. Why does the morality of the action may seem doubtful? Philosopher Elizabeth Anderson wrote an essay called “is Women’s Labor a Commodity?” to explain in detail the reasons of commercial surrogacy being morally wrong. In her paper, Anderson explains that commercial surrogacy treats children and parental rights as objects that could be bought and sold for personal convenience. According to
Montesh, M. (n.d.). Conceptualizing Corruption: Forms, Causes, Types and Consequences. Retrieved May 4, 2014, from