Robert

P. George Embryo Ethics

Overall Question/Idea: Is it right to kill members of a certain class of humans to
benefit others?

Introduction
o Killing infants would spark controversy, why not killing stem cells
who have the potential to become humans?
Should human embryos be considered humans?
What do embryonic humans deserve in terms of justice?
o No Discussion of Religion
Avoidance of controversial issue of ensoulment
Reasons against destruction of human embryos
o Human embryo is not something inherently different from a human
being
Will develop into a human if given suitable environment
Gametes
Not a whole or distinct organism
Dies after fertilization
Embryos growth already determined by genetic code inside it
Not extrinsic
Counterargument: embryo biologically human, but does not
deserve full respect afforded for a full human being
Humans deserve respect because of what entity they
are, not by abilities
o Even after birth, babies need time to perform
human mental functions
o Difference in capacity is a difference between
stages of life.
Stages of life are continuous
o People possess different degrees of rationality
and self-consciousness.
Embryos possess capacities of adults in principle vel
radice
o Root form
o Counter Argument: Embryos=somatic cells
Every cell in human body possesses the entire DNA code
If we consider embryos humans, we need to consider every cell
a human being
Argument: Somatic cell is something from which a new
organism can be generated by the process of somatic cell
nuclear transfer, or cloning; not a distinct organism
Somatic cells lack potentiality
Somatic cells analogous to gametes
o Counter Argument: Person only comes into being with a brain
Abortion (continued), Embryos, and Biotechnology

Brain death=death of person in modern medicine

Argument: brain-dead body human person, embryonic
state of development does not need brain
Organic and development processes not directed by
brain at that stage
Has potential to be human beings
o Counter Argument: Oak tree & Acorn argument
We do not feel the same loss toward an oak tree and an acorn.
We do not feel the same loss toward an oak tree and a sapling.
Shows we value trees magnificence, not the tree itself
Argument: we value humans for the kind of entity they are.
We value them differently than oak trees.
Would not kill human to save Albert Einstein or Michael
Jordan.
Managers kill saplings to help growth of existing oak
trees
o We would not kill humans to help others grow.
We value oaks for their accidental properties and their
instrumental worth. But we value human beings
because of the intrinsic worth and dignity they possess
by virtue of the kind of entity they are.
o Counter Argument: Monozygotic twinning means that embryo is just a
mess of cells.
Parts of a flatworm has a potential to become an individual
When the parts are all connected as a single flatworm,
no one would suggest it is not a unitary individual.
Same with human embryo.
Though if the cells are separated, they can become
humans, together they form a unitary human.
Not merely a clump of cells
o Cells begin specialization from the beginning
If not, would not every cell develop into a
human being
Conclusion
o We should not kill embryonic humans.
o We can use pluripotent stem cells
Non-embryo-destructive

The New Biotech World Order

Overall Question/Idea: What policies are necessary in order to approach the new
issue of biomedical and biotechnology research?

Conceptual/philosophical definition of justice
o Classical definition: giving each his or her due

Abortion (continued), Embryos, and Biotechnology

Liberalism
o Good of individual + good of community=common good
o Contrast autonomy/liberty and distributive justiceperhaps
mutually not compatible
o Businessmen may not see any reason to not do any practices liberty
doesnt prohibit
o Biomedical research
Conceptions of human life
Welfare
Human future
o Freedom may not be for the common good
US cultural context of debate about generic justice
o In order for markets to be ethical, there must be limits.
Everyone agrees there should be regulation
Disagreement over how much
o Daniel Finn: communal provisions for all
US is furthest thing from communal distribution
No idea of community
Everyone enters as a equal individual
o Morality is applied equally to all persons
o Geron asks for all individuals to have equal rights to the research that
it funds
o Discernment as Judgement
Discernment: reasoning that deals with researching and
carefully studying our society
Combine religious tradition with this and it adds an extra
dimension to the discussion on autonomy and the common
good.
Religious themes add depth to moral values
Bioethics requires employing many traditions which see just
and equitable access for all a common goal
o Jan 1999 Ruling of Office of General Council of the Department of
Health and Human Services
Federal funds for stem cells acquired using private money
Disgrace
o Creates legal technicalities
o Avoids public discussion of social significance
Global Justice and the Emerging World Order
o Global civilization: delegates of independent states coordinate
international policy
o How to understand regulations:
Look at federal and local governments
Legislatures
Courts
Professional accreditation & standards of practice
Abortion (continued), Embryos, and Biotechnology

o Countries may not be able to regulate medical practices

Research done internationally
Without international regulations, there will be not
ethical considerations by scientists.
Since cold war, states share power with businesses,
international organizations, and NGOs.
Ex. 1992 Earth Summit in Rio
Diffusion of power can help manage complexity of
societys problems
o Will not happen if market dominates
o Ex. WHO report did not take into account
businesses control genetic services
WHO hoped for equitable genetic services
WHO expected member states to refine
policy internally
An intercultural, international, multipronged approach is
necessary
US vs. European policy on genetic research
o US-stem cells ok as long as privately obtained
o Europe-restrictions applied to both public and
private sphere
Summary: It will be necessary to place autonomy within an
expanded concept of justice as including the common good; to
give much more serious attention to appropriate limits on
market behavior; and to understand medical research and
therapy as occurring within transnational institutions of civil
society that demand complex, multifocal regulation.

Stem Cells and Torture

Overall Question/Idea: Is it ok to use human beings as a means?

Stem Cell Research
o There is a cost to rejecting stem cell research.
Perhaps serious diseases will have no cure
o More important: good results should not be the only factor
determining how we ought to live
There is scientific knowledge that may be unattainable if we
are to remain moral
o Counterpoint: society cannot afford to forgo research that might
improve and save lives
Improving society through research is desirable but optional
Moral issue: preserve society>improve society
What we accomplish, or decline to accomplish, does matter
morally.

Abortion (continued), Embryos, and Biotechnology

The best and worst of us are equally sinners before God

What counts is our justification before God
Depends on grace, not our actions
There are limits that cannot be stepped on
Accomplish something of great good through blasphemy
Direct confrontation with transcendence
Torture
o Used to over a persons conscience
o Torturecoercion
o Torture tries to turn a person into a thing
Person=symbol of transcendence
o We cannot turn a human being into a convertible means
o Catholic church argues better that millions die from starvation than to
steal one penny without excuse
However, there is no denying in the importance of
consequences (utilitarianism)
o Government can kill and punish because they are the authorized agent
of God
There are however rules
Terrorists should not be afforded the same treatment as
regular combatants
Terrorists target civilians
Terrorists can be tortured in a way that does not thingify a
person.
Human beings are not just a member of a species, but unique. We are not
interchangeable.
o The value of one thousand people are not more than one in terms of
personal dignity
We are not in power to make anything secure
o Society is always fragile.
Always at risk
o My favorite quote <3
Life, and our shared way of life, are always fragile and insecure.
That is not a crisis; it is human history. And during our share of
that history it will always be true that how, rather than how
long, we live should be our central concern.

Abortion (continued), Embryos, and Biotechnology