http://kristinbiggs.blogspot.com/2009/08/kathy-ireland-appeared-on-mike.html
We have debated the issue before, but I wanted to try and distill our differences down to their most basic form. I feel that I was successful, but that is certainly debatable! I'm not sure we mutually agreed that we had found our basic difference on the issue.
The blog author maintains the conservative position that even a fertilized egg should be afforded the same rights as a fully-formed, conscious person. I disagree with this position as you can read, if you like.
"The blog author maintains the conservative position that even a fertilized egg should be afforded the same rights as a fully-formed, conscious person. I disagree with this position as you can read, if you like."
ReplyDeleteJust to be clear for your readers, what I actually maintain is that all human beings are equal and therefore should be afforded the same rights. So IF a fertilized egg IS a human being (which by scientific definition, it is), then it has just as much right to life as any other human being.
No more comments for me here. There are plenty over there! Just wanted to clarify.
Thanks for the clarification! I appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteI am laughing at myself for referring to you as "the blog author" instead of Kristin. I must have been feeling formal or something!
thanks,
Steven
A trolley is hurtling down a track towards five people. You are on a bridge under which it will pass, and you can stop it by dropping a something on the track in front of it. As it happens, there is a box of frozen blastocysts sitting next to you - your only way to stop the trolley is to push it over the bridge and onto the track, saving the people. Should you proceed? What action would be erring on the side of caution in this scenario?
ReplyDeleteSkyhook, you certainly enjoy creating unique scenarios! You should write an ethics book that is all a collection of "what if" scenarios. It would be entertaining!
ReplyDeleteJohn,
ReplyDeleteThe Trolly Problem is a thought experiment used in the study of ethics since the late 70s; so I cannot take credit. I did add the bit about a box of blastocysts (traditionally it is a fat man or fat villain), but I would be very, very surprised to find that I was the first to do so.
I’ll get started on my book of ethical dilemmas, but in the meantime you can check out 101 Ethical Dilemmas by Martin Cohen.
Would you consider it a real dilemma – a box of blastocysts versus a group of people? To me, it is not even a question.
*Trolley
ReplyDeleteI wonder if a trolley was hurtling down the track and the only thing available to stop it was the code that enabled editing that a blogger programmer could throw over the bridge....
I don't even know what a blastocyst is. It sounds to me like a tool a dermatologist uses to get rid of skin cancer spots on someone's body. "I'm gonna blast yo cyst right off of you with my Blast-o-cyst!"
ReplyDeleteSo, if the box is full of tools to heal millions of people with skin cancer then maybe the box is worth saving?
I might have had a few drinks before writing this.