Questions tagged [bioethics]
16 questions
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What are the moral consequences of a Douglas Adams' cow?
In the "Restaurant at the End of the Universe" there is a cow specifically designed to a) want to be eaten and b) be able to communicate it. By that the designer wanted to make sure, that it's morally acceptable to kill it. Assume we have a moral…
Einer
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Does moral aversion to dis-enhancing animals suggest insecurity in our current beliefs?
Specifically, does an aversion to genetic engineering suggest an insecurity of values regarding animal welfare?
I ask because I am looking at the concept of using brainless chickens in the meat industry. By most conventional views of animal welfare,…
Matt-T
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Where is the line drawn on cheating Darwin/genetics? How does one accept this?
It is stated that cosmetic surgery is cheating genetics if the end result is aimed at increasing one's physical attraction and thus ultimately affecting natural selection in this person's favor.
But where is the line drawn? What if one alters their…
Runner Ice
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Are human lives always more important than animal lives?
Imagine a case: there is a fire in a house, there is a person and my pet dog and you only have enough time to save one. Which one should you should rescue?
I think most people would choose the person.
Consider another case: if I have a dog that is…
Gstestso
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When consent changes: can "consent" after the fact be valid?
There are many avenues of exploring consent in philosophy. For instance, in the philosophy of sexuality (IEP), consent is tremendously important. So too, in the intersection of morality and bioethics (SEP) is the question of informed consent…
ActualCry
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Abortion Rights vs. Disability Rights
There seems to be a very obvious inconsistency in supporting abortion rights, then at the same time opposing selective abortion when a disability is detected with prenatal screening (e.g. of Down Syndrome). Yet in many cases this happens, as people…
mcc1789
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How does 'vitalism' differ from 'sanctity of life'?
Source: Three Approaches to the Value of Human Life by Georgetown University Prof John Keown
Unfortunately, I have succumbed to the confusion italicised below. How do they differ? How is 'supreme value' not equivalent to 'intrinsic good'?
I might…
user8572
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Is there a school of thought that considers human less significant than other beings?
When discussing animal rights with friends, we talked about Anthropocentrism, Biocentrism and Ecocentrism. We were wondering if there is a school of thought that is the opposite of Anthropocentrism, which thinks human are less significant (in terms…
NS.X.
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Ethics of Using an Experience Machine/Going Against Someone's Wishes for Their Own Good
Similar to the question of Do experiences need to be “real” to be worthwhile or desireable?
Robert Nozick has argued against pure hedonism as a means to happiness based on the fact that a person wouldn't want to plug themselves into a machine that…
That Guy
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Why should inclusivity and tolerance be constraint for a theory of decisional capacity?
The article Decision-Making Capacity (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy) says that any successful theory of decisional capacity must turn out that most ordinary adults count as having capacity most of the time (inclusivity). This is understandable…
Ooker
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In bioethics, are the harms that arise secondary to the failure to treat a violation of the Principle of Non-Maleficence?
I am trying to understand the principles relevant to a particular bioethics scenario. For simplicity, I will describe it as follows:
A doctor refuses to treat a patient suffering from an illness because it is the result of cause x. The treatment…
faustus
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Are Dr. Coley's experiments on cancer patients considered unethical today?
Dr.William Coley was one of the first to attempt fever therapy on cancer patients. He did this experiment: artificial erysipelas to treat cancer. Coley injected Streptococcus pyogenes directly into the tumor. My question is: if we repeat this…
Palpatine8888
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Books on having children
I'm at a crossroads in life where I can choose to live a life of a father or remain child-free.
I don't feel like becoming a father and want to remain child-free for the rest of my life.
Are there any proper philosophy books on the decision of…
Alex
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Why is Savulescu's (2001) Nuclear Accident case a case of harmless wrong-doing rather than a case of harmful wrong-doing?
Savulescu (2001) writes:
"Or consider the Nuclear Accident. A poor country does not have enough power to provide power to its citizens during an extremely cold winter. The government decides to open an old and unsafe nuclear reactor. Ample light…
2f0j93092fj023jf
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Why is human cloning so controversial while identical twins are an accepted phenomenon?
Suppose an unmarried person A wants a child B. Some theoretical possibilities are (i) adoption, (ii) in vitro fertilization, and (iii) cloning. I wonder why cloning has been universally controversial and never considered even for this purpose.
Human…
