LAS 432 Week 6 DQ 2 Technology, Morality, and Ethics
In the article by Leon Kass, “Preventing a Brave New World,” the author argues for a worldwide ban on all forms of human cloning. Do you agree with the author’s arguments? Could we realistically allow therapeutic cloning but ban human cloning? What are the ethical questions raised by cloning? Is there any moral difference between applying genetic engineering technologies to humans and applying them to animals and plants? What role should governments play in making policies regarding ethical issues?
If you enjoy discussing hot button issues this is a question for you. This is another gut wrenching contemporary technology that creates a whole new set of issues for us. Don’t think you can answer this question with emotion or off the cuff judgments. This is a complicated technical matter and to answer it meaningfully you must have an understanding of the technical issues involved. Opinion won’t cut it here, we need knowledge – informed opinion. Lay people make a lot of assumptions about cloning that are simply irrelevant to the issue—like “I’m gonna clone my Mom”. No, you’re not. Your “Mom” has a history, a character, a personality. Those things aren’t cloned. Cloning is now a widely used technology and not just in the United States. Keep that in mind. One other caution, this is favorite topic for Hollywood producers. Film producers may have some interesting and important things to say about human cloning but keep in mind they are fiction. For the last 70 years Hollywood has made a lot of movies about foreign space invaders from other planets. We haven’t seen one yet. So movies are not a gage of rightness or wrongness of any action.