Biomedical subjects

R Blackford

Publications and source records attributed to R Blackford.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Stem cell research on other worlds, or why embryos do not have a right to life.

Anxieties about the creation and destruction of human embryos for the purpose of scientific research on embryonic stem cells have given a new urgency to the question of whether embryos have moral rights. This article uses a thought experiment involving two possible worlds, somewhat removed from our own in the space of possibilities, to shed light on whether early embryos have such rights as a right not to be destroyed or discarded (a "right to life"). It is argued that early embryos do not have meaningful interests or any moral rights. Accordingly, claims about the moral rights of embryos do not justify restrictions on stem cell research.

Culture↗

PubMed2006

Sinning against nature: the theory of background conditions.

Debates about the moral and political acceptability of particular sexual practices and new technologies often include appeals to a supposed imperative to follow nature. If nature is understood as the totality of all phenomena or as those things that are not artificial, there is little prospect of developing a successful argument to impugn interference with it or sinning against it. At the same time, there are serious difficulties with approaches that seek to identify "proper" human functioning. An alternative approach is to understand interference with nature as acting in a manner that threatens basic background conditions to human choice. Arguably, the theory of background conditions helps explain much of the hostility to practices and technologies that allegedly sin against nature. The theory does not, however, entail that appeals to nature are relevant or rational. Such appeals should be subjected to sceptical scrutiny. Indeed, the theory suggests that arguments against practices and technologies that can be seen as contrary to nature sometimes exercise a psychological attraction that is disproportional to their actual cogency.

Attitude to Health↗

PubMed2001

Thinking about cloning: a reply to Judith Thomson.

Opponents of human cloning typically argue for the prohibition of therapeutic cloning and a permanent prohibition of reproductive cloning, even if a safe cloning technology should become available. In a recent article in this journal, "Legal and Ethical Problems of Human Cloning" (2000) 8 JLM 31, Judith Thomson develops an ethico-legal analysis that would justify prohibitions or restrictions on both therapeutic and reproductive cloning, irrespective of any safety issue. This article criticises Thomson's analysis in detail and suggests, in particular, that it relies upon an intellectually unacceptable understanding of personhood.

Australia↗