Reproductive cloning and arguments from potential.

Justin Oakley

doi:10.1007/bf03351446

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Reproductive cloning and arguments from potential.

Justin Oakley

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Abstract

The possibility of human reproductive cloning has led some bioethicists to suggest that potentiality-based arguments for fetal moral status become untenable, as such arguments would be committed to making the implausible claim that any adult somatic cell is itself a potential person. In this article I defend potentiality-based arguments for fetal moral status against such a reductio. Starting from the widely-held claim that the maintenance of numerical identity throughout successive changes places constraints on what a given entity can plausibly be said to have the potential to become, I argue that the cell reprogramming that takes place in reproductive cloning is such that it produces a new individual, and so adult somatic cells cannot be potential persons.

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Cell Differentiation Cloning, Organism Embryo, Mammalian Ethical Analysis Fetus Humans Individuality Moral Obligations Nuclear Transfer Techniques Personhood Philosophy Reproduction Reproductive Techniques, Assisted Analytical Approach Genetics and Reproduction Philosophical Approach Journal Article

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Justin Oakley. 2006. Reproductive cloning and arguments from potential.. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf03351446

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