Blog Question #15:
Whom did you find to be most persuasive on the subject of cloning? Wachbroit or Kass? Explain your answer.
The subject of cloning has generated a lot of concerns and debates among Scientists, Theologians, Physicians, Legal experts, commentators, and even governments. Among these are Leon Kass and Wachbroit. Though both of them are against human cloning, but the one I found to be most persuasive on the subject of cloning is Leon Kass.
In his article on preventing a Brave New World, Kass argued that modern medical science is poised to cross an ethical boundary that will have momentous consequences for the future of humanity. He went further to say that “the technological imperative, liberal democratic society, compassionate humanitarianism, moral pluralism, and free markets” are leading us down a path that places us at risk of losing our humanity. Kass went a step further to recommend a worldwide ban on human cloning as a means of deterring “renegade scientists” from engaging in the practice.
I found him to be the most persuasive than Wachbroit because of the reasons he adduced for speaking against human cloning and the way he gave a vivid and thorough discussion on the subject. Amongst the reasons he gave was that cloning constitute unethical experimentation; it threatens identity and individuality; cloning turns procreation into manufacturing, and that cloning is despotism over children and perversion of parenthood.
Kass argued further that there is greatly increased likelihood of error in translating the genetic instructions leading to developmental defects, some of which will show themselves only much later. He also said that scientist new agree that attempts to clone human beings carry massive risk of producing unhealthy, abnormal and malformed children. He concluded by saying that attempt to clone human being is irresponsible and unethical.
In discussing unethical experimentation, Kass said that in all the animal experiments, there are many fetal deaths and still born infants; there is a very high incident of major disabilities and deformities in cloned animals than attain live births, that cloned cows often have heart and lung problems, cloned mice later develop pathological obesity, and that other live-born cloned animals fail to reach normal developmental milestones.
On the problems of identify and individuality, Kass cited an example of inability of parent to treat a clone of himself or herself as one treats a child generated by the lottery of sex. He went further to ask what will happen when the adolescent clone of mommy becomes the spitting image of the woman with whom Daddy once fell in love? Kass said that any child whose being, character and capacities exist owing to human design does not stand on the same plane as its makers, and that human cloning is dehumanizing no matter good the product is because the scientists and the prospective parents adopts a technocratic attitude toward human children, therefore become their artifacts. He said that clone human being would further be degraded by commodification of allowing baby making to proceed under the banner of commerce. He also stressed the fact that a cloned child is given a genotype that has already lived, a wanted child who exists precisely to fulfill parental wants. Therefore cloning is inherently despotic, for it seeks to make one’s children after one’s own image or an image of one’s choosing and their future according to one’s will.
In view of the above and so many other reasons Kass advanced, I am very sure and I agreed with all his reasons that he has persuaded us enough to believe his opinions on the subject of cloning than Wachbroit, who though is against human cloning, but was always looking for something to disagree with Kass, while postulating his own reasons. I think at the end, the fears, anxiety and concerns of critiques against human cloning, as well as their arguments are enough to actually enact a worldwide ban on human cloning.
Whom did you find to be most persuasive on the subject of cloning? Wachbroit or Kass? Explain your answer.
The subject of cloning has generated a lot of concerns and debates among Scientists, Theologians, Physicians, Legal experts, commentators, and even governments. Among these are Leon Kass and Wachbroit. Though both of them are against human cloning, but the one I found to be most persuasive on the subject of cloning is Leon Kass.
In his article on preventing a Brave New World, Kass argued that modern medical science is poised to cross an ethical boundary that will have momentous consequences for the future of humanity. He went further to say that “the technological imperative, liberal democratic society, compassionate humanitarianism, moral pluralism, and free markets” are leading us down a path that places us at risk of losing our humanity. Kass went a step further to recommend a worldwide ban on human cloning as a means of deterring “renegade scientists” from engaging in the practice.
I found him to be the most persuasive than Wachbroit because of the reasons he adduced for speaking against human cloning and the way he gave a vivid and thorough discussion on the subject. Amongst the reasons he gave was that cloning constitute unethical experimentation; it threatens identity and individuality; cloning turns procreation into manufacturing, and that cloning is despotism over children and perversion of parenthood.
Kass argued further that there is greatly increased likelihood of error in translating the genetic instructions leading to developmental defects, some of which will show themselves only much later. He also said that scientist new agree that attempts to clone human beings carry massive risk of producing unhealthy, abnormal and malformed children. He concluded by saying that attempt to clone human being is irresponsible and unethical.
In discussing unethical experimentation, Kass said that in all the animal experiments, there are many fetal deaths and still born infants; there is a very high incident of major disabilities and deformities in cloned animals than attain live births, that cloned cows often have heart and lung problems, cloned mice later develop pathological obesity, and that other live-born cloned animals fail to reach normal developmental milestones.
On the problems of identify and individuality, Kass cited an example of inability of parent to treat a clone of himself or herself as one treats a child generated by the lottery of sex. He went further to ask what will happen when the adolescent clone of mommy becomes the spitting image of the woman with whom Daddy once fell in love? Kass said that any child whose being, character and capacities exist owing to human design does not stand on the same plane as its makers, and that human cloning is dehumanizing no matter good the product is because the scientists and the prospective parents adopts a technocratic attitude toward human children, therefore become their artifacts. He said that clone human being would further be degraded by commodification of allowing baby making to proceed under the banner of commerce. He also stressed the fact that a cloned child is given a genotype that has already lived, a wanted child who exists precisely to fulfill parental wants. Therefore cloning is inherently despotic, for it seeks to make one’s children after one’s own image or an image of one’s choosing and their future according to one’s will.
In view of the above and so many other reasons Kass advanced, I am very sure and I agreed with all his reasons that he has persuaded us enough to believe his opinions on the subject of cloning than Wachbroit, who though is against human cloning, but was always looking for something to disagree with Kass, while postulating his own reasons. I think at the end, the fears, anxiety and concerns of critiques against human cloning, as well as their arguments are enough to actually enact a worldwide ban on human cloning.
1 comment:
You outline Kass's arguments very nicely in this post. It seems like you found a lot to be sympathetic with in this article
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