CAS PH 251 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Human Cloning, Cloning, Sexual Reproduction
2 May 2018
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Cloning:
Cloning
• Question: Is this an ethical or unethical process?
o Repugnancy cannot solely be the reason against cloning
• Arguments:
o 1. Dominant Argument – if people are repulsed by the prospect of cloning human
beings, then there is good reason to think that cloning human beings is immoral
▪ Proposed by Kass
▪ Question: Why would repugnancy be an indicator of morality?
• Answer:
o 1. The modern liberal view privileges autonomy and
rationality over all else
▪ Comes back to two principles: is it autonomous or
is there a rational reasoning behind it?
o 2. Morality includes important human values besides
autonomy and rationality
o 3. Repugnancy picks out these other important values
• Therefore, statements 2 & 3 conclude that repugnancy is a good
indicator or morality
o 2. Technological Argument – because human cloning is an extension of existing
techniques (ex: IVF) for assisting reproduction and determining the genetic make-
up of children, cloning should be moral
▪ Question: If repugnancy is not a universalized emotion, what stops
morality from becoming subjective?
• While there are some things that are not universalized, cloning
should be one of them
o 3. Liberal/Libertarian Argument – cloning enhances our reproductive rights, so
therefore, cloning should be moral
o 4. Meliorist Argument – cloning avoids risks of genetic disease (ex:
disvaluable/burdensome genetic combinations), therefore, cloning should be
moral
▪ This is a utilitarianism perspective
• Kass thinks that the last three arguments fail to incorporate other aspects of human
morality
o Quotes Pascal – “the heart has its reason that the reasons don’t know”
o Essentially, there is a limit to human reasoning when dealing with human
morality
o Question: how do we get beyond this limit in understanding and dealing with
human morality?
• Question: What might some of these other values be?
o Kass asks us to consider the profundity of sex
o According to Kass, there are two important features of sexual reproduction that
endows sex with this special kind of human value
• Statements:
o 1. Sexual reproduction is natural, and should be sought after
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Document Summary
Cloning: question: is this an ethical or unethical process, repugnancy cannot solely be the reason against cloning, arguments, 1. The modern liberal view privileges autonomy and rationality over all else: comes back to two principles: is it autonomous or is there a rational reasoning behind it, 2. Morality includes important human values besides autonomy and rationality: 3. Repugnancy picks out these other important values: therefore, statements 2 & 3 conclude that repugnancy is a good indicator or morality, 2. Liberal/libertarian argument cloning enhances our reproductive rights, so should be one of them therefore, cloning should be moral: 4. Sexual reproduction is natural, and should be sought after: 2. Cloning and morality: summary: therefore, sexual reproduction has a deep connection to morality. As it is these natural characteristics of sex which both guarantee our individuality and bind us together with our common humanity.
