The Cloning of Human Beings :: Science Papers

The Cloning of Human BeingsI examine five concerns held by the general population regarding adult male copy and argue that they come out either a mistaking active the process and/or result of cloning, or else ignorance about what we already do. Put differently, I argue that charitable cloning is non in principle more problematical than different current practices. However, I do have dear concerns about the uses to which the crude technology will be put. I argue that the reasons currently proposed for homosexual cloning are not persuasive. My position is that human race cloning is not objectionable in principle, but practical application of the technology raises serious concerns. In my opinion, present circumstances do not seem to kisser it. As soon as Scottish scientists announced that they had successfully cloned a sheep from cells of another sheep, plenty began to be alarmed at the prospect of cloning human beings. Editorial after editorial warned that wed be playi ng paragon, that wed be creating Frankenstein-like soul-less creatures, and that wed be encouraging peoples tendency towards egoism to reach its supreme expression by enabling human beings to clone themselves. President Clinton forbidden all federal funding for research leading to the cloning of human beings and called for a voluntary moratorium on private research. Pope John capital of Minnesota II denounced dangerous experiments that harm human dignity.I, too, have some concerns about cloning human beings but I think that most of the fears people have are misplaced. As a philosopher who has worked on issues concerning personal identity operator and, more recently, medical ethics, I have a different panorama on the issue of human cloning from most commentators. Perhaps I can make a useful contribution to the discussion of this topic.I would, first, like to examine five concerns the general population seems to have about cloning human beings and argue that they show either a mi sunderstanding about the process and/or result of cloning, or else an ignorance of what it is that we already do. I shall argue that there is nothing in principle more questionable about the cloning of human beings than practices we currently engage in. However, I do have two serious concerns about how the new technology is promising to be used and, since I am not convinced that that there are any really good reasons at the present while for cloning human beings, I too would vote against permitting it. I1. It has been claimed that if we cloned human beings that wed be playing God.