On CloningPsychology Press, 2004 - 184 pages Cloning - few words have as much potential to grip our imagination or grab the headlines. No longer the stuff of science fiction or Star Wars - it is happening now. Yet human cloning is currently banned throughout the world, and therapeutic cloning banned in many countries. In this highly controversial book, John Harris does a lot more than ask why we are so afraid of cloning. He presents a deft and informed defence of human cloning, carefully exposing the rhetorical and highly dubious arguments against it. He begins with an introduction to what a human clone is, before tackling some of the most common and frequently bizarre criticisms of cloning: Is it really wicked? Can we regulate it? What about the welfare of cloned children? Does it turn human beings into commodities? Dismissing one by one some of the myths about human cloning, in particular that it is degrading and unsafe, he astutely argues that some of our most cherished values, such as the freedom to start a family and the freedom from state control, actually support the case for human cloning. Offering a brave and lucid insight into this ethical minefield, John Harris at last shows that far from ending the diversity of human life or creating a race of super-clones, cloning has the power to improve and heal human life. |
Contents
Preface | |
Acknowledgements | |
On Cloning An Introduction | |
Human Dignity and Reproductive Autonomy | |
The Welfare of the Child | |
Safety and Danger | |
Therapeutic Cloning and Stem Cell Research and Therapy | |
Conclusion | |
Notes | |
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abortion accept adult ambiguity assisted reproduction Axel Kahn Bioethics Biotechnology birth Brazier Report Cambridge choice claim Cloning Human confusion course create creation debate decisions Dignity and Reproductive Dolly embryo research embryonic stem cell ethics European example fertilisation gametes genes genetic identity Golombok harm human cloning human dignity human embryo human embryonic stem human genome human reproductive cloning Human Rights Ibid idea identical twins implantation important individual instrumentalisation interests issues John Harris Julian Savulescu Kahn legislation lives mitochondrial moral image moral reasons mother natural reproduction nucleus donor O'Neill objection oocyte Oxford University Press parents Parkinson's disease permit person possible precautionary principle problems procreation procreative autonomy procreative liberty produced Putnam question Reproductive Autonomy Research and Therapy responsible Rifkin risk Robertson role Ronald Dworkin Routledge Safety and Danger Science sexual reproduction Søren Holm spare embryos stem cell research surrogacy therapeutic cloning tion tissue transplant