PHIL 9.01 Reproductive Ethics

What do we owe human life, once it has begun to develop? Is a woman morally required to continue gestating a fetus, once it has begun developing?  Does the answer depend upon whether or not the fetus is a person?  Some forms of assisted reproduction yield a surplus of human embryos.  Is using these embryos for research moral? Is it moral to dispose of them?  What may we do in the interest of creating human life?  We tend to grant people broad procreative liberty. Should deaf couples be allowed to select for deafness?  And what about choosing enhanced traits for our children?  Some people worry we are facing a future where the rich can design their babies – choosing to create a musical prodigy or a baby Einstein – but the poor cannot.  If so, is distributive justice the only concern about such a future?
 

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TMV

The Timetable of Class Meetings contains the most up-to-date information about a course. It includes not only the meeting time and instructor, but also its official distributive and/or world culture designation. This information supersedes any information you may see elsewhere, to include what may appear in this ORC/Catalog or on a department/program website. Note that course attributes may change term to term therefore those in effect are those (only) during the term in which you enroll in the course.