Seminar discussion: Family and Reproductive Technology

Leanne's notes:

Do we have moral obligations towards family?

• We owe back what they gave us
• Does putting in a home count as caring?
• Parents earn it through work and sacrifice
• Treat them in their old age as you would have wanted to have been treated in your childhood
• Can't justify either party acting negatively
• Cannot hold a grudge
• Should the community take responsibility?
• Have people's morals changed? - Family v. Money
• Where do morals originate from: Religion, family, community, nature, media, life experience
• A moral compass?
• How do we get our moral compass?
• Is morality just calculated self-preservation?

Comments here please

Is cloning acceptable?

• Problems that we do not know enough about - Dolly the sheep aged too quickly
• Why would you want to clone humans?
• Designer babies?
• Tampering with nature, playing God
• We'd all be robots

VP's notes:

Do I have moral obligations towards other family members? Eg Do children have a moral obligation to look after their parents in their old age?

Yes, you have absolute obligations created by the relationship - doesn't matter how awful your childhood was.

Yes, you have obligations created by the relationship, but they are nullified if they treated you very badly indeed.

Any obligation you have is created by the effort and goodwill your parents put in over you in your childhood. You just owe them repayment.

Parents look after you because it fulfills them. You don't owe them anything - though you will want to look after them if you love them.

Cloning

Is the cloning of (non-human) animals objectionable?

Yes insofar as it causes suffering to the animal.

Yes because it is unnatural.

What wrong with being unnatural?

Is the cloning of humans objectionable?

Yes, in our social context at any rate there would be an unacceptable risk of it being used for evil ends.

Yes, it's unnatural

Theories of moralities underlying our responses

We have a moral compass

How did it get there?

• God
• Evolution

Morality is just overall calculation of benefit (to the person calculating)

Comments here please

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Created 21:02:04

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