Bonnie Steinbock
Department of Philosophy
University at Albany, SUNY

"Moral Status, Moral Value, and Human Embryos"

ABSTRACT:

The ethics of stem cell research has been a focal point of controversy because of questions surrounding the morality of destroying human embryos for research purposes. Alternative views of the moral status of embryos range from the claim that they have the full moral status of human persons, to the claim that they are merely bits of tissue. I argue that embryos can have moral value even if they lack moral status. I attempt to flesh out the notion of moral value, and to defend this position against critics who say it is just a way of killing embryos without feeling bad about it.

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