The Embryonic Stem Cell Lottery and the Cannibalization of Human Beings | Zendy

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The Embryonic Stem Cell Lottery and the Cannibalization of Human Beings

Author(s) -

Savulescu Julian

Publication year - 2002

Publication title -

bioethics

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 0.494

H-Index - 55

eISSN - 1467-8519

pISSN - 0269-9702

DOI - 10.1111/1467-8519.00308

Subject(s) - lottery , embryonic stem cell , argument (complex analysis) , stem cell , cannibalization , environmental ethics , law and economics , biology , sociology , philosophy , business , microbiology and biotechnology , economics , genetics , biochemistry , industrial organization , gene , microeconomics

One objection to embryonic stem (ES) cell research is that it ‘cannibalizes’ human beings, that is, kills some human beings to benefit others. I grant for argument’s sake that the embryo is a person. Nonetheless, killing it may be justified. I show this through the Embryonic Stem Cell Lottery. Whether killing a person is justified depends on: (1) whether innocent people at risk of being killed for ES cell research also stand to benefit from the research and (2) whether their overall chances of living are higher in a world in which killing and ES cell research is conducted. I call this kind of killing ‘risk reductive.‘

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