Document Type

Editorial

Publication Date

2006

DOI

10.1038/sj.embor.7400741

Publication Title

EMBO Reports

Volume

7

Issue

7

Pages

657-660

Abstract

In the March 2006 issue of EMBO reports, Christof Tannert, a bioethicist at the Max Delbrück Research Centre in Berlin, Germany, presented a moral argument against human reproductive cloning on the basis of Immanuel Kant’s categorical imperative (Tannert, 2006). In this article, I address some problems with Tannert’s views and show that our concerns about this prospective procedure should prompt us to scrutinize carefully the conventional procreative practices and attitudes. Indeed, if we set aside objections that are grounded in genetic determinism, many of the offensive features of human cloning are identical to problems with procreation by more conventional means, including both old-fashioned procreation and assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs). Oddly enough, many see only cloning as problematic, whereas identical problems with everyday procreation continue to go unnoticed.

Comments

Web of Science: "Free full-text from publisher -- gold open access."

Original Publication Citation

Pearson, Y. (2006). Never let me clone? Countering an ethical argument against the reproductive cloning of humans. EMBO Reports, 7(7), 657-660. doi:10.1038/sj.embor.7400741

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