g related to perceived outcomes (benefits) from the practice Smart 92). In contrast, the deontological ethical perspective is used to justify opposition to human cloning because the practice would breach independent moral rules and moral duties accepted by civilized society (Ross 155).
This essay examines the various positions on the issue of human cloning within a framework of ethics theory and principles. The thesis of this essay is that the arguments opposing the practice of human cloning are more persuasive than are the arguments promoting the practice.
It is important to note that proponents of the process of human cloning frequently differentiate between reproductive cloning and therapeutic cloning. Reproductive human cloning is a process wherein a whole entity is produced. In contrast, therapeutic human cloning is a process that involves the production of only a partial entity. In therapeutic human cloning, the embryo would not develop into a complete entity (Szoke 6).
Therapeutic human cloning is linked by proponents of the process to research involving the use of Embryonic Stem Cells (ES Cells). The argument of proponents is that ES Cell research may lead to the development of procedures to alleviate symptoms of degenerative diseases (such as neural or cardiac disease, or cancers). A further argument is that therapeutic human cloning can provide the means to develop ES Cell lines that are tissue-matched to the affected person, thus avoiding problems of rejection (Szoke 7). These arguments promoting one approach to human cloning are, again, based in utilitarian ethical theory.
It is important to understand that the distinction between reproductive human cloning and therapeutic human cloning is based on the outcomes of the human cloning procedure rather than being based on the human cloning procedure per se. As a consequence, opponents of the process of human cloning are unwilling to accept the distinctio...