Do Humans Cells have rights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Do Humans Cells have rights - Essay Example By studying the four theories namely Social contract theory, utilitarianism, deontology and virtue ethics, one is able to understand the difference in the moral theories and the premises that they are founded on. Explain What Moral Goodness Is According To Social Contract Theory Social contract theory expresses that morality is a set of rules governing behavior that rational people would accept, on the condition that others would accept them as well. Political theorists have defined this as the primary base for the rise of political authority in many communities. Social contract theory is also how an act is classified as morally good or otherwise through consent from the people (Skyrms 59). Interpret What Social Contract Theory Would Imply For The Issue At Hand. The rights of the human cells can only be established or denied by the society. This is by the voting in of laws that may allow the rights of the human cells. This is made through consent of the people and this consent is wha t makes it right for a researcher to use the human embryos for research. This leads to the argument that the human embryo should be given a chance to life as opposed to the right to life. Explain What Moral Goodness Is According To Utilitarianism John mills the modern father of utilitarianism has explained that the moral goodness of the theory lies not solely in the pursuit of happiness but in the prevention and mitigation of unhappiness. Ultimately the moral goodness of an action is determined by the long-term effect tit will have on the actor and the people it will affect. An example of a situation where the utilitarian theory maybe employed would be in the cases of a doctor who has a patient in perfect health and considers killing him, since there are six other patients who would benefit greatly from his body organs. By employing the utilitarian theory, it suffices to say that since Patient A may never find the cure for AIDS. It therefore brings the ultimate pleasure to give six patients a happy life from patient A’s organs because this is the most pleasure attainable from the death of patient A. The pain caused is the least, as only one family shall be affected by his death. However, such an application of the theory may make people lose confidence in the health care system and health practitioners since they will be afraid of going for treatments for ailments they may have. This act of killing patient A therefore has a ripple effect of causing the death o of more people as they stay at home ill, with fear of being killed at the hospitals. Interpret What Utilitarianism Would Imply For The Issue At Hand. According to the utilitarian theory, the human cells have no rights especially if the findings gotten from the research serve to bring more pleasure through the further understanding of the genetic components of the human body. This pleasure may translate to better drugs for the human race or better prevention measures. Explain What Moral Goodness Is According To Deontology Moral goodness has been explained by deontologists as the choices made in conformity to a particular norm. According to the theory, which is mostly explained in contrast to consequentialism, the choice a person makes is judged by criteria unlike in consequentialism where the morality of a choice is judged on the state of affairs it brings about and if they are for the good of all other individuals. The deontology theories may be classified into two