The metaphysical status of the embryo: Some arguments revisited

Journal of Applied Philosophy

Volumn 25, Issue 4, 2008, Pages 263-276

  Oderberg, David S ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF READING   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 69849130571     PISSN: 02643758     EISSN: 14685930     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-5930.2008.00421.x     Document Type: Article

References (25)

1. ‘In vitro fertilization: The ethical issues’, Philosophical Quarterly 33 (1983): 217–37
2. Norman M. Ford, When Did I Begin? (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988), p. 156.
3. K. L. Moore, The Developing Human (Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders, 1982; 3rd edn.), ch. 7
4. K. L. Moore & T. V. N. Persaud. The relevant passages from these editions are cited in C. W. Kischer & D. N. Irving, The Human Development Hoax (2nd edn., 1997; selfpublished, distributed by American Life League, Stafford, VA), pp. 41–3
5. Moore and Persaud, The Developing Human, 8th edn. (Philadelphia: Saunders Elsevier, 2008), p. 134.
6. ‘Cell interactions occur between these two nascent populations of cells [embryoblast and trophoblast] that are essential for specifying their fate’: G. C. Schoenwolf, S. B. Bleyl, P. R. Brauer, & P. H. Francis-West, Larsen’s Human Embryology (Philadelphia: Churchill Livingstone Elsevier, 2008; 4th edn.), p. 43.
7. P. Lee & R. P. George, Body-Self Dualism in Contemporary Ethics and Politics (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008), pp. 126–7.
8. P. Singer, Practical Ethics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993; 2nd edn.), p. 137
9. M. Lockwood, ‘Human Identity and the Primitive Streak’, Hastings Center Report 25 (1995): 45
10. L. Silver, Remaking Eden: Cloning and Beyond in a Brave New World (New York: Avon Books, 1997), p. 43.
11. D. S. Oderberg, ‘Modal properties, moral status, and identity’, Philosophy and Public Affairs 26 (1997): 259–98, and Applied Ethics (Oxford: Blackwell, 2000), pp. 16ff.
12. K. Dawson, ‘Segmentation and Moral Status: A Scientific Perspective’, in P. Singer, H. Kuhse, S. Buckle, K. Dawson & P. Kasimba (eds.) Embryo Experimentation (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990), pp. 53–64, at 57–9.
13. M. Schachter, A. Raziel, et al., ‘Monozygotic twinning after assisted reproductive techniques: A phenomenon independent of micromanipulation’, Human Reproduction 16 (2001): 1264–9.
14. On the other hand, there is evidence of increased incidence of congenital abnormalities in monozygotic twins, so perhaps it is a mild case of faulty development: see ‘Twin pregnancy’ (author unknown), Atlanta Maternal-Fetal Medicine 2, 4 (1994) (at http://atlanta-mfm.com/body.cfm?id=48, accessed 13.6.08)
15. G. Leblebicioglu, S. Balci & A. Üzümcügil, ‘Variable expressivity of congenital longitudinal radial deficiency and spinal dysraphism in monozygotic twins’, Turkish Journal of Pediatrics 47 (2005): 390–2.
16. M. W. Thompson, Genetics in Medicine (Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders, 1986; 4th edn.), p. 274
17. D. S. Oderberg, ‘Coincidence under a sortal’, Philosophical Review 105 (1996): 145–71.
18. C. Hughes, ‘Same-kind coincidence and the Ship of Theseus’, Mind 106 (1997): 53–67.
19. Harris, ‘The ethical use of human embryonic stem cells in research and therapy’, in J. Burley & J. Harris (eds.) A Companion to Genethics (Oxford: Blackwell, 2002), pp. 158–74, at 164.
20. H. Kuhse & P. Singer, ‘Individuals, humans and persons: The issue of moral status’, in Singer et al., pp. 67–8.
21. B. Smith and B. Brogaard, ‘Sixteen Days’, Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 28 (2003): 45–78.
22. C. Lima, J. Pratas-Vital, P. Escada, A. Hasse-Ferreira, C. Capucho & J. D. Peduzzi, ‘Olfactory mucosa autografts in human spinal cord injury: A pilot clinical study’, Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine 29 (2006): 191–203.
23. D. M. Gilbert, ‘The future of human embryonic stem cell research: Addressing ethical conflict with responsible scientific research’, Medical Science Monitor 10 (2004): RA99–103.
24. R. P. George and C. Tollefsen in Embryo: A Defense of Human Life (New York: Doubleday, 2008), pp. 12–13
25. For a broader discussion of potentiality, and of its uses and misuses as applied to the embryo, the foetus, and the person, see my Moral Theory (Oxford: Blackwell, 2000), pp. 177–83, and Applied Ethics, pp. 32–40.