Subject:
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Re: How to start a fire.
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Tue, 17 Jun 2003 21:48:04 GMT
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Viewed:
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301 times
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> > Disagree. Once the cell mass is discernably human and has a heartbeat it is
> > a person. What about the mentally handicapped?
>
> Who determines when it's discernably human?
Once the cell mass has a heartbeat (which occurs after about 21 days) it is
distinctly human. Prior to that the cell mass could technically become anything.
> If I put a 64-cell embryo on your desk, would you be able to tell me that
> it's human? Who do you identify as a credible authority on determining
> humanness?
Maybe a DNA expert but it would be tough.
> By pre-brain-functional, I refer to brains that have not yet begun to
> function. (and, for that matter, brains that have ceased to function, which
> would be post- instead of pre-). The mentally handicapped are not in that
> category.
>
> > So the age of a person determines their worth?
>
> Careful--that's a straw man. I am saying that a pre-person (ie, one who is
> not yet a person, or one who is a so-called "potential person") is not the
> same as a person who has memories and experiences.
By your definition, not mine.
> > What about the physically handicapped?
>
> If a person is wholly dependent upon artificial life support but is
> mentally functional, then an outside agent does not have the right to end that
> person's life, because the person is a person, with memories and experience.
> If a person is wholly dependent upon artificial life support and is in a
> persistent vegetative state, then that person's life support can be >terminated by an authorized actor on his behalf.
Not if it is known that the person will recover, or as should be the in case of
a child, that it will be born.
> At that point, the person's memories and experiences are gone already.
>
> > > How's that for starters?
> >
> > I belive freedom of choice is whether or not to have sex. If peopole do
> > *anything* it is their responsibility to deal with the consequence. Murder
> > to avoid inconvience is just sick.
>
> That's a circular argument and a straw man.
Beliving people must live with the consequences of thier own choices, including
the consequence of having sex, is a circular straw man?
-Mike Petrucelli
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: How to start a fire.
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| (...) So you're in favor of embryonic stem-cell research? That's a tangential point (purely for my own curiosity) but it meshes nicely with your overall argument. Anyway, why is a heartbeat the deciding factor? What distinct difference exists (...) (21 years ago, 17-Jun-03, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: How to start a fire.
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| (...) Who determines when it's discernably human? If I put a 64-cell embryo on your desk, would you be able to tell me that it's human? Who do you identify as a credible authority on determining humanness? By pre-brain-functional, I refer to brains (...) (21 years ago, 17-Jun-03, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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