Anja J. Karnein

A theory of unborn life : from abortion to genetic manipulation

Table of Contents Introduction Part I: Creation and Destruction Chapter One - Embryos and Future Persons 1. Protecting Persons 2. Why Birth Matters 3. The Moral Value of Embryos that will be Born 4. The Moral Value of Embryos that will not be Born 5. Conclusion Chapter Two - The Human Dignity of Embryos? The German Case 1. The German Abortion Debate 2. Embryo Protection in Tort and Criminal Law 3. The Law for Protecting (Some) Embryos 4. The Stem Cell Law 5. Conclusion Chapter Three - The Moral Anonymity of Embryos: The American Case 1. The U.S. Abortion Debate 2. Tort Law: Prenatal Injury Cases 3. Criminal Law and the Fetus 4. Artificial Reproductive Technologies and Stem Cell Research 5. Conclusion Part II: Selection and Manipulation Chapter Four - The Limits of Reproductive Choice and Distributive Justice 1. Championing Procreative Liberties: John A. Robertson 2. Embracing Scientific Advance: Ronald Dworkin 3. Insuring Equal Opportunity: Buchanan et al. 3.1. Genetic Manipulation, Justice, and Our Moral System 3.2. Limiting Parental Powers: Respecting a Childs Right to an Open Future 3.3. The Danger of Intergenerational Domination 4. Conclusion Chapter Five - Troubling Intuitions: Jurgen Habermas and the Dangers of Changing Human Nature 1. Habermass Rejection of Liberal Eugenics 2. Irreversibility, Responsibility, and Appropriate Attitudes 3. The Anthropological Foundation of Morality 4. Conclusion Chapter Six - Future Persons and their Independence 1. Precarious Intergenerational Relationships 1.1. The Non-Identity Problem 1.2. Determining the Nature of Intergenerational Relationships 2. The Importance of Independence 2.1. Natural and Substantial Independence 2.2. Independence and Disability 2.3. Independence v. the Significance of Dependence 2.4. Independence v. Autonomy 2.5. Independence as a Non-Contingent Notion 2.6. Independence and the Future of Morality 3. Who is Responsible? Exculpating Parents 4. Conclusion Bibliography Index

Saving the Planet by Empowering the Young

We examine whether there is a good case for empowering the young—through youth quotas and further measures—in order to increase environmental protection. While we shed no doubt on the cause of empowering the young in general or on the cause of protecting the environment in general, we raise a number of worries about using the former as an instrument for the latter. First, from a democratic perspective, it is objectionable to increase the influence of a certain part of the electorate as a means for giving additional weight to certain views. Second, the reasons that make it important that certain segments of society represent their interests themselves hardly apply in the case of the young. Third, we should not overstate how much more the young are affected by environmental degradation than the old, in particular not when we take into account that other unrepresented groups—such as the unborn, non-citizens, and animals—are heavily affected by present environmental policy decisions as well. Fourth, it is surprisingly unclear whether the young display particularly strong pro-environmental attitudes and behavior.