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Related Experiment Videos

Two claims about potential human beings.

Ingmar Persson1

  • 1Department of Philosophy, Lund University, Kungshuset, SE-222 22 Lund, Sweden. Ingmar.Persson@fil.lu.se

Bioethics
|February 13, 2004
PubMed
Summary
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Human zygotes possess potential but are not considered human beings until gastrulation. Therefore, using early embryos for research, like stem cell generation, is ethically permissible as their value is instrumental, not intrinsic.

Area of Science:

  • Bioethics
  • Developmental Biology
  • Philosophy of Medicine

Background:

  • The moral status of the human zygote and early embryo is a contentious issue.
  • Many believe the potential to develop into a human being grants intrinsic value, prohibiting its use as a means to an end.
  • This perspective often informs debates on embryonic stem cell research.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To critically examine the argument that potentiality confers intrinsic value upon the human zygote or early embryo.
  • To determine the point at which a human being, with potential intrinsic value, begins to exist.
  • To assess the ethical permissibility of using early-stage human embryos for scientific purposes.

Main Methods:

  • Philosophical argumentation analyzing concepts of potentiality and personhood.
Keywords:
Analytical ApproachGenetics and ReproductionPhilosophical Approach

Related Experiment Videos

  • Review of developmental biology milestones, specifically gastrulation.
  • Ethical analysis of instrumental versus intrinsic value.

    • Main Results:

    • The potential to become a human being does not equate to being a human being in a rudimentary sense.
    • A human being, for the purposes of intrinsic value, begins to exist no earlier than the gastrulation stage, several weeks post-conception.
    • The value of an early embryo is primarily instrumental, derived from its potential to develop.

    Conclusions:

    • The human zygote or early embryo does not possess intrinsic value.
    • Its value is instrumental, making its use as a means for scientific ends, such as embryonic stem cell production, ethically permissible.
    • Ethical considerations should be based on the actualization of personhood rather than mere potentiality.