Polkinghorne J C
Queens' College, Cambridge CB3 9ET, UK.
J Med Ethics. 2004 Dec;30(6):593-7; discussion 597-600. doi: 10.1136/jme.2003.004077.
Argument about the ethical possibility of the therapeutic use of embryonic stem cells depends critically on the evaluation of the moral status of the very early embryo. Some assert that at the blastocyst stage it is only potentially human, not yet possessing the full ethical status of personhood, while others assert that from its formation the embryo possesses all the moral rights of a human person. It is shown that a decision on this issue is closely related to how human nature is to be understood. The idea of a person as a dual combination of body and spirit correlates naturally with the assertion of absolute personhood from conception, while an idea of human psychosomatic unity encourages a development picture in which the embryo only grows gradually into personhood. The latter view is seen to be encouraged by new advances in science which emphasise the importance of the concept of information in the discussion of complex systems. Other ethical issues related to human genetics are also briefly reviewed.
关于治疗性使用胚胎干细胞的伦理可能性的争论，关键取决于对极早期胚胎道德地位的评估。一些人断言，在囊胚阶段它只是潜在的人，尚不具备完整的人格伦理地位，而另一些人则断言，从胚胎形成之时起，它就拥有人类的所有道德权利。研究表明，关于这个问题的决定与如何理解人性密切相关。将人视为身体与精神双重结合的观念，自然与从受孕起就主张绝对人格的观点相关联，而人类身心统一的观念则鼓励一种胚胎逐渐成长为人格的发展图景。后一种观点似乎受到科学新进展的推动，这些进展强调了信息概念在复杂系统讨论中的重要性。还简要回顾了与人类遗传学相关的其他伦理问题。
