Abstract for the Kant in Asia International Conference
at Hong Kong Baptist University
20-23 May 2009
Ronald M. Green, ¡§A Kantian Perspective on Human Embryonic Stem Cells and Cloning¡¨
Kant's understanding of moral personality and the basis of moral obligations leads to an identification of who are the subjects and objects of moral duties. What are the outlines of Kant's view, and what are its implications for the manipulation (and/or destruction) of nascent forms of human life? In this paper, 1) after considering a variety of interpretations of Kant's views on this matter, I develop what I believe is a philosophically and textually well-founded understanding of the ways in which Kant indicates we should approach the question of determining our obligations to entities whose moral status is not evident, and 2) I apply this understanding to the various types of entities that are now being used or created in regenerative medicine research.