Moral Status: Obligations to Persons and Other Living Things (Issues in Biomedical Ethics)

256 Pages·1997·0.83 MB·English

by  Mary Anne Warren

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ISSUES IN BIOMEDICAL ETHICS
Moral Status
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ISSUES IN BIOMEDICAL ETHICS
General Editors
John Harris and Søren Holm
Consulting Editors
Ranaan Gillon and Bonnie Steinbock
The late twentieth century has witnessed dramatic technological develop-
ments in biomedical science and the delivery of health care, and these devel-
opments have brought with them important social changes. All too often
ethical analysis has lagged behind these changes. The purpose of this series
is to provide lively, up-to-date, and authoritative studies for the increasingly
large and diverse readership concerned with issues in biomedical ethics—
not just healthcare trainees and professionals, but also philosophers, social
scientists, lawyers, social workers, and legislators. The series wll feature both
single-author and multi-author books, short and accessible enough to be
widely read, each of them focused on an issue of outstanding current
importance and interest. Philosophers, doctors, and lawyers from a number
of countries feature among the authors lined up for the series.
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Moral Status
Obligations to Persons and
Other Living Things
MARY ANNE WARREN
CLARENDON PRESS · OXFORD
1997
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Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford ox2 6dp
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Oxford is a trade mark of Oxford University Press
Published in the United States by
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© Mary Anne Warren 1997
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Data available
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Warren, Mary Anne
Moral status / Mary Anne Warren.
(Issues in biomedical ethics)
Includes bibliographical references.
1. Euthanasia—Moral and ethical aspects. 2. Abortion—Moral and ethical aspects.
3. Animal rights. 4. Duty. I. Title. II. Series.
R725.5.W37 1997 179.7—dc21 97–7803
ISBN 0 –19–823668–9
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
Typeset by Invisible Ink
Printed in Great Britain
on acid-free paper by
Biddles Ltd., Guildford and King’s Lynn
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Acknowledgements
My thanks go, first, to my spouse, Michael Scriven, who has pro-
vided moral support and valuable critical responses. Next, to the
students and colleagues at San Francisco State University who have
shared with me their thoughts about the ethical issues addressed
here. Dianne Romain, Laura Purdy, Rita Manning, and other
friends in the Society for Women in Philosophy have supported and
encouraged me for many years.
I owe special philosophical debts to Michael Tooley, Peter Singer,
Mary Midgley, and J. Baird Callicott, whose moral philosophies
taught me much, even while inspiring disagreement on some points.
Professor Tooley was head of the Philosophy Department at the
University of Western Australia when Michael and I went there in
1982, and I beneWted from the opportunity to compare our
approaches to the problem of moral status. In 1986, I spent some
time at the Centre for Human Bioethics at Monash University,
which Professor Singer directed, and where some of the ideas for
this book were hatched and tested. Professor Midgley was also a
great source of inspiration. In 1990, she came to San Francisco State
to speak at the conference on animal rights that I helped to orga-
nize; our conversations revealed similarities in our viewpoints that
helped to persuade me that I was on the right track. Professor
Callicott has been kind enough to give critical attention to my past
work, which has helped me to clarify my views.
Finally, I am grateful to the two anonymous readers at Oxford
University Press, whose comments substantially improved the book;
and to my editors, John Harris, Peter Momtchiloff, and Angela
Blackburn, for their assistance and support.
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Contents
Part I: An Account of Moral Status 1
1. The Concept of Moral Status 3
2. Reverence for Life 24
3. Sentience and the Utilitarian Calculus 50
4. Personhood and Moral Rights 90
5. The Relevance of Relationships 122
6. A Multi-Criterial Analysis of Moral Status 148
Part II: Selected Applications 179
7. Applying the Principles 181
8. Euthanasia and the Moral Status of Human Beings 185
9. Abortion and Human Rights 201
10. Animal Rights and Human Limitations 224
11. Conclusion 241
Bibliography 243
Index 255
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chap. 1 4/30/97 2:44 PM Page 1
PART I
An Account of Moral Status
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