Take Home Exam


Write essays, approximately three pages each, on both of the following topics.


1. Compare and contrast the three major approaches to ethical theory: utilitarianism, deontology, and ethics of virture. Apply the three approaches to question of whether we should permit the genetic enhancement of memory.

2. Consider the issue of human embryonic stem cell research in light of the controversy over abortion. What exactly do proponents and advocates of abortion rights disagree about? Is it possible, as the Supreme Court suggests in Roe v. Wade, to settle the controversy while refusing to take a position about whether or not the fetus is a person? Would the Court's reasoning also apply to the controversy over human embryonic stem cell research? Is it possible for someone who opposes abortion to support human embryonic stem cell research?