[Project.diverse] Bioethics

Some of you might like- Just got back from judging a Bioethics competition that my dear friend and colleague Dr. Carter got me roped into…it was a great multi-cultural cross section of very smart philosophy students- some the most anti-fragile undergrads I have seen in years- a couple prepping for med school- descend on Baylor from across the country to debate incredibly difficult questions there is no clear answer- like: is it morally ethical for someone with a disability to use germline genetic therapy/genetic editing to remove the genetic basis of their disability and eliminate future suffering for their offspring and for future generations- basically eradicating it. An extension of current logic in many areas. For example, there are no people with Down’s Syndrome for example in Iceland and many Nordic countries. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/down-syndrome-iceland/ And is a recuring issue in the UK- https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/may/28/mps-bring-bill-to-ban-late-... And likely will see it as a robust issue in the US as there is a strong pro-life disability advocacy group- especially among traditional Catholics and the faith based community which will put the issue of disability and choice on the front burner- who in a related issue- just put out an encyclical letter critiquing gender theory. People forget- social justice is a deeply religious idea- the person who coined the term was Luigi Tapreli- a Jesuit priest in 1848 and serves as the bases of Catholic Social Teaching. In today’s language- it is a cultural appropriation in the way it is currently being used politically. So- expect more cultural conflicts on that front as those of faith reassert its original meanings. https://www.ncronline.org/vatican/vatican-news/vatican-human-dignity-docu... Interestingly- the counter point used in the Bioethics competition was from Elizabeth Barnes- a disability studies professor who is in the Philosophy Department at University of Virginia and the mere difference view. I was looking at some of her views- which are interesting- I had to do my own homework. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/677021?seq=16 Reminds me of Jim Kaufman’s piece on Disability Chic- based on the fad going around in the fashion world of “Heroin Chic” at the time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroin_chic https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09362835.2017.1283632 and people giving themselves a disability- which is a mental illness. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_integrity_dysphoria I think this was circulating some time ago- but not sure about its- veracity- https://www.huffpost.com/entry/why-woman-who-put-drain-cleaner-in-her-eye... https://www.snopes.com/news/2015/10/02/jewel-shuping-blind/ Strange times/strange issues and debates…MDB Mack D. Burke, Ph.D. Department of Educational Psychology Applied Behavior Analysis and Special Education Programs Behavioral Education & Assessment Research (BEAR Lab) School of Education, Baylor University