'General' Category
The End of an Era
Sometimes it takes a person from outside our society to be its most honest critic. On August 3, 2008, one such voice became silent.
Alexandr Solzhenitsyn died at the age of 89 of a heart ailment. This once unknown Russian high school teacher published his first book, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, [...]Who Am I?
In our ongoing academic debates over reproductive technologies, it is perhaps all too easy to forget the real issue: we are talking about how we treat human persons, created in God’s image, who have incalculable worth. Sometimes it is good to step back and put a face on the special children whose lives are in [...]
Eugenics Redux
The word “eugenics” comes from the Greek “eugenes,” meaning “good birth,” and the underlying ideas are quite ancient in origin. Plato argued that human baby production should be limited to people selected for certain desirable qualities, and certainly most mothers would like their sons and daughters to “marry well.”
The term eugenics was actually coined in [...]What About the Soul? (11)
The CedarEthics podcast for November, 2007 is a discussion of the soul, and how this impacts our understanding of human personhood. We look back at Plato’s dialogue Phaedo, and we examine the history of the concept. We also look at the soul in Scripture.
Finally, we consider a beautiful engraving by William Blake, to illustrate a [...]We Have a New Look!
The Center for Bioethics Web site has undergone a make-over. We have made a number of changes to make the site more user-friendly.
CedarEthics is now home to both the CedarEthics Podcast and the Director’s blog.
We include more photos of students and faculty engaging in activities related to bioethics.
Academic Resources (the heart of the Web site) [...]Worldviews Under the Microscope (10)
The CedarEthics podcast for September, 2007, features Dr. Bill Brown, President of Cedarville University. Dr. Brown discusses three very different worldviews, and how each perspective influences one’s approach to bioethics and the value of human life.
Theme Music: Gli Uccelli (The Birds), Part I. Prelude (Allegro moderato), by Respighi, courtesy of Shockwave Sound.
Special Music: “Wild Mountain [...]The Pursuit of ‘Happyness’
Actor Will Smith received a Best Actor nomination in 2006 for his role as Chris Gardner, a stuggling single father of a five year-old boy. “The Pursuit of Happyness” was inspired by a true story, and is a moving portrayal of courage, tenacity, and street smarts, as the hero tries to make it as an [...]
What Makes a Body Somebody? (9)
Today’s podcast continues our series on human personhood, this time delving into philosophy. We examine two competing views on human personhood, and we see why persons are not “piles of parts” like cars.
The Conception View of Personhood: A Review
Abortion, Bioethics and PersonhoodTheme Music: Gli Uccelli (The Birds), Part I. Prelude (Allegro moderato), by Respighi, courtesy [...]
Personhood: The View From the Womb (8)
Today’s podcast continues our series on human personhood, this time looking into the womb, and what Scripture has to say about human value there. Our news item comes from the world of nanotechnology, and we look at some of the ethics.
The Conception View of Personhood: A Review
Nanotechnology Risks - The Real IssuesTheme Music: Gli Uccelli [...]
Breaking News: Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Upheld
By a narrow 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court today upheld a federal law banning the late-term abortion procedure called ‘intact dilation and extraction,’ better-known by the label ‘partial-birth abortion.’ This is a major victory for the pro-life cause.
Partial-birth abortion (as we have discussed in an earlier post), has been called by one author “constitutionally [...]
