Word: ethicist
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University of Washington ethicist Albert Jonsen is concerned that people with grave illnesses might be viewed simply as carriers of genetic traits. "Rather than saying 'Isn't that family unfortunate to have a schizophrenic son,' we'll say 'That's a schizophrenia family.' " Advocates for the handicapped fear that in the future the physically afflicted may no longer be seen as unfortunates worthy of special treatment, but as "wrongful births," genetic errors committed by parents who failed to take proper action against a defective gene...
...control of the world around them. They are constantly bombarded by news reports of carcinogens and pesticides in food, of asbestos fibers falling from ceilings, of pollutants in their tap water. "The body has always been a medium for expressing attitudes toward the world," says Jonathan Moreno, a medical ethicist at George Washington University, and today's obsession with healthy bodies is no different. "If our bodies are perfectible, then the world itself should also be," he says. "People who exercise want to see the world as a place that can be made as orderly as one's body...
...officials have proposed that any county that refuses a prison should pay the state to house its criminals. In each instance, the principle of community responsibility for the greater good was paramount. "One of the few things we deprive our middle class of is the opportunity to serve," says Ethicist Gaylin. Whether the problem is a waste dump, a shelter for the homeless or an AIDS hospice, an equitable and beneficial solution, however imperfect, is likely to be one that the community has had a strong hand in shaping...
...most common argument against pardoning the Iranscam defendants is that their actions are too serious to forgive without repentance. "A pardon would say that the democratic process is only a valid one sometimes, and that highly committed patriots can set it aside -- like Dr. Strangelove," notes Ethicist Josephson. He adds, "It would send a message that there are times when we will permit high-level Government officials to lie to Congress. How could we trust anything afterward...
...decide who should get the organ transplant or have first access to kidney-dialysis machines? The questions have fired a debate about what society owes its elderly, what should constitute a natural life-span and how far doctors should go to keep elderly patients alive. Medical Ethicist Daniel Callahan, 57, suggests that health involves more than preventing death. "We should seek to advance research and health care that increase not the length of life," he argues, "but the quality of life of the elderly...