Introduction

Policy makers in many countries base their codes of ethics on certain Religious and Ethical Systems.   Widely varying cultures and ways of looking at the worlds make it difficult, if not impossible, to find a common ethical system from which to operate.  While one individual may have certain values they hold dear, how they’re able to hold their company to a religious paradigm is always a hot topic.  In the points below, the different systems are explained and hopefully will provide a clearer understanding as to the basis of decision making.

The Idea in a Nutshell

Humans base their values either on what rules they value, what consequences arise from their actions, what society says is right or whether they are simply a moral person.  Explaining each system works best when contrasted with the others.  For example, Deontology is concerned with duty and what rules to follow while consequentialism is merely concerned with the outcome of the actions.  A deontologist would never condone lying while a consequentialist would allow it if lying caused no harm.  Pragmatic Ethics would consider lying to be okay if society allowed it while Virtue Ethics would consider it harmful because it runs contrary to a person’s innate goodness.  The Divine Command Theory says lying is wrong because God says so, while Natural Law says humans have the right to lie.  Righteous Moralism would allow lying if the home country allowed lying, Cultural Relativism, while maybe not condoning lying, would allow it if the host culture thought nothing of it.  Kantian Ethics would only allow lying if human rights were respected and the Friedman Doctrine wouldn’t care if one lied as long as it was legal and benefited the company.

The 10 Things You Need to Know About Religious and Ethical Systems

1.    Deontological Ethics is a philosophy based on what an individual has a duty to do.  They are not based on the results of the duties or rules, but rather on the rules themselves.  Individuals holding to a deontological ethical system would never break one of his/her rules in order to bring about a greater good (Alexander, 2007).  A business involved in deontological practices would adhere strictly to the letter of the law by doing exactly what it said, even if it resulted in negative consequences for the business and the employees.
2.    Consequentialism differs from deontology by focusing on the outcome of actions, rather than on any particular rule set.  A consequentialist does not worry about whether the actions themselves are particularly harmful, but rather what the result of those actions will be.  A business believing primarily in this theory would not have qualms about using child labor, unless using child labor effected the company more negatively than positively.    In other words, anything is permissible as long as it is beneficial.
3.    Society is held as the ultimate moral compass in Pragmatic Ethics.  Pragmatism is generally the philosophy of ethics to which science adheres.  Science recognizes that what is true and relevant today may cease to be true tomorrow.  Dissident is considered valuable, because it keeps society on a path towards greater truth.  In other words, if we have been properly taught by societal values, then we are moral people (LaFollette, 2000).  Judged by pragmatism, a slave trader would have been perfectly ethical to his time period, but unethical in a modern society which values humanity and freedom above station in life.
4.    Virtue Ethics is different from the other ethical systems in that they depend on the character of the individual for their basis of the “good”.  The morality of a person is based on their intrinsic function as humans or more on “being” than on “doing”.  A human attains values by being correctly taught and then continues being their moral selves.  According to Annas, a virtuous human would do “the right thing for the right reason without serious internal opposition, as a matter of character”.
5.    Divine Command Theory equates “good” with the adherence to that which a deity proscribes.  Some view this to mean an action is not good because there is intrinsic benefit to the action, but rather it is good because the deity has commanded it to be done.  Samuel Wheeler, however, supposes that because God’s intentions are good, He would not proscribe an action without it at first being a good action.  

6.    One of the most famous American proponents of natural rights or Natural Law was Thomas Jefferson.  He interpreted natural law to mean that human have intrinsic rights simply because we are human.  Because we have the ability to make moral judgments and discern between good and evil, we have rights that no human law system can ever take away.  The Declaration of Independence refers to a “separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them” and by merely being human, we have “certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (Jefferson, 1776).
7.    Righteous Moralism subscribes to the belief that the standards of ethics from a corporation’s home country are the correct standards to follow in foreign countries.  For example, McGraw Hill’s International Business tells of an American accountant who went to Italy and found them under-reporting earnings.  He was upset, but came to discover that Italy compensates for under-reporting by assuming everyone is under-reporting.  Because the foreign national wanted to correctly report the earnings, he was costing the company more than what it actually should be paying in taxes.  As a result, we learn that not every situation can be given the same ethical treatment we would give it in our home country.
8.    Cultural or Ethical Relativism is the philosophy that all ethics are relative to the culture in which one finds oneself.   A business model applying ethical relativism would find it acceptable to bribe officials if that country which considered bribes acceptable.  A multinational corporation would hold different countries accountable for different things and would not look badly on a division which could justify their actions culturally.  Currently, however, this theory is not widely held by many corporations and is severely frowned upon due to its inability to hold up under closer scrutiny.
9.    Kantian Ethics holds that individual rights should be viewed as all important and not merely as road signs along the path. The ultimate goal of society should be to treat people with respect and dignity.  In a negative sense, it limits the behavior of an individual.  For example, if an individual’s primary goal is self-preservation, then sky-diving would appear to limit one’s actions (Johnson, 2010).
10.    In 1970, Milton Friedman wrote a paper outlining his belief that a business exists solely to maximize profits as long as it does it legally.  The Friedman Doctrine, as it has come to be known, does not advocate any action unless it is explicitly required to be done by law or unless it benefits the bottom line of a business.  For example, Friedman wouldn’t advocate Starbucks’ mission to be socially responsible by educating coffee laborers in foreign countries unless it increased their profits as well.  Participating in an activity merely because it is the right thing to do is not enough.

The Video Lounge

Joseph R. DesJardins believes that Ethics is an attempt to answer the question, “How should we live?”  Different philosophical approaches to this question answer the question in different ways.  If one decides to live life the way the culture wants, then the individual has to rationally decide whether the way the culture wants us to live is right or whether it is right because the culture wants us to live this way.  We shouldn’t just take any ethical system at face value, but should always be active in examining our own morality.

My Take

Instilling ethics in the workplace is such a tricky situation.  How one decides which philosophy to follow or which rules to put in place may be second guessed by everyone.  I truly believe each individual has the right and the responsibility to discover the truth for themselves and hold themselves accountable to a high ethical standard.  Many of the aforementioned philosophies depend on the culture around them to tell them how to live their lives.  The question then becomes, “Who exactly is the culture?”  We are our culture. Our core values must therefore be formed apart from our culture and based on solid and universal truths.    If we form our culture from our beliefs which are taken from our culture, then our moral foundation is very weak and liable to crack.  

References

Alexander, Larry and Michael Moore (2007, November 21). Deontological Ethics. Retrieved from http://Plato.Stanford.edu/entries/ethics-deontological/

Annas, Julia. (2002). Virtue Ethics.  Retrieved from http://www.u.Arizona.edu/~jannas/forth/coppvirtue.htm

DesJardins, Joseph R. (2011, June 15). What is Ethics?. Retrieved from http://youtu.be/3fMLIMaPw0I

Jefferson, Thomas. (1776, July 4). The Declaration of Independence. Retrieved from http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/

Johnson, Robert. (2010, Summer). Kant’s Moral Philosophy. Retrieved from http://Plato.Stanford.edu/cgi-bin/encyclopedia/archinfo.cgi?entry=Kant-moral

LaFollette, Hugh. (2000). Pragmatic Ethics in Blackwell Guide to Ethical Theory. Retrieved from http://www.hughlafollette.com/papers/pragmati.htm

Pragmatic ethics. (2012, January 10). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved February 16, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pragmatic_ethics&oldid=470584920

Wheeler, Samuel. (2002, January). A Defense of the Divine Command Theory.  Retrieved from http://www.philosophy.uconn.edu/department/wheeler/divine.pdf

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Contact Information

To contact the author of “The Top Ten Management Primer on Religious and Ethical Systems,” please email Christina Read at Christina.read@gmail.com.

About the Publisher  

David C. Wyld (dwyld.kwu@gmail.com) is the Robert Maurin Professor of Management at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana. He is a management consultant, researcher/writer, and executive educator. His blog, Wyld About Management, can be viewed at http://wyldaboutmanagement.blogspot.com/. He also serves as the Director of the Reverse Auction Research Center (http://reverseauctionresearch.com/), a hub of research and news in the expanding world of competitive bidding. Dr. Wyld also maintains compilations of his student’s publications regarding:

• management concepts (http://toptenmanagement.blogspot.com/)
• book reviews (http://wyld-about-books.blogspot.com/) and
• international foods  (http://wyld-about-food.blogspot.com/)                                         

Introduction

Corruption conduct as defined by the Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 1988 is unlawful activity done intentionally.  Corruption is also the act of people committing or engaging in corruption (whether they are a public official or not) that could or badly affect a person’s integrity by practicing several criminal actions willingly or unwillingly within an organization.  Several examples not limited to but include fraudulent dealings in the office such as policies and procedures not visibly available for employees to access.  Also employees developing close associations with outside sources to solicit monetary gifts, employee training is inadequate, and not to mention public officials wasted resources of public money.  All these conditions affect the world today in employment practices and require immediate attention since most public and private organizations are affected by this behavior.

The Idea in a Nutshell

The situations surrounding corruption happens worldwide and affects many different ethnic groups and businesses.  Corruption can take many forms and occurs almost undetected throughout the judicial system.  This behavior is practiced in many forms and people use it for all types of reasons whether it involves their job or the political structure.  The Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 1988 has been implemented to help protect the administrative operations and offices within organizations and guard them against fraud. This Act has the power to issue legal investigations into any reports of corruption whether it is acknowledge or suspected.  Basically, in today’s society this crime exists and several measures can be taken to lessen its consequence as it involves employment practices.

The 10 Things You Need to Know About Employment Practices/Corruption

1.    Bribery is accepting gifts from outside persons as a form of appreciation for recognition, gratitude, or favors.  This behavior is an unethical conduct that causes employees to seek a reward from people doing business with the organization.  These gratuities can be used as special treatment for employees who overlook policies and procedures within private companies, or public offices to help their external resources in illegal practices.   Eventually, the employee conducts this performance regularly with the person giving the gift naturally causing them to participate in activities willingly and unwillingly that questions their integrity.

2.    Embezzlement is also a corrupt practice within a company which involves pilfering of their assets swindled by employees.  These finances can be taken by people who are representing a public office intended for community purposes.  Although embezzlement is considered as thieving, it does not involve the public as a whole.   Many foreign countries experience the clash of this crime due to common practices internally among organizations.  Sometimes countries practice another form of embezzlement known as “straddling” which illustrates the power some business have and only allow family members and unmitigated communities to  become a component of them.  Since this act mainly consist of taking money and not personal possessions it would be hard for government officials in the judicial system to eradicate such a crime.

3.    Favoritism involves specifically choosing close relatives and associates for personal acknowledgment due to close affiliations.  Leaders who choose to exercise this treatment toward individuals they feel deserve special consideration is causing other co-workers to feel disregarded by management.  The executives tend to show preference to individuals of favor regardless of their abilities or position.  Many employees start to feel to feel left out and less favorable for their work.  According to others this behavior may be conceived as the administration basing work ethnic on personal likeness to certain people within the organization rather than noticeable abilities to do the job resulting in discriminative actions against management.

4.    Fraud is a deliberate act to con officials into performing fraudulent activities between members of politics and society in order to acquire undisclosed funds.  It is an act of manipulation to gain substance from the other individual.  Fraud covers a huge area of illegal acts to deceive and collect payment for misleading actions in government and state officials.  Fraud can also be described as gathering knowledge of information in exchange for favors.  Unfortunately, this is a crime that causes state and political agents to participate in other improper conduct such as illegal foreign trade and distortion.

5.    Extortion is threatening to impose bodily harm to an individual for money.  Most scandalous mobs use this form of blackmail to attain free money without earning it.  This form of extortion is practiced by criminals demanding money through the intentional actions of persecution, terrorising, and dangerous pursuits of violence.  State officials are also capable of imposing this corrupt act on businesses and communities.  Some private companies receive threats to persuade them to accept faulty dealings by becoming involved in money laundering.  Nevertheless, extortion causes people to perform dirty deeds as a way to receive money they did not earn honestly.       

6.    Nepotism is the act of choosing ones individual family members for a particular job.  These individuals must be close kin and a part of the immediate family.  Managers who are in high positions often try to appoint their close relatives to offices that may not be the appropriate occupation for them. However, since the manager is the leader that constitutes for work skills and experience.      

7.    Businesses can influence collaboration of these crimes by encouraging employees to tell if they suspect or discover any type of corruption within the company.  Managers should make their staff feel comfortable enough to disagree with authority and report an act of distrust being performed within the organization.  The supervisors must support employees and investigate any alleged discrepancies of illegal activity they feel inappropriate behavior in the department.

8.    The corporate overhead should consider appointing an ethnics officer in the company educated in ethnics laws and policies.  This officer would be better equipped to suggest different alternatives to handling issues with unprofessional conduct regardless to which area it involves.  Most employees feel contented while addressing problems regarding corrupt practices with an official who has knowledge and training with these types of work ethnic issues.     

9.    Managers can implement strategic goals and expectations on the performance of employees to reward them for their hard work individually.   Some workers who feel neglected and overlooked for pay raises or promotions will start to steal if necessary to compensate for the pay they deserve.  Personnel tend to create dishonest strategies to get the manager attention if their hard work is not noticed and rewarded according to personal tasks.  

10.    Although corruption is common in employment practices there are ways it can be exposed such as contacting state agencies.  The Project on Government Oversight Agency is available to take reports on any suspicious activities noted by employees.  The act of reporting corruption to external entities without the knowledge of internal management is known as whistle blowing.  Most employees fear this type of approach due to fear of revenge from upper superiors within the department or office.  So to eliminate being targeted by others with threats or intimidation tactics, a person must remain anonymous and provide only facts and documentation that relates to the incident to back up the allegations.

The Video Lounge

• The first video shows private citizens offering bribes to public employees to keep sewer contracts in Florida in exchange for gifts

• The second video is demonstrating a statistical fact of bribery among people in India which involves police, city officials, and society as a whole.

My Take

My take on corruption is that this crime continues to affect all aspects of employment practices.  There are different forms of illegal practices occurring in private businesses and companies.  Most illegal activities remain unreported for fear of harm allowing the perpetrators to continue this trend of destruction among honest working people.  If someone suspects this activity in their job management should be notified immediately to launch an investigation into the matter.

References

1. What is Corrupt Conduct? (January 31, 2012). Retrieved from http://www.icac.NSW.gov.au/.
2. Herald, Deccan. (February 12, 2012). Dealing With Favoritism at the Workplace. Retrieved from http://www.deccanherald.com/content/173905/dealing-favouritism-workplace.html
3. Bergen, Oslo. (December 2000). “Research on Corruption. A Policy Oriented Survey”. Chapter 2. Section2.3.page14. Accessed February 10, 2012
4. Ethnics Rules and conflicts of Interest. (February 2, 2012). Section 6.5.1.Acceptance of Gifts. Retrieved from. http://www.ictregulationtoolkit.org/en/Section.2049.html
5. Project on Government Oversight. Report Corruption. Retrieved from http://www.pogo.org/report-corruption/.

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Contact Information

To contact the author of “The Top Ten Management Primer on Employment Practices/Corruption,” please email Debra.tucker@selu.edu  and – if you wish – Debra.tucker85@yahoo.com.

About the Publisher  

David C. Wyld (dwyld.kwu@gmail.com) is the Robert Maurin Professor of Management at Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana. He is a management consultant, researcher/writer, and executive educator. His blog, Wyld About Management, can be viewed at http://wyldaboutmanagement.blogspot.com/. He also serves as the Director of the Reverse Auction Research Center (http://reverseauctionresearch.com/), a hub of research and news in the expanding world of competitive bidding. Dr. Wyld also maintains compilations of his student’s publications regarding:

• management concepts (http://toptenmanagement.blogspot.com/)
• book reviews (http://wyld-about-books.blogspot.com/) and
• international foods  (http://wyld-about-food.blogspot.com/)                                         

Aristotle considered ethics to be a practical rather than theoretical study, i.e., one aimed at doing good rather than knowing for its own sake. He wrote several treatises on ethics, including most notably, the Nicomachean Ethics.

Aristotle taught that virtue has to do with the proper function (ergon) of a thing. An eye is only a good eye in so much as it can see, because the proper function of an eye is sight. Aristotle reasoned that humans must have a function specific to humans, and that this function must be an activity of the psuchē (normally translated as soul) in accordance with reason (logos). Aristotle identified such an optimum activity of the soul as the aim of all human deliberate action, eudemonia, generally translated as “happiness” or sometimes “well being”. To have the potential of ever being happy in this way necessarily requires a good character (ēthikē arete), often translated as moral (or ethical) virtue (or excellence).

 Aristotle taught that to achieve a virtuous and potentially happy character requires a first stage of having the fortune to be habituated not deliberately, but by teachers, and experience, leading to a later stage in which one consciously chooses to do the best things. When the best people come to live life this way their practical wisdom (phronesis) and their intellect (nous) can develop with each other towards the highest possible human virtue, the wisdom of an accomplished theoretical or speculative thinker, or in other words, a philosopher.

       football is no more than one man trying to carry a leather ball across the imaginary line, and another doing his best to stop him.  The reason is simple, yet so complex that it could hardly be explained.  You see, the imaginary line begins as a telephone pole in some places, or a fire hydrant in others.  It could be the big tree over there, or the stone at the end of an open field.  It all begins the first time a child takes a football in his hands and crosses this imaginary line, or the first time another child stops someone from doing so.  the experience is not unlike that of being able to fly like a bird, you know, like in dreams, sometimes when you can soar endlessly through the skies without a care in the world below.  then it all begins, the child continues to strive and sacrifice just to pass this line again.  Others continue to try to stop him.  Both, try to recapture that feeling that only one who believes in the imaginary line can understand.  That feeling that captures the dreams of childhood, and transforms grown men back into children to relive the original glory, even if just for a moment of time.

       Some say football is a violent sport, but the truth is, it is a sport that for many years has kept some from violence.  it is more than a sport, it is a way to teach men to be leaders, to destroy racism, and to teach others just how important we are to one another.  It teaches teachers to never give up on a child, and the soldier to fight with courage.  It feeds families and creates jobs that would not exist without the game.  It teaches all those who it touches to never give up, and when things look bleak in life, it teaches one who has been knocked down, that victory can be one choice away. It teaches those who fail and fall to get up, and continue for as long as it takes.  it creates great and wise managers for our businesses, and doctors who will not give up on a patient, despite the odds.  football is a game that reflects life in its purest form, and has continued to grow and change to reflect the goals of the American society in which it flourishes.  football is a game that builds the work ethic that sustains so greater society, and teaches that sometimes change is a good thing. It dispels fears, and fosters competition among brothers, whose bond is always solidified by the fact that when the contest is over, together, they still believe in that imaginary line.

       I feel sorry for those who never entered the gridiron classroom, or for the educator who just doesn’t agree with football being part of the education system throughout this great nation.  You see, the reason they feel the way they do, is because they never crossed the imaginary line; in fact, they never believed in it.  What they need to learn is that football is not just another sport created by Americans for pleasure, but a sport created because of Americans for pleasure.  Football is not just a way of life,  It is our way of life.  It is the life of those who call on a mighty God, when the going gets tough, and who shakes hands after a contest well played. sometimes I wonder if football is just part of life, or is life just part of football.  I don’t know, but I do know this; our future is assured because somewhere while I am writing this, some young man may have just crossed that imaginary line for the very first time, and another believer has been made.

As if there were any doubt when government insider knowledge led to federal lawmakers and their staffs trading securities, we now will see a bill coming up for a vote. The U.S. Senate voted  93 – 2 for an intro to scheduling of upcoming debates concerning governent insider trading.

Image by cliff1066™ via Flickr

Yet it’s still difficult to fathom how those who rushed to buy or sell stocks based on knowledge from government activities didn’t know.  How could these ubiquitous traders believe what they were doing was honest?   Did they even care?

The U.S. President thinks the passage of clear cut laws can restore the faith of the citizens who began to see that crooks run the country.  There seems to be a question that needs cleared up.  Is it legal for government officials and staff to use inside government information for profit? Why wouldn’t it be the same as any other insider trading? Is there something about being part of government that exempts people from the law?

If these governmental insider traders were confused about the ethics when they ran over to Wall Street to buy, what kind of message does this send to the American People?  How is any confidence restored with the display of such extreme insensitivity to ethics, principles, and morals? The traders from inside, privy to government information, should not use the fact of their governmental status to play innocent.  If they were too stupid to know what they were doing, how did they qualify for government jobs in the first place?

It’s kind of like sneaking in the movies by just walking in and pretending it’s o.k.  What would be nice is to see some prosecutions come out of these debates regarding what should be in the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act.

On the other hand, at the very least, the American people witnessed a severe insensitivity to ethics from the very folks who should be experts concerning legal matters and honesty.  Oops, we didn’t know - is not acceptable.  If there aren’t any prosecutions, they should at least be made to read books about morals for dummies. 

“. . . it will end any confusion over whether Members of Congress can be prosecuted for this serious crime,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, according to Roll Call Newspaper.  This still leaves the dangling question of exactly what the confusion is about.

It is hoped that such legislation is an overstatement of the obvious, and that insider violators are asked to rescind the stocks that they purchased.  For blatant violations of insider trading rules there should be some prison sentences coming out of this breech of trust.

Some people are also of the view point that respect should not be made a part of war for any one gender. Men and Women should respect each others equally and it should be expressed at every event. Women expect hearing truth from men. They like men who take active part in the life’s struggle. Vinkas suggested four steps of moral ethics in view of today’s age that can be implemented 1) Take initiative in opening the door for any women 2) Keep standing until a woman takes her seat 3) Whenever you go with a woman for outdoor meal pay the bill 4) While traveling in a public transport, give your seat to a woman.

In the modern age, majority of men do not express moral ethics due to the fear of cheating. Ponam Singh of American College Dubai opines that ethics grow with different cultures and their expression can be seen in crises as well. On 14th April 1914, when Titanic was sinking in the sea, why it was decided taking women and children first in a life boat away from the ship. Reality is that even in severe crises nobody forgets expressing morals.

However, the meanings of ethics have changed with the time now. Now, paying other’s bill, opening door for somebody, giving your seat to anybody and helping any injured person also come under ethics. In societies, where men and women both play their roles in the life’ struggle, pay attention to the mutual respect equally in the society, In Asian countries these values are found comparatively more.

Katty Foster has been associated with the public relation’s field for the last 25 years. She met her husband after 20 years of separation. The attitude of her husband didn’t change during these years. Mrs. Foster says that respect and ethics are such codes of conduct that enables a noble person passing a better life.

Good manners and ethics are correlated in many people with their DNA also. They do not think much before doing any good work. They keep true respect for others in their heart. Katty Foster says that in spite of living away for the long time, we both give respect to each other very much in any dinner party or amusement site.

Foster says, “I am unable to understand why people do not follow code of conduct? Why do you not think any good for a person who sweeps roads or safe your shoes from going dirty?”

Mrs. Foster says, “My husband respects me and when he cares me without limits I start thinking myself as a queen. The expression of respect from man for women is actually a way of giving honor to a woman.”

Sticka Maria works as a therapy practitioner. In her opinion the respect and honor emotions mostly relates to men. For some people, it is also a matter of ego and prestige that they would open door for some women or offer them theirs seat.

Some people never feel shy even after committing a fault while some others ask pardon immediately. Such a person learns much from his faults and stands up at the top level of ethics.

By Muhammad Irfan Zafar

Content Writer

            Cloning is one of the world’s many wonders but have you ever thought how such a procedure would have come up? Dolly is one of the world’s most scientific breakthroughs. She was the sheep that shocked the world. According to Tina Kafka, Ian Wilmut and his team tried 276 times before they were able to clone the sheep we know today as Dolly (6). So what makes her so special? Even though Dolly was the first cloned mammal to be naturally born what was the process behind it? Now nearly every person thinks a clone is made out of some mysterious machine or just some simple man made object made in a tube. But they are also very wrong. Clones are just simply DNA that is extracted from nearly any part of the body. Scientists extract the DNA and manipulate the nucleus in the cell . Now once that has been done they will then starve the cell of nutrients. Once the cell is starved they will then implant it into a egg/embryo. If the cell takes to the egg the egg will then go through a normal reproduction and division of cells (Cohen 32). Just like a normal animal would do if it was impregnated by normal means. Now what about Dolly? Dolly went through the exact same process at one point. Her DNA actually comes from her own mother/sister udder skin. But is she without her flaws? Cloning is it ethical, but what are some advantages and disadvantages of it? According to the book Cloning published by David Bender there are also some ethical concerns to cloning included is a quote about cloning sheep. Bender states,

The cloning of an adult sheep is an incredible achievement, but many questions remain before this scientific advance will have practical benefits for humans. Ethical questions must be considered and addressed before human cloning research is permitted, but animal-cloning research should not be banned (54).

Many people have grasped the thought of cloning but many of them have also addressed the concerns of the ethics along with it. Many scientists look at cloning as a new way to produce organs and maybe someday life curing vaccines. But also to many people, mainly the hard going church goers, cloning is an abomination and should not be allowed because humans are trying to commit the act of God by creating new organisms out of nothing. These people also argue that if a person can clone another organism are they no better than God himself? Even though we are at this point cloning animals, scientist would maybe consider cloning humans down the road and that’s what most people claim is unethical, the cloning humans.

The process of cloning humans is similar to the one for animals. So if a human is cloned it will be born as a baby. Why is this so bad? The main reason why humans would want to clone another human is simple. A lot of people think if you clone a human that clone will have all the memories of the person it came from. They are also very wrong. In order for that clone to have the same memories or physical body of the person they derived from they would have to grow up in the same environment as the person they were cloned from (Cohen 46). But really why would that be so bad? Would it be that the clone had no biological father or mother? Would it be that the clone was some freak of nature that the government would envy and give special attention to? Why is it that people fear human cloning over animal cloning? The main fear of human cloning is that some crazed scientist would create super humans or an all-powerful race and take over the world. Now this idea comes from a book called The Boys from Brazil which talks about a scientist who manages to create 94 clones of the infamous dictator Adolf Hitler from cells he contributed before his death in World War II (Nardo, Cloning 4-5). To many other people cloning would violate one’s dignity. So as you can see there are many ideas or theories to the ethics of cloning. Bender further states, that there are some other advantages to cloning,

The common reactions to the prospect of human cloning are revulsion and fear but these feelings are based on deeper concerns.Though reproductive technologies have been applauded in the past because they produce children, cloning is different. Cloning assaults the distinctive genetic individuality of humans in a way that other reproductive technologies do not (Cloning 17).

So advantages of cloning has come to our attention in many different ideas. One advantage that scientist have thought that could come out of cloning is we could create healthier animals. Farmers who raise livestock always want to look to new ideas to increase their herd health. So how would cloning help the farmer? For example, mastitis is a bacterial inflammation of the udders of cows. Through cloning scientist are hoping to work with cows genetics and reduce the susceptibility of obtaining mastitis (Nardo, Cloning 49). Recently researchers have also started using cloned animals to treat disease. By breeding cloned animals with normal animals the offspring get the gene to resist diseases. By using these cloned animals to treat these diseases, we are learning of new ways to treat human illnesses too. For example, pharming is the combination of farming and pharmaceutical’s and the harvesting of the drugs it produces. In a case of hemophilia, which is when the blood does not clot properly, cloning has become advanced enough that scientists some day think it will eliminate this disease with the help of cloned animals.

But of course, there are also some disadvantages to cloning and it seems that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. One main disadvantage is that consumers are unsure of consuming cloned animal meat because some fear that with its altered genes it may alter the nutritional properties or even the safety of the food itself. They fear that the foreign gene may inactivate or activate another gene that would cause toxins or allergenic food materials out of cloned animals (Houdebine 184). There are also some laws that tie in along with cloning. According to Joseph Panno’s book Animal Cloning,  there are certain laws in European Union which allow human cloning but won’t allow those clones to be used as research (Panno 76). Many people argue that cloning humans would be pointless because then those clones of  people wouldn’t have a normal life. They wouldn’t have a normal life because they technically would only have one parent and that parent would technically be their sister/mother or vise versa depending on the sex of the clone. So in short it’s a disadvantage to the clones themselves because they would probably become emotionally unstable due to lack of parental support and society would look at them a whole different way (Panno 76).

            The ethics of cloning are enough to persuade people to frown upon it. Would it be OK to clone animals but not humans? “Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.” (Goodreads). Look at the case of Dolly. She was made to start a better breeding program for animal agriculture. According to this quote from the book Cloning Ian Wilmut states,

Human cloning research is ethically unacceptable due to the numbers of embryos that would be killed in such experiments. However, animal cloning research should be allowed because it is ethical and can help scientist invent biomedical treatments for humans with serious diseases, produce organs for animal-to human organ transplants, and create healthier, more disease resistant livestock (Cloning 49).

So as you can see there are still concerns on whether any type of cloning is ethical or not, meanwhile animals are still being cloned.

Work Cited

Cloning. San Diego: David Bender, 1998.

Cohen, Daniel. Cloning. Brookfield: The Millbrook Press, Inc., 1998.

Goodreads. 2011. 2011. 16-December .

Houdebine, Louis-Marie. Animal Transgenesis and Cloning. Dunod: John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 2001.

Kafka, Tina. Cloning. Farmington Hills: Lucent Books, 2008.

Nardo, Don. Cloning. Farmington Hills: Blackbirch Press, 2003.

Panno, Joseph. Animal Cloning. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2005.

Doppelganger Dolly

            Cloning is one of the world’s many wonders but have you ever thought how such a procedure would have come up? Dolly is one of the world’s most scientific breakthroughs. She was the sheep that shocked the world. According to Tina Kafka, Ian Wilmut and his team tried 276 times before they were able to clone the sheep we know today as Dolly (6). So what makes her so special? Even though Dolly was the first cloned mammal to be naturally born what was the process behind it? Now nearly every person thinks a clone is made out of some mysterious machine or just some simple man made object made in a tube. But they are also very wrong. Clones are just simply DNA that is extracted from nearly any part of the body. Scientists extract the DNA and manipulate the nucleus in the cell . Now once that has been done they will then starve the cell of nutrients. Once the cell is starved they will then implant it into a egg/embryo. If the cell takes to the egg the egg will then go through a normal reproduction and division of cells (Cohen 32). Just like a normal animal would do if it was impregnated by normal means. Now what about Dolly? Dolly went through the exact same process at one point. Her DNA actually comes from her own mother/sister udder skin. But is she without her flaws? Cloning is it ethical, but what are some advantages and disadvantages of it? According to the book Cloning published by David Bender there are also some ethical concerns to cloning included is a quote about cloning sheep. Bender states,

The cloning of an adult sheep is an incredible achievement, but many questions remain before this scientific advance will have practical benefits for humans. Ethical questions must be considered and addressed before human cloning research is permitted, but animal-cloning research should not be banned (54).

Many people have grasped the thought of cloning but many of them have also addressed the concerns of the ethics along with it. Many scientists look at cloning as a new way to produce organs and maybe someday life curing vaccines. But also to many people, mainly the hard going church goers, cloning is an abomination and should not be allowed because humans are trying to commit the act of God by creating new organisms out of nothing. These people also argue that if a person can clone another organism are they no better than God himself? Even though we are at this point cloning animals, scientist would maybe consider cloning humans down the road and that’s what most people claim is unethical, the cloning humans.

The process of cloning humans is similar to the one for animals. So if a human is cloned it will be born as a baby. Why is this so bad? The main reason why humans would want to clone another human is simple. A lot of people think if you clone a human that clone will have all the memories of the person it came from. They are also very wrong. In order for that clone to have the same memories or physical body of the person they derived from they would have to grow up in the same environment as the person they were cloned from (Cohen 46). But really why would that be so bad? Would it be that the clone had no biological father or mother? Would it be that the clone was some freak of nature that the government would envy and give special attention to? Why is it that people fear human cloning over animal cloning? The main fear of human cloning is that some crazed scientist would create super humans or an all-powerful race and take over the world. Now this idea comes from a book called The Boys from Brazil which talks about a scientist who manages to create 94 clones of the infamous dictator Adolf Hitler from cells he contributed before his death in World War II (Nardo, Cloning 4-5). To many other people cloning would violate one’s dignity. So as you can see there are many ideas or theories to the ethics of cloning. Bender further states, that there are some other advantages to cloning,

The common reactions to the prospect of human cloning are revulsion and fear but these feelings are based on deeper concerns.Though reproductive technologies have been applauded in the past because they produce children, cloning is different. Cloning assaults the distinctive genetic individuality of humans in a way that other reproductive technologies do not (Cloning 17).

So advantages of cloning has come to our attention in many different ideas. One advantage that scientist have thought that could come out of cloning is we could create healthier animals. Farmers who raise livestock always want to look to new ideas to increase their herd health. So how would cloning help the farmer? For example, mastitis is a bacterial inflammation of the udders of cows. Through cloning scientist are hoping to work with cows genetics and reduce the susceptibility of obtaining mastitis (Nardo, Cloning 49). Recently researchers have also started using cloned animals to treat disease. By breeding cloned animals with normal animals the offspring get the gene to resist diseases. By using these cloned animals to treat these diseases, we are learning of new ways to treat human illnesses too. For example, pharming is the combination of farming and pharmaceutical’s and the harvesting of the drugs it produces. In a case of hemophilia, which is when the blood does not clot properly, cloning has become advanced enough that scientists some day think it will eliminate this disease with the help of cloned animals.

But of course, there are also some disadvantages to cloning and it seems that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. One main disadvantage is that consumers are unsure of consuming cloned animal meat because some fear that with its altered genes it may alter the nutritional properties or even the safety of the food itself. They fear that the foreign gene may inactivate or activate another gene that would cause toxins or allergenic food materials out of cloned animals (Houdebine 184). There are also some laws that tie in along with cloning. According to Joseph Panno’s book Animal Cloning,  there are certain laws in European Union which allow human cloning but won’t allow those clones to be used as research (Panno 76). Many people argue that cloning humans would be pointless because then those clones of  people wouldn’t have a normal life. They wouldn’t have a normal life because they technically would only have one parent and that parent would technically be their sister/mother or vise versa depending on the sex of the clone. So in short it’s a disadvantage to the clones themselves because they would probably become emotionally unstable due to lack of parental support and society would look at them a whole different way (Panno 76).

            The ethics of cloning are enough to persuade people to frown upon it. Would it be OK to clone animals but not humans? “Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.” (Goodreads). Look at the case of Dolly. She was made to start a better breeding program for animal agriculture. According to this quote from the book Cloning Ian Wilmut states,

Human cloning research is ethically unacceptable due to the numbers of embryos that would be killed in such experiments. However, animal cloning research should be allowed because it is ethical and can help scientist invent biomedical treatments for humans with serious diseases, produce organs for animal-to human organ transplants, and create healthier, more disease resistant livestock (Cloning 49).

So as you can see there are still concerns on whether any type of cloning is ethical or not, meanwhile animals are still being cloned.

Work Cited

Cloning. San Diego: David Bender, 1998.

Cohen, Daniel. Cloning. Brookfield: The Millbrook Press, Inc., 1998.

Goodreads. 2011. 2011. 16-December <http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/show/60118>.

Houdebine, Louis-Marie. Animal Transgenesis and Cloning. Dunod: John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 2001.

Kafka, Tina. Cloning. Farmington Hills: Lucent Books, 2008.

Nardo, Don. Cloning. Farmington Hills: Blackbirch Press, 2003.

Panno, Joseph. Animal Cloning. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2005.

Give me a Reason to Hate Someone

If I begin to pick the points one by one, I am sure that I will have to rally all the courage and all the time to write an epic on the topic ‘Why Humans Hate”. For the time being I am leaving you with your own ideas which compel you to hate others. Just be calm and think deeply before taking to hating someone or something.