Communication: The "Goodness of Existence"
Exterminating a fetus simply because the life may have birth defects, according to Kass, is to obliterate the notion that life in and of itself is good. Existence is good, despite its nature according to Kass. There are currently no standards which dictate how such situations might be handled. These ideas are explored in greater detail below. Kass is very much opposed to the notion of interfering with nature, as well as producing a separate standard of existence for children who are artificially or "naturally" born with defects. Kass would argue that to punish the mother in one circumstance but not another "is blatantly anti-life, making it an offense to keep the baby alive and bring it to birth" (168).
Kass would definitely support the notion that even a "modest prolongation of life" would be satisfying. There is no virtue in the death of a young child according to Kass, or the untimely demise of anyone. He suggests that in fact all human beings must die, but it is not a state that should be inappropriately assigned to anyone.
Both decisions are value-based decisions; there are logical basis for sanctioning women who damage their children, or who engage in activities that are known to be harmful to unborn children, assuming their children are wanted to begin with.
Kass has noted that there are no standards established that adequately determine whether the benefit...
Aristotle & Cicero on Rhetoric As children we are conditioned to a particular form of discourse that is framed by a significantly complex set of variables including our culture, gender, ethnicity, birth order, political identity and power, religion, and personality. How we employ words, in what context, and with what relative level of effectiveness is determined by all of these factors and more. Rhetoric is, however effectively argued over, a tool
There are many examples in the literature of the intention and purpose of the early colonists to eradicate the Indian population. The genocidal intentions against the indigenous population of America do not however begin with the English colonists, but starts with Columbus. The following quotation refers to his second voyage to the New World. Columbus took the title "Admiral of the Ocean Sea" and proceeded to unleash a reign of
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