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The Point of a Ban

To explore the logic and make sense of a ban on stem cell research is my aim here. Since many parties to the debate claim, at least, to agree that the embryo should be treated with “respect,” it may be fruitful to explore other issues — in particular, the nature of moral reasoning and the background beliefs that underlie such reasoning. I propose to take a very long way round. Our understanding of what is at stake can be sharpened if we begin not with stem cell research but with a quite different moral question.