Abstract This argumentative paper covers both sides of the controversy surrounding stem cell research, but concludes that stem cell research should indeed be allowed. It looks at the medical advances made in this field, but also argues the ethical and religious issues at stake.
From the Paper "Stem cell research is one of the most controversial subjects in America today. The controversy is in how one can obtain these stem cells. During fertilization, in humans, the embryo is hollow and contains cells that eventually develop into a fetus. Researchers have discovered, as recently as 1998, that the cells in the embryo contain all the tissues types, therefore becoming any cell in the body. Thus the stem cells can be transplanted into patients with diseases dealing with cell abnormality. With the great potential to cure Alzheimer"s, Parkinson"s, and spinal cord injuries, stem cell research should be allowed; however, there are people who are against stem cell research."
Abstract This paper evaluates both the positive and negative effects of affirmative action policies today, with a particular focus on racial minorities, such as African-Americans and Latinos, in higher education. The paper defines affirmative action, traces the policies? history, examines their goals, and looks at the various legal challenges that have been mounted against these policies. Finally, the paper includes a critical examination of the arguments both for and against the continued use of affirmative action policies and concludes by taking the position that affirmative action policies are ineffective and actually harm the parties they are intended to benefit.
From the Paper "Jackson further argues that many affluent white students have access to SAT preparation scores and have the time and resources to participate in extracurricular activities and honor courses. This places many minority students from lower-income families who need to work after school and do not have resources for SAT preparation tests at a distinct disadvantage (Jackson 290). For proponents like Jackson, affirmative action is a way to address these discrepancies and ensure that disadvantaged youth receive an equal opportunity towards higher education."
Abstract This paper explains that, in 1900, it was widely acceptable to express prejudice openly, and many people who were well-established as Americans often shared prejudicial beliefs. By 2000, American society had come to a more enlightened place, and it was socially unacceptable to casually dismiss whole groups of people because as individuals they exhibited specific negative traits. The paper examines how these changing attitudes affected the lives of immigrants in the United States.
From the Paper "While the United States is a country built from immigrants, the experience of immigrants have varied greatly over time. By 1900, the country had experienced several large waves of immigration, such as that caused by the potato famine in Ireland. Most of the immigrants stayed close to where they had disembarked (Claghorn, 1901), making lower Manhattan congested and packed with people who often had little in the way of means. It was easy for those who had come perhaps only one or two generations before and see themselves as markedly superior to the new immigrants, and since the new residents were living in a congested and easily observed area, it was easy to develop stereotypical ideas about each group."
Abstract This paper discusses how the very purpose of life is to build individual consciousness and how the question of a first principle arises on the current premise of ethics surrounding the debate on the ethicality of euthanasia. It looks at how opponents to euthanasia have viewed most, if not all, their arguments from the moralistic perspective that there is an intrinsic value to human life and, therefore, it needs to be preserved until death occurs naturally. It attempts, therefore, to focus on the real ethical issues revolving around euthanasia and evaluate them against a commonly held view as to what constitutes a moral judgment.
From the Paper "While there is certainly some validity in this argument, there also needs to be cognition of the fact that there is individual choice involved in exercising the right to determine whether or not he or she would like to go through such an experiential state. Nowhere in metaethics is there any implication of Divine enforcement of such consciousness on individuals. Rather there is an emphasis on individual effort towards higher and higher states of consciousness. It would also be of relevance here, to note that the theological view of the individual right to determine the time of death has varied down the ages."
Abstract Discusses a woman's right to abortion. Its arguments include due process rights and the 14th Amendment, equal protection, and right to privacy. Examines Supreme Court decisions, the pro-life position, and the disagreement over the relative rights of the pregnant woman and the fetus.
From the Paper "This report examines the pro-choice arguments supporting a woman's right to abortion. These arguments include women's rights to privacy, due process rights under the Fourteenth Amendment, rights of speech and ..."
Abstract Examines the central theme of abortion and Irving's presentation of the abortion debate with respect to three characters in the novel. Contends that Irving positions two opposing views of abortion to identify the themes over the controversy.
From the Paper "In The Cider House Rules, novelist John Irving presents what he himself called a self-conscious adoption of the literary form of the Dickensian novel with its multiplicity of characters, its narrative mass, ..."
Abstract Recent years have seen intense debate on the ethicality of human cloning and therapeutic cloning. While the former involves reproduction of a new human, a clone to the adult from whom the DNA was taken, therapeutic cloning has a very different goal. Having said that, therapeutic cloning, too, has been under the spotlight. This paper focuses on therapeutic cloning alone and explores the possible pros and cons of the procedure. It defines therapeutic cloning to assure that the discussion is viewed in the correct contextual framework.
From the Paper "Therapeutic Cloning or Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer is a procedure, which involves removing the DNA from a cell taken from a human, inserting it into the DNA taken from a woman's ovum and giving the resultant ovum an electrical shock to begin the formation of an embryo. The procedure results in a pre-embryo being formed in a small percentage of cases (Robinson)."
Abstract The writer of this paper states that the death penalty is justifiable on the grounds of deterrence, retribution, and increasing crime recidivism. This paper discusses whether the death penalty is socially and ethically justified or not. It brings in opinions from the Bible and other sources to argue that the death penalty is acceptable.
From the Paper "The world finds itself stagnated with ethical debates of social significance. Ever since history began, men have been arguing over what is right and what is wrong. There seems to be no one answer. And in fact, in some cases, such arguments become a matter of life and death. Such, indeed, is the nature of the debate carried on in this paper: the Death Penalty. We will seek to establish whether the death penalty is socially and ethically justified or not. The issue has a history dating back to the Eighteenth Century B.C., but it is not within the confines of the thesis presented hereforth, to delve into as much detail. We will argue and maintain that the death penalty is, indeed, justified."
Abstract This paper explores another argument against the death penalty: that capital punishment could not be fairly administered throughout the country. From state to state, variables such as race, class, and even gender continue to influence sentencing in capital cases. The inherent unfairness of this system is further seen in how states have different standards regarding what constitutes a capital offense. Given these differences, this paper proposes that a Constitutional amendment banning capital punishment is necessary on the grounds that the current administration of the death penalty is prone to conflicting interpretations by states, conflicting interpretations among jurors, and to the influence of extra-legal factors, such as gender, class, and race.
From the Paper "Currently, 38 states have legalized capital punishment statutes. In most states, the reinstatements of the death penalty were a response to public outcry over the perceived increase of violent crimes. There are now more than 3,000 people on death row. However, the death penalty continues to raise many disturbing questions. Study after study, however, has shown no correlation between the availability of a death penalty and crime. A study by the Death Penalty Information Center shows that United States, which retains the death penalty, has a murder rate that is more than three times that of many of its European allies that have banned capital punishment (DPIC homepage)."
Abstract This paper takes the position that, in light of the aftermath of the post-September 11 war with Iraq, Bush's justifications for going to war were questionable. The paper examines those justifications, as well as the facts and issues surrounding Bush, and the way they were reported by major-market journalists.
From the Paper "The justifications for the American attack on Iraq in March, 2003, was largely based on the political decisions of President George W. Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and others in his administration, that: a) Saddam Hussein was in the process of developing "weapons of mass destruction" and the United Nations inspectors should not be given more time to search suspected sites in Iraq for them; b) Saddam Hussein was linked to bin Laden's group of Islamic extremists, or terrorists, and was giving support and/or sanctuary to al Queda; c) Saddam Hussein was in the process of building nuclear weapons; c) attacking Saddam was part of the administration's ongoing ?war on terrorism.? But those justifications have not stood up well to the test of truth, and the test of time."
Tags: coalition, forces, occupation, rumsfeld, saddam, hussein, united, nations, inspectors
Abstract This paper discusses affirmative action, with particular emphasis on how it pertains to decisions on hiring and promoting. The objective of the paper is to show that, for the most part, affirmative action works well. There are only some instances when it is taken too far so that it becomes detrimental to both white males, because they cannot get work as easily, and minorities, because they are believed to be promoted based on race and gender, and not on the merits of their work.
From the Paper "Affirmative action is a reasonably new development when looking at the history of this country. It is basically designed to ensure that people who were treated unfairly in the past get equal treatment now, but there are some difficulties with this and there are some people who feel that affirmative action is unfair to those that are not minorities. Mainly white males feel that women and/or minorities are chosen before them in hiring decisions and are also promoted at a better rate in companies that have affirmative action policies in place. It has become difficult for many companies to find a balance between being fair to white males and being fair to everyone else."
Abstract This paper examines some of the public explanations the Bush administration offered for why war in Iraq was necessary. Bush's public explanations of his reasons for attacking Iraq without UN backing are discussed, as are the messages regarding U.S. foreign policy towards Iraq that are contained within official policy documents. The reasons behind the U.S. war on Iraq as they emerge from both sources are analyzed, as are possible explanations for the discrepancies in the public and private explanations for the war.
From the Paper "From this October 7th 2002 speech, then, we see that President Bush, and his administration had several main reasons for attacking Iraq on March 21st 2003: that they viewed Saddam Hussein as "a grave threat to peace" (Bush, 2002); that the weapons of mass destruction program developed by Saddam Hussein decades earlier had never been stopped; that Saddam Hussein was a "threat to world peace" (Bush, 2002); that Saddam Hussein was a dictator, and as such, should be removed from power; that evidence was available to suggest that Saddam Hussein was rebuilding his weapons of mass destruction program; that Saddam Hussein had links to terrorist groups, which in the wake of 9/11 was a bad thing; that Saddam Hussein had links to al Qaeda; that Saddam Hussein was rebuilding his nuclear weapons program; and finally, that the overthrowing of Saddam Hussein was necessary on humanitarian grounds, so that the Iraqi economy could be reconstructed, and so that "institutions of liberty" (Bush, 2002) could be constructed."
Abstract This paper explains that the law allowing for the right to bear arms was created two hundred years ago and needs amending. However, the writer argues that the law should still allow citizens to protect themselves and not be totally reliant on law enforcement agents to do so.
From the Paper "The controversy over gun control has been prevalent since the United States was founded. Our forefathers agreed to the statement," a well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed" as our gun policy over two-hundred years ago. It became the second amendment. It was created as the second amendment to signify how important the right to bear arms was to our forefathers. Now in present day America the legal battle over guns has been aimed at the manufacturers of the weapons as opposed to the individuals. Media coverage and firearm-related deaths have caused the government to intervene on the manufacturing and banning of many assorted firearms."
Abstract This paper explains that society is forced to ask itself: What makes society different from the murderer, if it is so easily prepared to sentence someone to lethal injection or the chair? The author points out that both proponents for and activists against capital punishment in the form of the death penalty use the 'sanctity of life' as part of their argument. The paper concludes that, ethically, capital punishment is wrong because society is placing a huge amount of moral power within individuals' hands by implementing death sentences and executions; therefore, society must find other deterrents to serious crimes and acts of treason that do not involve capital punishment.
From the Paper "Capital Punishment has been in effect since the 1970s, despite cases and controversy that it goes against a person's 8th Amendment rights. Nevertheless, there has been changes in Capital Punishment laws and "in 2002 the Court barred the execution of mentally retarded offenders, overturning its 1989 ruling on the matter. In the same year the Court ruled that the death penalty must be imposed through a finding of a jury and not a judge" (Columbia, 2003). In 2002, lethal injection accounted for 71 executions (CP Statistics, 2003) while 1 was carried out by electrocution. Statistics in Capital Punishment have shown though that the numbers for 2002 have decreased for a second year in a row, and all inmates on Death Row had committed murder."
Abstract This paper begins with a discussion of the way abortion has been regarded throughout different periods and governments in history. It then goes on to look at the legal and ethical questions surrounding the issue of abortion and to examine some of the arguments presented both in favor of and in opposition to the legalization of abortion. The paper concludes with the author of the paper taking a position that favors legalized abortion.
From the Paper "What will the world say? That the Americans cannot articulate, legislatively, that human life is expensive, that an infant's life is possibly the most valuable of all other lives, as well as that the American people want to make sure that women are positioned in an "ethical" atmosphere in which judgments on the subject of life and death are taken sincerely and dealt with as matters of ethical seriousness. A lot of women, maybe most, by now treat this matter as an ethically serious subject, however, many do not, it is for them a structure of birth control, and even those who do might not, forever, evidently see, and therefore fully sense, what is at risk. Let them and others see it and then act accordingly to help womanhood."
