Entire Transcript in Adobe Acrobat Format - National Reference ...

146
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
want to pick up on Jim's first point about how to
understand property. Indeed, as I understand it
historically, it is a bundle of both rights and duties. I
think your group has stressed the duty aspect.
Courtney Campbell, who wrote a background paper
for us about some religious views about the human body and
how they might be interpreted for the kind of problem that
is facing us came up with, I thought, a very nice variant
of the whole notion of the human body as gift and he talks
about in this kind of context it is like a contribution
that you make. It is not a gift to a specified individual
but it is a contribution to a larger kind of effort and
socially desirable goal worthy of our support.
I think that is probably a good way to think
about it in which the case the people who are then holders
of that contribution have duties, not merely rights but
duties, to handle it in certain respectful ways in keeping
with the intent of the donor and the like. That to me --
and I have to confess that makes a great deal of sense to
me. So that is the first item of praise.
The second thing I would like to do is Rhetaugh
asked a question earlier, which I think really -- it is an
important one. It deserves as full an answer as we can
give it and we do not have a lot of time left before we