The Center for Bioethics and Culture Network

On Human Exceptionalism

February 3rd, 2010

By Wesley J. Smith, J.D., Special Consultant to the CBC. Excerpted from his A Rat Is a Pig Is a Dog Is a Boy: The Human Cost of the Animal Rights Movement (Encounter, 2010).

An embrace of human exceptionalism does not depend on religious belief. Whether our distinctive moral characteristics ﬂow from the processes of blind evolution, or the mind of God, or some other mechanism, the unique importance of being human can be robustly supported by a rational examination of the differences between humans and all other known life forms.

The idea that human beings stand at the pinnacle of the moral hierarchy of life should be—and once was—uncontroversial. After all, what other species in the known history of life has attained the wondrous capacities of human beings? What other species has transcended the tooth-and-claw world of naked natural selection to the point that, at least to some degree, we now control nature instead of being controlled by it? What other species builds civilizations, records history, creates art, makes music, thinks abstractly, communicates in language, envisions and fabricates machinery, improves life through science and engineering, or explores the deeper truths found in philosophy and religion? What other species has true freedom? Not a one. David Oderberg gets to the heart of why humans are exceptional: … Read the rest of this entry »

Pushing a Dangerous Anti-Human Exceptionalism, Undignified Bioethics

January 20th, 2010

By Wesley J. Smith, J.D., Special Consultant to the CBC
A bioethicist named Alasdair Cochrane, who is, ironically, a deep thinker at the Centre for the Study of Human Rights in the UK, argues against intrinsic human dignity as a basis for establishing bioethical policies. He attacks various theories that promote human dignity, e.g., “as [...]

CBC 2009 Winners and Losers

January 13th, 2010

Winners:
Dr. Darwin J. Prockop, a worldwide leader in adult stem cell research, has moved his research lab from Tulane University to the Texas A&M Health Center which has pledged $40 million over the next 5 years towards his research. Lawmakers in Texas have invested $5 million towards adult stem cell research as have other states [...]

What People Are Saying About CBC

December 30th, 2009

Dear friends,
Thank you, our supporters, who have given to the work of the CBC. Your gift tells us that you not only have confidence in the work we do, but you also see our work as important and much needed. To date, your generous gifts have helped CBC raise much needed funds for the work [...]

Give Your Online End-of-Year Gift Now

December 29th, 2009

Dear friends,
We know the work we do at the CBC is important and necessary and effective. Just look at what we’ve accomplished this past year! We have confidence in you, our readers and supporters, that you would agree. And we trust in your continued support of our mission and vision, to advance ethical biotechnology for [...]