Studies In Postmodern Philosophy And Theology

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Transhumanism

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Transhumanism: abbreviated as H+ or h+, is an international intellectual and cultural movement that affirms the possibility and desirability of fundamentally transforming the human condition by developing and making widely available technologies to eliminate aging and to greatly enhance human intellectual, physical, and psychological capacities

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Human Exceptionalim

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Human exceptionalism refers to a belief that human beings have special status in nature based on their unique capacities. This belief is the grounding for some naturalistic concepts of human rights.
Religious proponents of human exceptionalism base the belief on religious texts, such as the verse 1:26 in the Book of Genesis:
“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."

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After Birth Abortion

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Abortion is largely accepted even for reasons that do not have anything to do with the fetus' health. By showing that (1) both fetuses and newborns do not have the same moral status as actual persons, (2) the fact that both are potential persons is morally irrelevant and (3) adoption is not always in the best interest of actual people, the authors argue that what we call ‘after-birth abortion’ (killing a newborn) should be permissible in all the cases where abortion is, including cases where the newborn is not disabled.

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Moral Equivalence

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Two issues are claimed to be of equal moral importance.

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Governed by Principles or Sentimental Narrative?

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Without objective standards, law is reduced to a game of emotional manipulation. It is basically empathetic subjectivity, being ruled not by principles but by emotional narratives.

The “wisdom of repugnance," which is a valid starting point, can not be the sole criteria for determining morality. Abortion repugnance existed but it was taught out of us.

A society firmly grounded in even the most just and benevolent principles can become unjust by a strict adherence to naked legalisism. Equity only works, however if it is the frosting on the cake. When, as now, we have mostly frosting and little cake, equity devolves into expedience–to the point that we are often not governed by principle at all.

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Hermeneutics

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In religious studies and social philosophy, hermeneutics is the study of the theory and practice of interpretation. Traditional hermeneutics is the study of the interpretation of written texts, especially texts in the areas of literature, religion and law.

Modern hermeneutics encompasses everything in the interpretative process including verbal and non-verbal forms of communication as well as prior aspects that affect communication, such as presuppositions, preunderstandings, the meaning and philosophy of language, and semiotics.

Hermes, the mythological Greek deity whose role is that of messenger of the Gods. Besides being mediator between the gods themselves, and between the gods and humanity, he leads souls to the underworld upon death. He is also considered the inventor of language and speech, an interpreter, a liar, a thief and a trickster.

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Wrongful Life

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Wrongful life is the name given to a legal action in which someone is sued by a severely disabled child (through the child's legal guardian) for failing to prevent the child's birth.
Typically a child and the parents will sue a doctor or a hospital for failing to provide information about the disability during the pregnancy, or a genetic disposition before the pregnancy. Had the mother been aware of this information, it is argued, she would have had an abortion, or chosen not to conceive at all.

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Wrongful Birth

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Wrongful birth is a legal cause of action in some common law countries in which the parents of a congenitally diseased child claim that their doctor failed to properly warn of their risk of conceiving or giving birth to a child with serious genetic or congenital abnormalities.[1] Thus, the plaintiffs claim, the defendant prevented them from making a truly informed decision as to whether or not to have the child. Wrongful birth is a type of medical malpractice tort. It is distinguished from wrongful life, in which the child sues the doctor.