[Vision2020] Rights to kill

[Joe Campbell]

This is similar to a thought experiment by Judith Jarvis Thompson. The
difference is, in her example, the hook up was done against the
woman's will (thereby being analogous to the case of rape). Does that
change the situation? Add too that the issue has to do with individual
rights. Unless we can be certain that every case of rape is prosecuted
it is not clear how the rights of women can be protected unless
abortions are unrestricted. Personally, given my Catholic
sensibilities, I find this unfortunate since it allows for abuse. But
I'm not sure how to make things better, all things considered. Nor is
it clear what my Catholic sensibilities have to do with the rights of
Jews, atheists, etc.

That's my view!

On Thu, Nov 4, 2010 at 7:57 AM, Robert Dickow <dickow at uidaho.edu> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
>
>
> This is sort of a new thread. Maybe. Anyway, let’s try a little thought
> experiment. Suppose, at some time in the not-too-distant future, we have the
> technology to hook up an adult to a woman via a kind of mechanical placenta.
> Ok, so let’s say I decide to work out a deal with a local female that I
> contact via Cupid.com and arrange to hook myself up to her body via the new
> apparatus. After all, I live alone, and I’m tired of fixing myself TV
> Dinners, and I’m a lousy cook, and I want to simply have a little vacation
> and be nourished through my new (and rather expensive) MicroSoft Placenta XT
> Version 2.3. The woman agrees, and we undergo the simple but delicate
> procedure to install the artificial placenta and wire it up to my belly
> button. Six weeks later, she decides she has changed her mind and doesn’t
> like me parasitizing off her, despite the princely weekly deductions from my
> PayPal account that we agreed would be fair exchange for the deal. Of
> course, I’m quite happy with my arrangement, and I refuse to detach the
> device, which of course is under my control, protected as it is with a
> secure 164-bit Ryndael Encrypted password system (Patent Pend). The
> authorities can’t forceably detach me from the device without killing me,
> and such action might kill my host as well (although this only happens in a
> small percentage of cases).
>
>
>
> Now, a question: Does the woman have the right to arrange to have me
> detached, thereby killing me?
>
>
>
> If yes, could the detachment service costs by Federally funded?
>
>
>
> P.S. Microsoft eventually develops a male version of the placenta, so that
> males can serve as hosts as well.
>
>
>
> Bob Dickow, troublemaker
>
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