Things May Be Getting a Little Hotter for Jeremy Bentham

For those of you who don't know who he is, Jeremy Bentham is considered the father of a philosophical school of thought called utilitarianism. Utilitarianism says the moral worth of an action is determined solely by its contribution to overall utility. This school of philosophy is the foundation used to say that fetal stem cell research is ethical. Simply, the embryo/fetus has no worth in & of itself since it isn't wanted. But, its stem cells do have some potential worth or utility when it comes to developing cures. Therefore killing the embryo is justified. (This is a simplified explanation of the whole justification process.)

The stem cell research bill currently in the US House is a prime example of utilitarianism in action. According to an article in the NY Times: "On a vote of 247 to 176, the House overwhelmingly passed the bill, with Republicans and Democrats forging a coalition to authorize federal support for research using stem cells derived from spare embryos that fertility clinics would otherwise discard. The Senate approved the legislation in April." (Emphasis mine)

Note the description of the embryos, spare ones that would otherwise be discarded. Under utitilitarianism they have no value because they have no utility. Why?, because they are no longer needed to be implanted in a woman's uterus. The fact that they are living human beings has no place in determining their worth. Life doesn't automatically grant utility. The only utility is found in the stem cells, so that makes it morally OK to murder them under utilitarianism.

What is even more disgusting is Nancy Pelosi's attempt to put this bill on the side of the angels. She had the following to say about it:“Science is a gift of God to all of us and science has taken us to a place that is biblical in its power to cure. And that is the embryonic stem cell research.”

WHAT? GOD WANTS US TO KILL HUMAN BEINGS IN THE NAME OF SCIENCE?

That is exactly what she is saying. as Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council points out in his Friday 8 June 2007 Washington Update: "This is just the latest example of the Left's aggressive efforts to lure the unsuspecting into supporting immoral and unethical policies which are whitewashed with spiritual words and phrases."

Tony Perkins goes on to say: "Meanwhile, Pelosi must not have learned from Rudy Giuliani's experience during the GOP debate when the building was struck by lightening as he sought to justify abortion. Pro-lifers expected a similar jolt after the Speaker invoked God's blessing on the stem cell bill's passage."

On the other hand Prseident Bush got it exactly right when he said: "If this bill were to become law, American taxpayers would for the first time in our history be compelled to support the deliberate destruction of human embryos. Crossing that line would be a grave mistake."

1 of the ironies of all this is the reality, as I have pointed out so many times before, tis that the real successes in finding treatments & cures have been with adult & umbilical cord stem cells. The few supposed successes out there with embryonic stem cells have yet to be proven successful in human tests & the few times that there have been humantests, the results have been disaterous. If you strictly followed utilitariansim's criteria, there is no utility found in fetal/embryonic stem cells, thus no moral criteria to justify it.

I've been meaning to make some comments about utilitarianism & fetal/embryonic stem cell research for several days now. Rep. Pelosi's actions have simply provided me with the framework.

In doing my research I went back & refreshed my memory about Bentham, John Stuart Mill & utilitariansim. I came across something interesting about Bentham, the description of his political philosophy. Some of the things he supported were: separation of church and state, animal rights, abolition of physical punishment (including that of children) the right to divorce, & the Decriminalisation of sodomy (1 of the few things he got right was the call for the abolition of slavery*). Sounds a lot like modern liberalism & the Democratic Party platform doesn't it?

Another interesting fact about Bentham was who was 1 of his students. That student was Robert Owen, a founder of socialism. Again, that explains a lot about what is wrong with the Democratic Party & 21st Century liberalism.

There are many more examples of how pervasive utilitarian philosophy has become. The support of abortion by claiming it is a right is another prime example. The debate on euthenasia is another where utilitarianism is rearing its ugly head.

Every human life has value, not because of its utility. Every human life has value because every human being is made in the image & likeness of God. Every life from conception to natural death has value because God gave it value. Part of our battle in building a "Culture of Life" has to include showing the emptiness of philosophies like utilitarianism. Not an easy task, but with our doing what we can relying on the help of God, possible.

As for the title of this post, it is based on an assumption that I make in the spirit of my fellow Italiano, Dante, that Bentham is in Hell & paying for the fruits of his philosophy.

[Note: (added 9 June 2007, 11:06 pm) I realized that there are some people who might not get the Dante reference so I decided to expand it a bit. In Dante's Inferno (Divine Comedy) the 6th circle of Hell is for heretics (such as those who deny the soul's immortality). They are kept in sepulchres (tombs) that are surrounded by fire. The level of heat varies depending on the sins of those in the sepulchre. The implication being that Bentham is in 1 of those sepulchres with his followers, like John Stuart Mill, & that people who are currently following his theories are eventually going to join him. Their ongoing actions are making what he did worse, thus stoking the fire.]

* Upon reflection this surprized me. After all a good utilitarian arguement for slavery could be made. I'm going to have to do some more research & see how he got arround that & came out against slavery.