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Mitochondrial Dna Replacement: Moral And Halakhic Concerns, J. David Bleich

Articles

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), transmitted from mother to child, have their own genetic code that may cause debilitating genetic diseases. To prevent such unfortunate occurrences, researchers have developed a process enabling them to completely replace an ovum’s mitochondria with mitochondria contributed by a donor. Children born by use of this method have genetic material from both the mitochondrial donor and the birth mother; they are “three-parent babies.” Resultant medical, ethical, legal and theological problems are obvious.

Moreover, this technology may pose significant risks to neonates born of such procedures. Certainly no person has the right to cause harm to a fellow …

The Scrivener's Dilemma In Divorce Mediation: Promulgating Progressive Professional Parameters, Robert K. Collins

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No abstract provided.

Legal And Ethical Concerns About Sexual Orientation Change Efforts, Tia Powell, Edward Stein

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No abstract provided.

Mad Money: Wall Street's Bonus Obsession, Jeanne L. Schroeder

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No abstract provided.

Support Of Non-Biological Children In Jewish Law, J. David Bleich

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Adoption as a legal institution is unknown in Jewish law. Suppression of parental identity, as generally occurs in closed adoption, is banned “lest the earth become filled with licentiousness” (Leviticus 19:29). Rabbinic tradition interprets that verse as expressing concern regarding the possibility of a future incestuous marriage. Nevertheless, raising an orphan in one’s home is regarded as highly meritorious. However, binding obligations of support and maintenance can be undertaken only by means of contract. Such a contract in favor of a stepchild may be verbal if entered into at the time of marriage. Otherwise, a formal kinyan, i.e., one of …

Trick Or Treat: The Ethics Of Mediator Manipulation, Jim Coben, Lela P. Love

Articles

Much of what good mediators do can be characterized as “helpful interventions” that assist the parties towards legitimate goals such as a better understanding, a platform for developing options, and (where the parties choose) an agreement or settlement. However, all such “helpful interventions” are inevitably "manipulative," in the sense that the mediator is, often unilaterally, making “moves” with profound impact on the parties’ bargaining. To evaluate the ethics of any individual move, the authors propose asking two questions: 1) does the move further or help a legitimate party or process goal that advances party self-determination in decision-making; and 2) is …

Spinoza's Dialectic And The Paradoxes Of Tolerance: A Foundation For Pluralism, Michel Rosenfeld

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Tolerance and pluralism seem to draw on the same criterion of legitimacy. The liberal case for tolerance, however, leads to a series of paradoxes, including Popper's paradox of tolerance according to which tolerating theintolerant is self-defeating. Spinoza's defense of tolerance as it emergesfrom his Theological-Political Treatise and his Ethics is more pervasive and much more encompasssing than the liberal justification. Spinoza justifies tolerance as a private and public virtue as well as on prudential grounds. Although Spinoza's conception of tolerance appears in significant respects paradoxical and contradictory - e.g., it is puzzling why Spinoza, the philosopher of reason, should avocate …

The Ethics Of Genetic Research On Sexual Orientation, Udo Schuklenk, Edward Stein, Jacinta Kerin, William Byne

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No abstract provided.