Humanize From Discovery Institute's Center on Human Exceptionalism
Category

Human Dignity

Photo by Katarzyna Grabowska
Type
post
Author
Tom Shakely
Date
July 9, 2021
Categorized
Human Dignity, Human Flourishing

‘Suffering and Sacrifice Are Part of a Flourishing Human Life’

Tom Shakely
July 9, 2021

Dr. Jennifer Frey delivered an excellent talk on “Suffering and the Problem of Evil” to the Thomistic Institute’s Yale University chapter this April. Listen to the whole talk, which I think is really a call to be practically wise amidst the tumult of our chaotic lives. I’ve transcribed the below from Dr. Frey’s talk and any errors are mine. First, on the classical view of justice: Now, it’s central to the virtue of justice in particular that there are certain things we must never do because that sort of action is to wrong someone. So, if we were to commit this sort of action—the wronging someone sort of action—then we would be not exercising justice but injustice. Murder, torture, rape, Read More ›

embryos-frozen-in-liquid-nitrogen-for-ivf-procedure-close-up-stockpack-adobe-stock.jpg
Embryos frozen in liquid nitrogen for IVF procedure close up
Type
post
Author
Wesley J. Smith
Date
April 16, 2021
Categorized
Genetic Manipulation, Human Dignity
Tagged
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Scientists Make Human-Monkey Hybrid Embryos

Wesley J. Smith
April 16, 2021
They said they wouldn’t do it, but of course they did. Scientists working in China — where else? — have constructed embryos that are part human and part monkey. Read More ›
Empty_classroom_2020
Type
post
Author
Wesley J. Smith
Date
October 6, 2020
Categorized
Human Dignity
Tagged
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For the Young, Lockdowns Are Worse Than Coronavirus

The election will determine whether the nation will be allowed to move forward.
Wesley J. Smith
October 6, 2020
In July, Ezekiel Emanuel — the bioethicist and COVID adviser to Joe Biden — signed an open letter insisting that the country be locked down again — only this time, in an even more draconian manner than before, including significant restrictions on interstate travel. Read More ›
Loving couple holding hands in a field
Loving couple holding hands in a field
Type
post
Author
Wesley J. Smith
Date
August 6, 2020
Categorized
Human Dignity, Human Rights
Tagged
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Privacy in Human Intimacy about Morality, not Evolution

Wesley J. Smith
August 6, 2020

Recently, anthropologist Yitzchak Ben Mocha theorized on why human beings, alone among mammals, prefer to “mate” in private. From the Phys.Org story: He found that virtually every known culture practices private mating — even in places where privacy is difficult to find. He also looked for examples of other animals mating in private, and found none, except for the babblers [a bird species]. He also found that there were no explanations for it, and in fact, there were very few other people wondering why humans have such a proclivity. And, not surprisingly, he was unable to find any evolutionary theories on the topic. But evolution must be made to explain all! Ben Mocha concludes his paper by introducing a theory of his own — he believes Read More ›

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Measure fever in senior citizens in the nursing home because of Covid-19
Type
post
Author
Tom Shakely
Date
May 15, 2020
Categorized
Human Dignity, Patient Care

What If We Ignored Those Most Vulnerable to COVID-19?

Tom Shakely
May 15, 2020

“We locked down America with relative speed in March and we avoided all the worst predictions of the potential impact of the coronavirus, but we struggled to reach consensus anywhere on how to responsibly open back up.” If we had to write the one sentence history of the COVID-19 pandemic today, that would be something like America’s version. We don’t know how things will continue to play out, but what’s clear at the moment is that state and local leaders appear to be paralyzed. Unfortunately, those bearing some of the greatest costs of this ruling class paralysis aren’t likely the first to come to our minds. Their story is not told in the TL/DR history of this time. We’re witnessing Read More ›

Photo by Aditya Romansa
Type
post
Author
Tom Shakely
Date
March 11, 2020
Categorized
Conscience, Human Dignity

Bloomberg: A Patient’s Care is ‘Futile’ if We Decide the Patient Has Little Value

Tom Shakely
March 11, 2020

Mike Bloomberg’s presidential campaign is over, but I want to return to something Bloomberg once said that was brought up by reporter Peter Hasson during Bloomberg’s most recent campaign that speaks to a fundamental issue in healthcare issue: Billionaire and Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg said in a 2011 video that some elderly cancer patients should be denied treatment in order to cut health care costs. He drew on a hypothetical example of a “95-year old” with “prostate cancer” to signal an openness he would have to reform how Medicare provides treatment. “All of these costs keep going up, nobody wants to pay any more money, and at the rate we’re going, health care is going to bankrupt us,” said Read More ›

pexels-photo-2990616
Type
post
Author
Tom Shakely
Date
February 19, 2020
Categorized
Human Dignity, Human Exceptionalism, Human Flourishing, Human Rights

Human Rights Require Knowledge of the Human Heart

Tom Shakely
February 19, 2020

I’m excited to join the Discovery Institute’s Center on Human Exceptionalism. Let me share my approach to the issues of human dignity, liberty, and equality and the moral duties that the Center exists to consider and advance. I believe that when it comes to issues of human life we’re generally engaging conflicts that are neither unresolvable nor destined for stalemate. We’re debating issues that matter. We can lose sight of this due to the tendency to throw our hands into the air over the seemingly complex nature of many human life issues, content to “agree to disagree” because “it’s complicated.” For those determined to advance human dignity, liberty, and equality, settling for this false peace is, in fact, a surrender Read More ›

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