The impacts and ethics of waste disposal on the Palouse will be discussed at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 2, in Todd 116 as part of the WSU Common Reading Tuesdays lecture series.
The free, public talk will be presented by professor Bill Kabasenche and five students in his environmental ethics class (Philosophy 370).
“Where does that bottle, leftover food or old laptop go when you dispose of it?” Kabasenche asks. “Our trash is out of sight but should it be out of mind? What are the ethical issues we should think about in disposing of our waste?”
A lesbian couple wants a baby genetically related to both of them. They’re considering using sperm from one woman’s brother. He just turned 18. Should they ask him?
The situation involved the relative of a Washington State University student. The student asked Bill Kabasenche, WSU assistant professor of philosophy, for advice. He saw a “wild conglomeration” of issues:
Is the brother old enough to give informed consent?
Is he old enough to become a father?
What responsibilities would he have?
Why is it important to have genetically related kids?
If genetics are that important, then they’d be equally important to the brother, which means he’d have significant responsibilities.
Is parenthood fundamentally a relationship of love or of biology?
Is the couple using the baby as an instrument to validate the relationship?
If people can design their babies, does that replace unconditional love with a sense of comparison shopping?
Kabasenche’s specialty is bioethics. He teaches several courses on the topic and is co-director of the ethics committee at Pullman Regional Hospital. He’s also the force behind WSU’s new online graduate certificate in bioethics. Continue story →
