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Ethics Youth Council: How About the Ethics of Cryogenics?

In our first Ethics Youth Council podcast, Bonnie Liu and Harry Bagenstos, co-captains of the 2017-2018 Ann Arbor Greenhills School Ethics Bowl team, discuss what the Michigan Ethics Bowl program is; why they were drawn to it; and tell us a few stories about their own team experiences on Bowl Day. They also highlight the case study--and its essential role in the competition. To show how this is so...Harry and Bonnie go back and forth on a particular case, one written by Bonnie for a previous A2Ethics case writing competition. It is about the ethical dilemmas posed by human cryogenics, a subject that Bonnie would like other students to share their views about.     

In the podcast, Harry and Bonnie consider multiple aspects of cryogenics. First, they walk through the science around the issue, as it stands currently. They then delve into the obligation of society to respect the wishes of an individual who wants to be cryogenically preserved across a variety of contexts. Among the situations they discuss: the potential for companies in the cryogenics business to take advantage of people for profit--or the more graphic novel quandary in which a cryogenically preserved nuclear scientist's wishes are disobeyed in order to ensure a larger group's greater good during a time of war.

Stay tuned for future Ethics Youth Council podcasts to hear more from the talented high school students involved in Ethics Bowl and in creating new activities related to ethics and philosophy in Michigan high schools. 

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