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You just knew it was coming: At the request of the Swiss government, an ethics panel has weighed in on the "dignity" of plants and opined that the arbitrary killing of flora is morally wrong. This is no hoax. The concept of what could be called "plant rights" is being seriously debated.

A few years ago the Swiss added to their national constitution a provision requiring "account to be taken of the dignity of creation when handling animals, plants and other organisms." No one knew exactly what it meant, so they asked the Swiss Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human Biotechnology to figure it out. The resulting report, "The Dignity of Living Beings with Regard to Plants," is enough to short circuit the brain.

A "clear majority" of the panel adopted what it called a "biocentric" moral view, meaning that "living organisms should be considered morally for their own sake because they are alive." Thus, the panel determined that we cannot claim "absolute ownership" over plants and, moreover, that "individual plants have an inherent worth." This means that "we may not use them just as we please, even if the plant community is not in danger, or if our actions do not endanger the species, or if we are not acting arbitrarily."

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ORIGINAL: sirsholly



whats next..."The Indignity of Organism Infested Cow Manure"?

I confess to the slaughter of dozens of houseplants over the years though my wanton neglect. Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa....

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ORIGINAL: TheHeretic

       So does that mean I can sue a patch of poison ivy?  C'mon folks, who wants a piece of some class-action here?


       This reminds me of a sci-fi short story I read a long time ago.  Learn to love yogurt, and hope nobody decides it is alive too.

But it is, isn't it? Those "active cultures" you always hear about?

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New Messages
kittinSol
Deranged



Posts: 5951
Joined: 3/16/2005
Status: offline Huh, neither, this paper is simply a review by an ethics committe in Switzerland.

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