Louis M. Guenin is Lecturer on Ethics in Science, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Harvard Medical School. His research lies mainly in distributive justice, the ethics of research, and philosophy of science. In recent years he has explored the morality of embryonic stem cell research in papers (e.g., 'Morals and Primordials,' Science 292: 1659-1660 [2001], and 'A Proposed Stem Cell Research Policy,' Stem Cells 23: 1023-1027 [2005]), and in The Morality of Embryo Use (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming). He has testified before Congress in support of such research, served the federal government as a consultant on research ethics, and is cochair of the Ethics Committee, International Society for Stem Cell Research. In social choice theory he has proven a generalization of Arrow's impossibility theorem and Debreu's theorems on the existence of continuous utility functions ('The Set Theoretic Ambit of Arrow's Theorem,' Synthese 126: 443-472 [2001]).He recently edited and contributed to a special issue of Synthese on candor in science.

Title: Convergence of Morality and Policy on Embryonic Stem Cell Research

In respect of using an embryo as a means for benefit of others, a justification that holds promise for achieving a moral consensus appeals to [1] a woman's discretion to decline transfer of an embryo into her, and [2] a progenitor's discretion to decline transfer of an embryo into an adoptive mother. Premise [2] raises the question whether an embryo should be treated as a person solely in virtue of the species to which it belongs, or whether its properties control. Upon sustaining [2], there follows a moral position to which public funding of embryonic stem cell research may be made congruent.