瑞士：植物也有尊严 岂能随意践踏

Plants deserve respect, Swiss committee says

Plants deserve respect, a group of Swiss experts said Monday, arguing that killing them arbitrarily was morally wrong -- except when it comes to saving humans or maybe picking the petals off a daisy.



Plants deserve respect, a group of Swiss experts said Monday, arguing that killing them arbitrarily was morally wrong -- except when it comes to saving humans or maybe picking the petals off a daisy.

In a report on "the dignity of the creature in the plant world," the federal Ethics Committee on non-human Gene Technology condemned the decapitation of flowers without reason, among other sins.

Still, commission member Bernard Baertsche suggested at a press conference the body weighed such cruel acts on a case-by-case basis, noting "the simple pleasure of picking the petals off a daisy might suffice as a reason."

Similarly "all action that involves plants in the aim to conserve the human species is morally justified," the commission, tasked to offer an ethical take on all areas of biotechnology and genetic engineering, said in its report.

Nor did the commission object to genetic engineering, since this did not threaten plants' "autonomy -- that is their capacity to reproduce or their capacity of adaptation."

And only a minority of the group's members objected to patenting plants, with the majority ruling the action did not infringe on "their moral value."

瑞士有关专家于本周一称，植物也应得到尊重，肆意伤害花草是不道德行为——不过为了保护人类而采取的涉及植物的行为除外，或者采几片雏菊花瓣可能也无妨。

瑞典非人类基因技术道德委员会在一份有关“植物尊严”的报告中谴责，毫无理由乱摘花朵也是一种罪恶。

委员会成员伯纳德•巴特施在一个新闻发布会上称，委员会主要根据具体案例来权衡这些行为是否“残忍”，并指出“哪怕是为了得到乐趣也可以作为一个采花的理由”。

此外，“为了保护人类而采取的所有涉及植物的行为在道德上也可以接受。”该机构将为生物技术和基因工程的所有领域严把“道德关”。

该机构也不反对基因工程，因为它未威胁到植物的“繁殖和环境适应能力。”

仅有少数成员反对植物专利，但多数成员认为植物专利并未违背“他们的道德观”。

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