Nidhish Balakrishnan's ToK Blog

 This is a topic that has sparked a lot of controversies and has a lot of subjectivity centring on this issue because there are no firmly drawn ethical boundaries regarding arts yet. There truly are some truly provocative arts that deserve taking down, but just because a piece of art infuriates the viewer does not mean it deserves to be removed. There are two parts to every piece of art: the idea and the medium of expressing it. I think the idea can be as provocative as it can be as long as it has a justifiable reason behind it, such as the lack of empathy in today's society or the depiction of gruesome war crimes during a certain time period. However, I believe that the methods and tools in which this knowledge is conveyed are subjected to ethical boundaries. For example, starving a dog in an exhibit and conveying a message through the callousness of the exhibit visitors is strictly UNACCEPTABLE and is very immoral and unethical to do so. On the contrary, expressing a wildly provo...

     The field of biotechnology is a vast and interesting one, especially the research about how our body functions and how they can be altered or replaced. Recently, the idea that human cells can be grown in monkey embryos has come to light. The reasons behind it are actually very commendable and may favour society greatly in the long run, however, ethical concerns still pose a challenge as it involves using another species that is similar to humans for the research.      A human-monkey embryo I understand the general public's opinion on this research as monkeys are very close in relation to humans, and moreover, it's basically growing human cells in a monkey embryo which is quite an unconventional approach by itself. It tiptoes the line that many in the science field consider the ethical boundary of science. However, from a subjective point of view, if it regards the advancement of humankind on Earth, then it is a necessary line to walk over as it will yi...