Human Reproduction

The Prohibition of instrumentalization

Abstract: It is common thought that it is morally wrong to treat others merely as a means and acts that do so are morally impermissible. There are different views of how using people as mere means should be understood. It will be argued that neither the view put forward by Kant nor the one developed by Derek Parfit should be accepted. It is also argued that the concept of a violation of dignity cannot provide us with a proper understanding of the “mere means formula”. In the last part of the paper a proposal will be put forward according to which a person is used merely as a means if she has no reason to consent to the way she is used by other people.