Self-study
Derek: We must exploit available resources in developing effective anticancer drugs such as the one made from mature Pacific yew trees. ████████ ███ ███ ██████████ █████ ██ ███████████ ███ █████ ██████ ██ █████████ ████ █████ ██ █████████ █████████ ███████ ██ ███ ███████ ██████████ ████████ █████ ████ █████ ██ ████████
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Argument Summary
Derek and Lola reach opposite recommendations from a shared factual base – theirs is a values disagreement, not a factual one.
Neither disputes that the yew yields an effective drug, that a synthetic substitute is years off, or that harvesting threatens the yew. Lola concedes Derek's premises rather than attacking them.
Whereas Derek thinks we should harvest now, however, Lola thinks we should wait. The disagreement lives at the weighing step: does near-term access to the drug justify the harvest? Derek silently relies on yes; Lola denies it by pointing out additional cost (the owl and ecosystem risk) and concludes no.
7.
Lola’s position most closely conforms ██ █████ ███ ██ ███ █████████ ███████████
a
Unless people’s well-being ██ ███████████ █████ ██████ ██ ██ ██████ ████████ ████ ██████████ ██████████ █████ ███ ██████ ████████████
People's well-being is threatened, so this principle does Lola no good.
b
Medical researchers should ████ ████ █████████████████ ██ ████ ██ ██ █████████ █████ ███ ████ ██ ███ ███████ ███ ███ ███ ███████ ████
Lola's conclusion is that we should wait, not that we should work together to come to a compromise.
c
Environmental concerns should ████ █ ████ ██ █████████ ██████████ ███████ ████████ ████ ██ █████ █████ ███ ███ ██ ██████
Human lives are at stake, so this principle does Lola no good.
d
Only medical breakthroughs ████ █████ ████ █████ █████ █████ ███████ ███████████ ███ ████████████
This breakthrough could save human lives, so this principle does Lola no good.
e
Avoiding actions that ████████ ██ ██████ █████████ █████ ██████████ ████ ███████████ █████████ █████████ ██ █ ██████████ █████ ██ ███████
This principle captures the scope of Lola's position well. The drug made from yew trees would provide advantage to a restricted group of people (by curing cancer in people who have cancer), but it would also threaten an entire ecosystem. With this principle in place, protecting the ecosystem is higher priority.