I recommend you view the following; it might make you chuckle.In the spirit of my previous post; here is another philosophical dialemma from everyday life.In the latest edition of the student magazine at Nottingham there was an article about 'TWOCCING'. Twoc - Taking With Out Consent, involves rummaging around skips that are at the side of the road in hope of finding some treasure or useful appliance. It is apparently the most exciting and cheapest way to kit out your new student house with (nearly) new items. The chap writing the article explains at length his haul 'twoc sessions [yielded] ...a blender, a spare microwave, a wine rack, mug rack, cocktail glass set, wine glass set, lampshades ironing board with iron and a wok and saucepans... an untouched pine effect desk and full length mirror.' The article finishes with the following statement of the authors moral stance on twoccing: 'Be Proud. Feelings of guilt or moral errosion separate the men from the boys.'Putting the fact that this gentleman is clearly a genius aside; do people agree with the principle of 'twoccing'?Notice that it is different from stealing in at least the following respect:The items that are taken without constent are items that other people consider to be rubbish, hence do not want.Now my intuition is that it is therefore perfectly legitimate to 'twoc' them. Where do other peoples intuitions lay, does throwing something away forfeit ownership rights?Next, w ould your opinion of twoccing change if instead of furnishing his own room the author of the article sold the items on, thereby netting a tidy profit?This last situation could be considered analogous to the following situation: U mbilical cords, pre-1990's were considered medical waste, but now due to the fact that they can be harvested for haematopoietic stem cells are worth a considerable amount (so much in fact that parents are willing to pay thousands of dollars to have the umbilical cord blood stored by private companies). What was once waste is now considered useful and financially lucrative. Would it be right therefore to harvest the stem cells for research or sale without the consent of the parents, that is, is it right to twoc stem cells?(Again I'm with the 'yes' camp.)N.B. FACT: heamatopoietic stem cells are not the subject of any ethical controversy - they are NOT the same as embryonic stem cells. - does anyone have any views on how the situation might change if it was possible to twoc ESCs?Best,Andrew Turner