Sandel: "The Case Against Perfection"
I. Possible Areas of Enhancement
Muscles
Memory
Height
Sex Selection
II. Flawed or Incomplete Arguments Against Genetic Engineering or Enhancement
A. It
"violates the right to autonomy: by choosing a child's genetic makeup
in advance, parents deny the child's right to an open future."
But:
None of us really has an "open future." We are all to some extent at the mercy of the genetic lottery.
Some people might consent to genetic engineering in order, for example, to enhance their physical capacities above the norm.
B. In some arenas, e.g., athletic competition, the genetically engineered person would have an unfair advantage.
But:
"From
the standpoint of fairness, enhanced genetic differences would be no
worse than natural ones, assuming they were safe and made available to
all."
C.
The agency of the enhanced person is diminished. We are less apt to
praise the effort he/she makes in accomplishing something.
But:
This is not the main problem with genetic engineering.
III. Argument Against Genetic Engineering and Enhancement
Parents
who aggressively enhance their children disfigure the parent/child
relationship. They privilege, in an unhealthy way, transforming love
over accepting love. Such parents fail to have something important: an
openness to the unbidden and an appreciation of life as a gift, rather
than as something willed.
"If
bioengineering made the myth of the "self-made man" come true, it would
be difficult to view our talents as gifts from which we are indebted,
rather than as achievements for which we are responsible." Three
desirable features of our moral landscape would erode: our notions of
humility, responsibility and solidarity.
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