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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