Genetic Prospects: Essays on Biotechnology, Ethics, and Public Policy / Edition 144

by Verna V. Gehring, Harold W. Baillie, William A. Galston The Brookings Institution, Sara Goering, Deborah Hellman

Overview

While the collapse of the Soviet Union has diminished the force of George Orwell's 1984, the other great dystopian tract of the twentieth century, Alduous Huxley's Brave New World, is timelier than ever. The ongoing process of genetic science may well revolutionize medicine and human reproduction, and it may end by giving us the ability to transform the human species itself. This new power has raised hopes that we will solve a range of genetically based problems that afflict us. It has also evoked fears that we are on the verge of a "post human" future in which precious but necessary norms regulating individual and social life will be set aside. Will we have the moral and political wisdom to avoid the pitfalls in using new biotechnologies?

Genetic Prospects considers the resources from which the needed norms and maxims might be drawn, scrutinizing carefully the contributions of common sense, religion, and moral sentiment. Taken together, the essays in this volume apply philosophical analysis to address three kinds of questions: What are the implications of genetic science for our understanding of nature? What might it influence in our conception of human nature? What challenges does genetic science poses for specific issues of private conduct or public policy?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780742533349
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	09/27/2003
Series:	Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy Studies
Pages:	144
Product dimensions:	6.24(w) x 9.30(h) x 0.63(d)

About the Author

Verna V. Gehring is editor of the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy at the School of Public Affairs, University of Maryland, and editor of Philosophy & Public Policy Quarterly. She is also a moderator for the Aspen Institute.

Table of Contents

Part 1 I. The Concept of the Natural
Chapter 2 Genetic Engineering and the Concept of the Natural
Chapter 3 Unnatural Farming and the Debate over Genetic Manipulation
Part 4 II. Our (Modified?) Human Nature
Chapter 5 Genetic Engineering and Our Human Nature
Chapter 6 Normal Humans, Human Nature, and Genetic Lessons
Part 7 III. The Ethics (and Politics) of Genetic Technologies
Chapter 8 Finessing Nature
Chapter 9 Stem Cell Research and the Legacy of Abortion
Chapter 10 What Makes Genetic Discrimination Exceptional?
Chapter 11 My Fair Baby: What's Wrong with Parents Genetically Enhancing Their Children?
Chapter 12 The Ethics of Making the Body Beautiful: What Cosmetic Genetics Can Learn from Cosmetic Surgery

Editorial Reviews

Genetic Prospects is a selection of papers on some of the most philosophically interesting aspects of modern biotechnology. These papers are written in clear English without undue reliance on jargon, and the author's arguments are concise. This book would be a valuable resource in an upper level undergraduate course in genetic ethics and it would be of interest to non-specialist readers who want to get a flavor of the current debates on the morality of genetic engineering. The papers make a solid contribution to the academic literature in the field.

Metapsychology Online Reviews

Genetic Prospects is a selection of papers on some of the most philosophically interesting aspects of modern biotechnology. These papers are written in clear English without undue reliance on jargon, and the author's arguments are concise. This book would be a valuable resource in an upper level undergraduate course in genetic ethics and it would be of interest to non-specialist readers who want to get a flavor of the current debates on the morality of genetic engineering. The papers make a solid contribution to the academic literature in the field.

Metapsychology

Genetic Prospects is a selection of papers on some of the most philosophically interesting aspects of modern biotechnology. These papers are written in clear English without undue reliance on jargon, and the author's arguments are concise. This book would be a valuable resource in an upper level undergraduate course in genetic ethics and it would be of interest to non-specialist readers who want to get a flavor of the current debates on the morality of genetic engineering. The papers make a solid contribution to the academic literature in the field.

Metapsychology Online

Gehring has assembled a comprehensive collection of the best, latest debates, in a form that is readable, short, and coherent. No scholar or teacher of ethics in the new era of 'genetic institutions' should miss Genetic Prospects.

Glenn McGee

Of books on the social and ethical implications of genetic knowledge there is no end. But this one is different, exploring such fundamental questions as the importance of nature as a moral guide and looking down the road to what all of this means for the human future. Interesting, thoughtful, immensely readable.

Daniel Callahan