Genetic Interventions and The Ethics of Enhancement of Human Beings

Bibliographic Data

ID23614829
AuthorsJulian Savulescu (0000-0003-1691-6403, University of Oxford, corresponding author)
EditorsBonnie Steinbock
Year2009
Publication date2009-02-12
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeCHAPTER
VenueThe Oxford handbook of bioethics (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199562411.003.0023
OpenAlexW2554584235
ISBN9780199562411
LanguageEN
Citations received19
References cited1

There has been considerable recent debate on the ethics of human enhancement. A number of prominent authors have been concerned about or critical of the use of technology to alter or enhance human beings, citing threats to human nature and dignity as one basis for these concerns. Frances Kamm has given a detailed rebuttal of Sandel's arguments, arguing that human enhancement is permissible. Nicholas Agar, in his book Liberal Eugenics , argues that enhancement should be permissible but not obligatory. He argues that what distinguishes liberal eugenics from the objectionable eugenic practices of the Nazis is that it is not based on a single conception of a desirable genome and that it is voluntary and not obligatory. This article takes a more provocative position. It aims to argue that, far from its being merely permissible, we have a moral obligation or moral reason to enhance ourselves and our children. Indeed, we have the same kind of obligation as we have to treat and prevent disease. It begins by considering the current interests in and possibilities of enhancement. It then offers three arguments that we have very strong reasons to seek to enhance.

Bioethics · Dignity · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Eugenics · Human enhancement · Law and economics · Moral obligation · Obligation · Political science · Rebuttal · Sociology · Transhumanism · Utilitarianism · Ethics and Legal Issues in Pediatric Healthcare · Law · Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations · Philosophy · Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life

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