Genes And Future People: Philosophical Issues In Human Genetics

by Glannon,Walter

• ISBN13: 9780813365602
• ISBN10: 0813365600
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2001-12-03
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Advances in genetic technology in general and medical genetics in particular will enable us to intervene in the process of human biological development which extends from zygotes and embryos to people. This will allow us to control to a great extent the identities and the length and quality of the lives of people who already exist, as well as those we bring into existence in the near and distant future.Genes and Future Peopleexplores two general philosophical questions, one metaphysical, the other moral: (1) How do genes, and different forms of genetic intervention (gene therapy, genetic enhancement, presymptomatic genetic testing of adults, genetic testing of preimplantation embryos), affect the identities of the people who already exist and those we bring into existence? and (2) How do these interventions benefit or harm the people we cause to exist in the near future and those who will exist in the distant future by satisfying or defeating their interest in having reasonably long and disease-free lives?Genes and Future Peoplebegins by explaining the connection between genes and disease, placing genetic within a framework of evolutionary biology. It then discusses such topics as how genes and genetic intervention influence personal identity, what genetic testing of individuals and the knowledge resulting from it entails about responsibility to others who may be at risk, as well as how gene therapy and genetic enhancement can affect the identities of people and benefit or harm them. Furthermore, it discusses various moral aspects of cloning human beings and body parts. Finally, it explores the metaphysical and moral implications of genetic manipulation of the mechanisms of aging to extend the human life span.The aimGenes and Future Peopleis to move philosophers, bioethicists, and readers in general to reflect on the extent to which genes determine whether we are healthy or diseased, our identities as persons, the quality of our lives, and our moral obligations to future generations of people.

Author Biography

Walter Glannon received a BA from Duke University, a PhD in Spanish Literature from the Johns Hopkins University, and a PhD in philosophy from Yale University. He has been a Killam Post-doctoral Fellow at the Centre for Applied Ethics, University of British Columbia, a Fellow at the Institute for Ethics of the American Medical Association, and a Fellow at the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics, University of Chicago. He is Assistant Professor in the Biomedical Ethics Unit, Faculty of Medicine, McGill University and Clinical Ethicist at the Jewish General Hospital, Montreal.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction	1	(8)
The Reach of Genes: Biology, Metaphysics, Morality	9	(32)
Genes and Disease
Biological and Personal Identity
Two Senses of ``Life''
How Genes Influence the Identities of Persons
Moral Implications
Conclusion
Genetic Information, Obligation, and the Prevention of Lives	41	(38)
Genetic Testing, Screening, and Information
Moral Asymmetry and Harm
Life Stages
Should Some Lives Be Prevented?
Giving Priority to the Worse Off
Conclusion
Gene Therapy and Genetic Enhancement	79	(30)
Gene Therapy: Problems and a Paradox
Access and Allocation Issues
Genetic Enhancement
Negative and Positive Eugenics: Is There a Slippery Slope?
Conclusion
The Morality of Human Cloning	109	(26)
Biological Factors
Means and Ends
Cloning Body Parts
Eugenics Again?
Conclusion
Extending the Human Life Span	135	(34)
Cells and Senescence
An Evolutionary Trade-Off
Intergenerational Equality and Fairness
Prudential Concern About the Future
Conclusion
Notes	169	(22)
Bibliography	191	(16)
Index	207