Genes and future people : philosophical issues in human genetics / Walter Glannon.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Glannon, Walter.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Human genetics--Moral and ethical aspects.

Human genetics.

Human genetics--Philosophy.

Physical Description:

x, 216 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Boulder, Colo. : Westview Press, 2001.

Summary:

Genes and Future People explores two general philosophical questions presented by human genetics, 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 as well as those who will exist in the distant future by satisfying or defeating their interest in having reasonably long and disease-free lives?

Contents:

1 The Reach of Genes: Biology, Metaphysics, Morality 9

Genes and Disease

Biological and Personal Identity

Two Senses of "Life"

How Genes Influence the Identities of Persons

Moral Implications

2 Genetic Information, Obligation, and the Prevention of Lives 41

Genetic Testing, Screening, and Information

Moral Asymmetry and Harm

Life Stages

Should Some Lives Be Prevented?

Giving Priority to the Worse Off

3 Gene Therapy and Genetic Enhancement 79

Gene Therapy: Problems and a Paradox

Access and Allocation Issues

Genetic Enhancement

Negative and Positive Eugenics: Is There a Slippery Slope?

4 The Morality of Human Cloning 109

Biological Factors

Means and Ends

Cloning Body Parts

Eugenics Again?

5 Extending the Human Life Span 135

Cells and Senescence

An Evolutionary Trade-Off

Intergenerational Equality and Fairness

Prudential Concern About the Future.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 191-205) and index.

ISBN:

0813365600

0813365767

OCLC:

48434931