Morality of Genetic Engineering
Genetic Engineering and Morality
As advancements in technology and science continue to rapidly grow, we as a society face issues with the morality of some of these advancements. One of the biggest issues at hand today is that of genetic engineering. The question we must answer is whether or not it should be morally permissible for parents to create their children using genetic engineering so that they may provide them with particularly desirable traits? Although this may seem like a fabulous idea at first, I will argue that it should not be morally permissible for parents to use genetic engineering to give their children desirable traits because it will leave our society divided and create extensive unfairness among all.
I will begin my argument by defining what is genetic engineering and what it means for something to be morally permissible. After contemplating how any one thing can be determined morally permissible by our entire society, I will move on to discuss the ideas of Kamm in his article about problems with enhancement. I will argue that although he may bring valid points to the table, the issues that he believes in are not the most important ones to be discussed. I will then proceed to argue that genetic engineering should only be used for medical purposes. Next, I will discuss the unfairness that genetic engineering would create and how our society may become divided.
Genetic engineering is the science of manipulating the genes of a plant or animal to produce a desired result (Merriam-Webster). This definition is reasonably straightforward and the idea is easy to understand. Defining what it means for something to be morally permissible may not be so simple. If something is permissible it means that it is permitted or allowed. For something to be moral, it has to be in agreement with the idea of what is right versus what is wrong. So how do we define what is moral? Is it possible to make a distinction of things that are morally permissible with
As advancements in technology and science continue to rapidly grow, we as a society face issues with the morality of some of these advancements. One of the biggest issues at hand today is that of genetic engineering. The question we must answer is whether or not it should be morally permissible for parents to create their children using genetic engineering so that they may provide them with particularly desirable traits? Although this may seem like a fabulous idea at first, I will argue that it should not be morally permissible for parents to use genetic engineering to give their children desirable traits because it will leave our society divided and create extensive unfairness among all.
I will begin my argument by defining what is genetic engineering and what it means for something to be morally permissible. After contemplating how any one thing can be determined morally permissible by our entire society, I will move on to discuss the ideas of Kamm in his article about problems with enhancement. I will argue that although he may bring valid points to the table, the issues that he believes in are not the most important ones to be discussed. I will then proceed to argue that genetic engineering should only be used for medical purposes. Next, I will discuss the unfairness that genetic engineering would create and how our society may become divided.
Genetic engineering is the science of manipulating the genes of a plant or animal to produce a desired result (Merriam-Webster). This definition is reasonably straightforward and the idea is easy to understand. Defining what it means for something to be morally permissible may not be so simple. If something is permissible it means that it is permitted or allowed. For something to be moral, it has to be in agreement with the idea of what is right versus what is wrong. So how do we define what is moral? Is it possible to make a distinction of things that are morally permissible with