Liberal Eugenics (eBook)

In Defence of Human Enhancement

Nicholas Agar (Autor)

eBook Download: PDF

2008
John Wiley & Sons (Verlag)
978-0-470-77757-2 (ISBN)

Infos

In this provocative book, philosopher Nicholas Agar defends the idea that parents should be allowed to enhance their children's characteristics.

• Gets away from fears of a Huxleyan 'Brave New World' or a return to the fascist eugenics of the past
• Written from a philosophically and scientifically informed point of view
• Considers real contemporary cases of parents choosing what kind of child to have
• Uses 'moral images' as a way to get readers with no background in philosophy to think about moral dilemmas
• Provides an authoritative account of the science involved, making the book suitable for readers with no knowledge of genetics
• Creates a moral framework for assessing all new technologies

Nicholas Agar is Senior Lecturer at Victoria University of Wellington. His previous books include Life's Intrinsic Value (2001) and Perfect Copy (2002).

Inhalt

Preface and Acknowledgments..

1. Genius Sperm, Eugenics, and Enhancement Technologies..

2. A Pragmatic Optimism about Enhancement Technologies..

3. Making Moral Images of Biotechnology..

4. The moral image of therapy..

5. The moral Image of Nature..

6. The Moral Image of Nurture.

7. Our Postliberal Future?.

8. Enhanced Humans When?.

Notes.

Further Reading.

References.

Index.

Rezensionen

"The options for human enhancement that genetic science may
eventually make possible tend to resist evaluation by traditional
approaches to ethics, since the central issue is nothing less than
what human nature itself shall be. Liberal Eugenics offers
refreshingly sensible guidance to the possibilities of cloning,
genetic therapy, and genetic enhancement by reference to our
'moral images' of more familiar but relevantly similar
practices. At once conservative in its methodology and daring in
its defiance of conventional wisdom, this book is a lively and
accessible antidote to the prejudice and obscurantism that pervade
public debates about these challenging issues." Jeff
McMahan, Professor of Philosophy,
RutgersUniversity

"With Liberal Eugenics, Nicholas Agar has given us
a lively, sophisticated defense of genetic enhancement, challenging
the anxious sentimentality of biotech luddites without embracing
the naïve, reckless optimism of bio-tech enthusiasts. Readers
may not always agree with Agar, but they will be engaged by his
original and forceful arguments and his apt and delightful
examples. The book is a pleasure to read and a provocative piece of
applied philosophy - a rare combination." David
Wasserman, University of Maryland

"A very persuasive case for an informed, liberal though not
laissez-faire approach to research." The Guardian

"This [is a] clear, scientifically well informed and
philosophically sophisticated study." Notre Dame Philosophical
Review

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 15.4.2008
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie ► Allgemeines / Lexika
• Themenwelt: Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie ► Ethik
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie ► Empirische Sozialforschung
• Schlagworte: Agar • Bioethics & Medical Ethics • Bioethik, Medizinethik • brave • Cell • Childrens • controversial book • Debate • describes • Fears • Genetic • goals • huxleyan • Idea • Liberal • New • Nicholas • Nuclear • Philosopher • Philosophie • Philosophy • possibility cloning • Practical • Public • Social Identity • Sociology • Somatic • Soziale Identität • Soziale Identität • Soziologie • Technology • Three • Transfer • use • World
• ISBN-10: 0-470-77757-5 / 0470777575
• ISBN-13: 978-0-470-77757-2 / 9780470777572