Within the discussion of genetic responsibility, and especially in relation to pre-conception solutions there is a constant question of the ethical treatment of “possible persons”. With technology and longevity comes a tendency to always look ahead and to seek for methods of control. Science + future forecasting makes prevention of possible people from existing an [...]
Also tagged carrier, eugenics, moral, predeterminedAccording to sociologist Anthony Giddens, one of the defining features of late modernity is that risk has become an organising principal at both the institutional and individual level:
“Traditional cultures didn’t have a concept of risk because they didn’t need one. Risk isn’t the same as hazard or danger. Risk refers to hazards that are actively [...]
Is this purely eugenics or a biologically justified form of technology assisted natural selection? What kind of life would these prenataly selected embryos will lead as adults? Knowing their parents have invested greatly in creating a cancer-free child, could they ever justify keeping an unhealthy lifestyles? Are they free to make any possibly damaging life [...]
Also tagged choice, eugenics, PGDAccusations of responsibility can be not only condescending and insulting, but also distracting, drawing attention away from what is really at stake: often questions about role-related responsibilities and about the degree to which human beings should try to shape the world in which we find ourselves.
When Andre talks about the degree to which we [...]
The geneticisation of disease has individualising, deterministic and reductive tendencies (Lippman, 1991).
Determinism seem to be one of the hardest things to deal with. Choice and a self-determinative approach to life have become such important components in our existence. A predictable path in life has been replaced with a world of possibilities or opportunities, to know [...]
Inheriting a ‘closed future’ is not limited to genetic disorders, in many families children are destined to marry, provide care or go into the family business and their future path is written for them before they are born.
The obligation to continue in the parents footsteps and provide for the relatives or keep the family trade [...]
The genes or mutations can be seen as bonding agents, fusing the individual into the group. However, being identified as part of this group biologically can diminish one’s autonomy over their body, privacy and life decisions. Genetic diagnosis gives us a glimpse of potential futures (Hallowell, et all 2006) and as a result can alter [...]
Also tagged autonomy, identity, narrative, self