How Liberal is (the Liberal Critique of) a Liberal Eugenics?
This article critically surveys the current bioethical and politico-philosophical debate about the ethical permissibility of a so-called ‘liberal eugenics’ and argues that neither the liberal argument for nor the liberal argument against human genetic enhancement is internally consistent as, ultimat...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Associazione Culturale Humana.Mente
2014-05-01
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| Series: | Humana.Mente: Journal of Philosophical Studies |
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| Online Access: | http://www.humanamente.eu/index.php/HM/article/view/124 |
| _version_ | 1818472893600759808 |
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| author | Nathan Van Camp |
| author_facet | Nathan Van Camp |
| author_sort | Nathan Van Camp |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This article critically surveys the current bioethical and politico-philosophical debate about the ethical permissibility of a so-called ‘liberal eugenics’ and argues that neither the liberal argument for nor the liberal argument against human genetic enhancement is internally consistent as, ultimately, each ends up violating the very liberal principles it nonetheless pretends to defend. In particular, it will be shown that while the argument against a new eugenics necessarily entails a preemptive dehumanization of any potential enhanced form of life, the argument for it threatens to reduce any non-enhanced form of life to a “wrongful life” or a life not worth living. It will therefore be concluded that the specific stakes of this contentious issue cannot be grasped within a liberal conceptual framework. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-14T04:13:58Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-31fd3834dd724055a2e068de2c0d5e58 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1972-1293 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-14T04:13:58Z |
| publishDate | 2014-05-01 |
| publisher | Associazione Culturale Humana.Mente |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Humana.Mente: Journal of Philosophical Studies |
| spelling | doaj.art-31fd3834dd724055a2e068de2c0d5e582022-12-22T02:12:58ZengAssociazione Culturale Humana.MenteHumana.Mente: Journal of Philosophical Studies1972-12932014-05-01726How Liberal is (the Liberal Critique of) a Liberal Eugenics?Nathan Van Camp0University of Antwerp, BelgiumThis article critically surveys the current bioethical and politico-philosophical debate about the ethical permissibility of a so-called ‘liberal eugenics’ and argues that neither the liberal argument for nor the liberal argument against human genetic enhancement is internally consistent as, ultimately, each ends up violating the very liberal principles it nonetheless pretends to defend. In particular, it will be shown that while the argument against a new eugenics necessarily entails a preemptive dehumanization of any potential enhanced form of life, the argument for it threatens to reduce any non-enhanced form of life to a “wrongful life” or a life not worth living. It will therefore be concluded that the specific stakes of this contentious issue cannot be grasped within a liberal conceptual framework.http://www.humanamente.eu/index.php/HM/article/view/124liberal eugenicsgenetic enhancementbioethics |
| spellingShingle | Nathan Van Camp How Liberal is (the Liberal Critique of) a Liberal Eugenics? Humana.Mente: Journal of Philosophical Studies liberal eugenics genetic enhancement bioethics |
| title | How Liberal is (the Liberal Critique of) a Liberal Eugenics? |
| title_full | How Liberal is (the Liberal Critique of) a Liberal Eugenics? |
| title_fullStr | How Liberal is (the Liberal Critique of) a Liberal Eugenics? |
| title_full_unstemmed | How Liberal is (the Liberal Critique of) a Liberal Eugenics? |
| title_short | How Liberal is (the Liberal Critique of) a Liberal Eugenics? |
| title_sort | how liberal is the liberal critique of a liberal eugenics |
| topic | liberal eugenics genetic enhancement bioethics |
| url | http://www.humanamente.eu/index.php/HM/article/view/124 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT nathanvancamp howliberalistheliberalcritiqueofaliberaleugenics |