Most public discussion has focused on those effects of genetic research that are considered in some way unwanted or unpleasant. For example, there has been much debate concerning the risks and the ethical appropriateness of genetic screening, gene therapy, and agricultural applications based on genetic techniques. It often claimed that genetic research may cause new problems such as genetic discrimination, stigmatization, environmental risks, or mistreatment of animals.
Genes and Morality: New Essays adopts a critical attitude toward genetic research, on both a theoretical and a practical level. It presents some of the most important problems in the ethics of genetic engineering, including the questions of genetic health and disease, genetic testing, responsibility for health, patenting non-human and human life, and problems related to the disclosure of genetic information.
The aim of the book is to focus on real ethical and conceptual issues. Consider, for instance, the concept of genetic disease. As one of the contributors, Ingmar Pörn, writes, "fear of genetic disease, or anxiety, is not itself a disease any more than fear of becoming unemployed is a disease. Alleviating such emotions is not a medical task to be discharged by drug therapy."
The book also examines the philosophical foundations of these issues by discussing the most influential bioethical theories of today, including utilitarianism and principlism.
Contents: Editorial Foreword. Acknowledgements. Introduction. PART I: METHODOLOGICAL AND THEORETICAL ISSUES. ONE Matti HÄYRY: What the Fox Would Have Said, Had He Been a Hedgehog: On the Methodology and Normative Approach of John Harris's Wonderwoman and Superman. TWO Ingmar PERSSON: Does It Matter When We Begin to Exist? THREE Sirkku Kristiina HELLSTEN: Can We Do Wrong by Bringing Children into Being? FOUR Torbjörn TÄNNSJÖ: Impersonal Morality: A Defense. FIVE Søren HOLM: Principles of Health Care Ethics: Solution or Problem? SIX Juha RÄIKKÄ: On the Morality of Avoiding Information. PART II: PRACTICAL ISSUES. SEVEN John HARRIS: Genome Analysis and Responsibility for Health. EIGHT Ingmar PÖRN: Genetic Information and Care. NINE Anglus CLARKE: The Genetic Dissection of Complex Traits. TEN Rogeer HOEDEMAEKERS and Henk TEN HAVE: Genetic Health and Genetic Disease. ELEVEN Juhani PIETARINEN and Veikko LAUNIS: Patenting Non-Human and Human Life. TWELVE Christoph REHMANN-SUTTER: Hubris and Hybrids in the Myth of Frankenstein. Gregory L. FOWLER and Michael J. GARLAND: Translating the Human Genome Project into Social Policy: A Model for Participatory Democracy. Notes on Contributors. Index.
Genes and Morality: New Essays adopts a critical attitude toward genetic research, on both a theoretical and a practical level. It presents some of the most important problems in the ethics of genetic engineering, including the questions of genetic health and disease, genetic testing, responsibility for health, patenting non-human and human life, and problems related to the disclosure of genetic information.
The aim of the book is to focus on real ethical and conceptual issues. Consider, for instance, the concept of genetic disease. As one of the contributors, Ingmar Pörn, writes, "fear of genetic disease, or anxiety, is not itself a disease any more than fear of becoming unemployed is a disease. Alleviating such emotions is not a medical task to be discharged by drug therapy."
The book also examines the philosophical foundations of these issues by discussing the most influential bioethical theories of today, including utilitarianism and principlism.
Contents: Editorial Foreword. Acknowledgements. Introduction. PART I: METHODOLOGICAL AND THEORETICAL ISSUES. ONE Matti HÄYRY: What the Fox Would Have Said, Had He Been a Hedgehog: On the Methodology and Normative Approach of John Harris's Wonderwoman and Superman. TWO Ingmar PERSSON: Does It Matter When We Begin to Exist? THREE Sirkku Kristiina HELLSTEN: Can We Do Wrong by Bringing Children into Being? FOUR Torbjörn TÄNNSJÖ: Impersonal Morality: A Defense. FIVE Søren HOLM: Principles of Health Care Ethics: Solution or Problem? SIX Juha RÄIKKÄ: On the Morality of Avoiding Information. PART II: PRACTICAL ISSUES. SEVEN John HARRIS: Genome Analysis and Responsibility for Health. EIGHT Ingmar PÖRN: Genetic Information and Care. NINE Anglus CLARKE: The Genetic Dissection of Complex Traits. TEN Rogeer HOEDEMAEKERS and Henk TEN HAVE: Genetic Health and Genetic Disease. ELEVEN Juhani PIETARINEN and Veikko LAUNIS: Patenting Non-Human and Human Life. TWELVE Christoph REHMANN-SUTTER: Hubris and Hybrids in the Myth of Frankenstein. Gregory L. FOWLER and Michael J. GARLAND: Translating the Human Genome Project into Social Policy: A Model for Participatory Democracy. Notes on Contributors. Index.