Do you want leather or cloth seats?” asks the salesperson. “Do you want your baby to have brown or blue eyes?” asks the doctor. Genetic engineering has reached a point where, much like choosing a feature on a car before buying it, we can select the features of our baby before its birth. Features like height, eye color, hair color, intelligence, likelihood of illness, and more can be or will likely be selected soon. The question is, is it morally permissible to do so?
Discuss the moral implications of genetically engineering human babies. Respond to one of the following:
- Does it cheapen and commodify human life when we select the features of a human person like we do when purchasing a car? Contrast what a virtue ethicist would say according to its core principles of telos, virtue, eudaimonia, and practical wisdom with what a Kantian would say according to its core principles of universalizability, duty, impartiality, and reciprocity. Explain how one of these theories supports your answer. Is it morally different to use genetic engineering to lower the likelihood of illness, such as diabetes, as opposed to using it to select an aesthetic feature, such as eye color? Contrast what a virtue ethicist would say according to its core principles of telos, virtue, eudaimonia, and practical wisdom with what a Kantian would say according to its core principles of universalizability, duty, impartiality, and reciprocity. Explain how one of these theories supports your answer. Use appropriate textual evidence to back up your claim. Which of the ethical theories you discussed do you believe provides the best account of what the morally correct action to take is and why? (USLOs 8.1, 8.2, 8.3)
- Assuming genetic engineering remains expensive and only the wealthy can afford to engineer their children with more desirable features, such as greater intelligence and a lower likelihood of illness, is it morally permissible to allow genetic engineering? Contrast what a virtue ethicist would say according to its core principles of telos, virtue, eudaimonia, and practical wisdom with what a utilitarian would say using its core principles of welfare, impartiality, sum-ranking, and consequences. Explain how one of these theories supports your answer. Is it morally different to use genetic engineering to lower the likelihood of illness as opposed to using it to select increased intelligence? Contrast what a virtue ethicist would say according to its core principles of telos, virtue, and eudaimonia with what a utilitarian would say using its core principles of welfare, impartiality, sum ranking, and consequences. Explain how one of these theories supports your answer. Use appropriate textual evidence to back up your claim. Which of the ethical theories you discussed do you believe provides the best account of what the morally correct action to take is and why? (USLOs 8.1, 8.2, 8.3)
