Download or read book Pragmatism and Human Genetic Engineering written by Glenn McGee and published by Universal-Publishers. This book was released on 1994 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: William James and John Dewey insisted that pragmatic philosophy finds meaning in its struggle to deal with emergent social problems. Ironically, few have attempted to use pragmatism to articulate methods for ameliorating social difficulties. This dissertation attempts to do just that by putting James' and Dewey's philosophy to work on the moral and scientific problems associated with genetic engineering and the Human Genome Project. The intention is to demonstrate the usefulness of a pragmatic approach to applied ethics and philosophy of biology. The work of proponents and critics of genetic engineering is examined, including LeRoy Hood, Hans Jonas, Leon Kass, Robert Nozick, Jeremy Rifkin, Robyn Rowland, and Paul Ramsey. It is concluded that excessive optimism and pessimism about genetic engineering rests primarily on two errors. The first, basic to the Genome Project, is that organisms are essentially determined by their genes, and that the expression of genes is identical across human populations. I draw both on Richard Lewontin and on Dewey's Logic: The Theory of Inquiry to argue that the formation of human natures is instead the result of a fluid and interpenetrative relationship between hereditary information and varying environmental conditions. Organisms express DNA in different ways under different circumstances, and DNA itself is modified by exposure to mutagens. The second error prevalent in the literature is the belief that genetic engineering is uniquely problematic, requiring a new kind of ethics. To counter the received view, I detail numerous cases in the history of biology and philosophy in which humans have faced moral choices similar to those present in the new genetics. In addition, I resituate new reproductive decisions in the context of everyday problems faced by parents in society, arguing that the hopes and choices of parents provide a matrix within which genetic decisions can be made. I caution against the expansion of genetic diagnosis, and detail some of the greatest real dangers present in positive genetic engineering. Finally, I suggest pragmatic alternatives to positive genetic engineering, including education and health care reform.
Download or read book Pragmatism and Human Genetic Engineering written by Jorge Angel Ascaciomartinez and published by . This book was released on 2016-04 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Perfect Baby written by Glenn McGee and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Perfect Baby is a clarion call for a more realistic discussion of biotechnology. This captivating book offers balanced new insights for individual decisions and for public policy. --John Lachs, Vanderbilt University
Download or read book Democratic DNA written by Jeffrey Alan Johnson and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Pragmatic Bioethics written by Glenn McGee and published by Vanderbilt University Press (TN). This book was released on 1999 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A collection of eighteen essays discussing the ethics of modern biomedicine, including issues such as human cloning, genetic testing and human enhancement, using a pragmatic approach. In the VANDERBILT LIBRARY OF AMERICAN PHILOSOPHY, it is edited by the author of THE PERFECT BABY: A PRAGMATIC APPROACH TO GENETICS and THE HUMAN CLONING DEBATE.
Download or read book Genes And Future People written by Walter Glannon and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2001-12-03 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Advances in genetic technology in general and medical genetics in particular will enable us to intervene in the process of human biological development which extends from zygotes and embryos to people. This will allow us to control to a great extent the identities and the length and quality of the lives of people who already exist, as well as those we bring into existence in the near and distant future. Genes and Future People explores two general philosophical questions, one metaphysical, the other moral: (1) How do genes, and different forms of genetic intervention (gene therapy, genetic enhancement, presymptomatic genetic testing of adults, genetic testing of preimplantation embryos), affect the identities of the people who already exist and those we bring into existence? and (2) How do these interventions benefit or harm the people we cause to exist in the near future and those who will exist in the distant future by satisfying or defeating their interest in having reasonably long and disease-free lives?Genes and Future People begins by explaining the connection between genes and disease, placing genetic within a framework of evolutionary biology. It then discusses such topics as how genes and genetic intervention influence personal identity, what genetic testing of individuals and the knowledge resulting from it entails about responsibility to others who may be at risk, as well as how gene therapy and genetic enhancement can affect the identities of people and benefit or harm them. Furthermore, it discusses various moral aspects of cloning human beings and body parts. Finally, it explores the metaphysical and moral implications of genetic manipulation of the mechanisms of aging to extend the human life span.The aim Genes and Future People is to move philosophers, bioethicists, and readers in general to reflect on the extent to which genes determine whether we are healthy or diseased, our identities as persons, the quality of our lives, and our moral obligations to future generations of people.
Download or read book The Perfect Baby written by Glenn McGee and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2000 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Perfect Baby is the most popular introduction to ethical issues in genetics. This new edition has been updated to discuss and debate advances in high tech reproduction, genetic testing, gene therapy, human cloning, and stem cell research. It includes a new epilogue, by cloning pioneer Ian Wilmut and Glenn McGee.
Download or read book Heritable Human Genome Editing written by The Royal Society and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2021-01-16 with total page 239 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Heritable human genome editing - making changes to the genetic material of eggs, sperm, or any cells that lead to their development, including the cells of early embryos, and establishing a pregnancy - raises not only scientific and medical considerations but also a host of ethical, moral, and societal issues. Human embryos whose genomes have been edited should not be used to create a pregnancy until it is established that precise genomic changes can be made reliably and without introducing undesired changes - criteria that have not yet been met, says Heritable Human Genome Editing. From an international commission of the U.S. National Academy of Medicine, U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and the U.K.'s Royal Society, the report considers potential benefits, harms, and uncertainties associated with genome editing technologies and defines a translational pathway from rigorous preclinical research to initial clinical uses, should a country decide to permit such uses. The report specifies stringent preclinical and clinical requirements for establishing safety and efficacy, and for undertaking long-term monitoring of outcomes. Extensive national and international dialogue is needed before any country decides whether to permit clinical use of this technology, according to the report, which identifies essential elements of national and international scientific governance and oversight.
Download or read book Engineering and Environmental Challenges written by National Academy of Engineering and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2002-05-29 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dealing with the challenges presented by climate change or rapid urban development require cooperation and expertise from engineering, social and natural sciences. Earth systems engineering is an emerging area of multidisclinary study that takes a holistic view of natural and human system interactions to better understand complex systems. It seeks to develop methods and tools that enable technically sound and ethically wise decisions. Engineering and Environmental Challenges presents the proceedings of a National Academy of Engineering public symposium on Earth systems engineering.
Download or read book The Fulbright Brainstorms on Bioethics written by Arthur L. Caplan and published by Principia. This book was released on 2006 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Food Genetic Engineering and Philosophy of Technology written by N. Dane Scott and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-10-22 with total page 158 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book describes specific, well-know controversies in the genetic modification debate and connects them to deeper philosophical issues in philosophy of technology. It contributes to the current, far-reaching deliberations about the future of food, agriculture and society. Controversies over so-called Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) regularly appear in the press. The biotechnology debate has settled into a long-term philosophical dispute. The discussion goes much deeper than the initial empirical questions about whether or not GM food and crops are safe for human consumption or pose environmental harms that dominated news reports. In fact, the implications of this debate extend beyond the sphere of food and agriculture to encompass the general role of science and technology in society. The GM controversy provides an occasion to explore important issues in philosophy of technology. Researchers, teachers and students interested in agricultural biotechnology, philosophy of technology and the future of food and agriculture will find this exploration timely and thought provoking.
Download or read book Pragmatic Neuroethics written by Eric Racine and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2010 with total page 291 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A survey of the emerging field of neuroethics that calls for a multidisciplinary, pragmatic approach for tackling key issues and improving patient care. Today the measurable health burden of neurological and mental health disorders matches or even surpasses any other cluster of health conditions. At the same time, the clinical applications of recent advances in neuroscience are hardly straightforward. In Pragmatic Neuroethics, Eric Racine argues that the emerging field of neuroethics offers a way to integrate such specialties as neurology, psychiatry, and neurosurgery with the humanities and social sciences, neuroscience research, and related healthcare professions, with the goal of tackling key ethical challenges and improving patient care. Racine provides a survey of the often diverging perspectives within neuroethics, offers a theoretical framework supported by empirical data, and discusses the neuroethical implications of such issues as media coverage of neuroscience innovation and the importance of public concerns and lay opinion; nonmedical use of pharmaceuticals for performance enhancement; and the discord between intuitive notions about consciousness and behavior and the scientific understanding of them. Racine proposes a pragmatic neuroethics that combines pluralistic approaches, bottom-up research perspectives, and a focus on practical issues (in contrast to other more theoretical and single-discipline approaches to the field). [He discusses ethical issues related to powerful neuroscience insights into the mechanisms underlying moral reasoning, cooperative behavior, and such emotional processes as empathy.] In addition, he outlines a pragmatic framework for neuroethics, based on the philosophy of emergentism, which identifies conditions for the meaningful contribution of neuroscience to ethics, and sketches new directions and strategies for meeting future challenges for neuroscience and society. Basic Bioethics series
Download or read book Pragmatic Humanism Revisited written by Ana Honnacker and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-11-19 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How can we feel at home in this world without clinging to false certainties? This book offers a humanist re-reading of philosophical pragmatism and explores its potentials for a worldview that relies only on human resources. Thinking along with authors like William James and F.C.S. Schiller, it highlights a fundamentally humanist strand of pragmatism aimed at fostering human creativity and transformative action. It is grounded in everyday experience and underlines our responsibility to strive for the better. Ana Honnacker traces perspectives on science, religion, and ethics in the light of a pragmatic understanding of humanism. Furthermore, she suggests how to address the existential challenges we face today. Thus, pragmatic humanism is explored not only as a philosophy for critical minds, but also as a way of life.
Download or read book Ethics Biotechnology written by Anthony Dyson and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2002-09-11 with total page 251 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The development of biotechnology has produced nothing short of a revolution, both in our capacity to manipulate living things from single plant cells to human nature itself, but also to manufacture brand new life forms. This power to shape and create forms of life has sometimes been described as the power to "play God" and this book is about the ethics of "playing God" in the field of biotechnology. International scholars cover moral dilemmas posed by biotechnology, from the smallest cells through animals to the engineering of human beings.
Download or read book Dissertation Abstracts International written by and published by . This book was released on 1995 with total page 492 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Genetically Modified Athletes written by Andy Miah and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2004-08-02 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In a provocative analysis of sport ethics and human values, Genetically Modified Athletes imagines the brave new world of sport. The internationally acclaimed book examines this issue at a crucial time in its theorisation, questioning the very cornerstone of sporting and medical ethics, asking whether sporting authorities can, or even should, protect sport from genetic modification. This book brings together sport studies and bioethics to challenge our understanding of the values that define sport. We already allow that athletes can optimise their performance by the use of technologies; without wishing to assert that 'anything goes' in sports performance enhancement, Andy Miah argues that simply being human matters in sport and that genetic modification does not have to challenge this capacity. Genetically Modifies Athletes includes examination of: * the concept of 'good sport' and the definition of cheating * the doped athlete - should we be more sympathetic? * the role of the medical industry * the usefulness (or not) of the terms 'doping' and 'anti-doping'. An important and growing field of interest, this book should be read by students, academics and practitioners.
Download or read book Tomorrow s Table written by Pamela C. Ronald and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2010-01-08 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By the year 2050, Earth's population will double. If we continue with current farming practices, vast amounts of wilderness will be lost, millions of birds and billions of insects will die, and the public will lose billions of dollars as a consequence of environmental degradation. Clearly, there must be a better way to meet the need for increased food production. Written as part memoir, part instruction, and part contemplation, Tomorrow's Table argues that a judicious blend of two important strands of agriculture--genetic engineering and organic farming--is key to helping feed the world's growing population in an ecologically balanced manner. Pamela Ronald, a geneticist, and her husband, Raoul Adamchak, an organic farmer, take the reader inside their lives for roughly a year, allowing us to look over their shoulders so that we can see what geneticists and organic farmers actually do. The reader sees the problems that farmers face, trying to provide larger yields without resorting to expensive or environmentally hazardous chemicals, a problem that will loom larger and larger as the century progresses. They learn how organic farmers and geneticists address these problems. This book is for consumers, farmers, and policy decision makers who want to make food choices and policy that will support ecologically responsible farming practices. It is also for anyone who wants accurate information about organic farming, genetic engineering, and their potential impacts on human health and the environment.
