Liberal Eugenics
In Defence of Human Enhancement
1. Auflage Oktober 2004
216 Seiten, Softcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
In this provocative book, philosopher Nicholas Agar defends the
idea that parents should be allowed to enhance their
children's characteristics.
* Gets away from fears of a Huxleyan 'Brave New
World' or a return to the fascist eugenics of the past
* Written from a philosophically and scientifically informed
point of view
* Considers real contemporary cases of parents choosing what kind
of child to have
* Uses 'moral images' as a way to get readers with no
background in philosophy to think about moral dilemmas
* Provides an authoritative account of the science involved,
making the book suitable for readers with no knowledge of
genetics
* Creates a moral framework for assessing all new
technologies
Chapter 1: Genius sperm, eugenics, and enhancement
technologies.
Chapter 2: A pragmatic optimism about enhancement
technologies.
Chapter 3: Making moral images of biotechnology.
Chapter 4: The moral image of therapy.
Chapter 5: The moral image of nature.
Chapter 6: The moral image of nurture.
Chapter 7: Our Postliberal Future.
Chapter 8: Enhanced humans when?.
Further readings on human enhancement.
Bibliography.
Index
eventually make possible tend to resist evaluation by traditional
approaches to ethics, since the central issue is nothing less than
what human nature itself shall be. Liberal Eugenics offers
refreshingly sensible guidance to the possibilities of cloning,
genetic therapy, and genetic enhancement by reference to our
'moral images' of more familiar but relevantly similar
practices. At once conservative in its methodology and daring in
its defiance of conventional wisdom, this book is a lively and
accessible antidote to the prejudice and obscurantism that pervade
public debates about these challenging issues." Jeff
McMahan, Professor of Philosophy,
RutgersUniversity
"With Liberal Eugenics, Nicholas Agar has given us
a lively, sophisticated defense of genetic enhancement, challenging
the anxious sentimentality of biotech luddites without embracing
the naïve, reckless optimism of bio-tech enthusiasts. Readers
may not always agree with Agar, but they will be engaged by his
original and forceful arguments and his apt and delightful
examples. The book is a pleasure to read and a provocative piece of
applied philosophy - a rare combination." David
Wasserman, University of Maryland
"A very persuasive case for an informed, liberal though not
laissez-faire approach to research." The Guardian
"This [is a] clear, scientifically well informed and
philosophically sophisticated study." Notre Dame Philosophical
Review
