Abstract
A certain political rhetoric is implicit and sometimes explicit in the advocacy of human genetic modification (indicating here both the enhancement and the prevention of disability). The main claim is that it belongs to a liberal tradition. From a perspective supplied by the history and philosophy of science rather than by ethics, the content of that claim is examined to see if such a self-description is justified. The techniques are analyzed by which apparently liberal arguments get to be presented as “reasonable” in a juridical sense that draws on theories of law and rhetoric.
Highlights
Claims to “liberalism” or “conservatism” abound in the literature on human genetic modification (HGM)
I start by setting out their claim to be part of a liberal tradition battling a conservative opposition
I go on to argue that in our attempts to establish stable, knowledge-based grounds for debating HGM, it is the philosophy and history of science that is prior, rather than some notional discipline of ethics which is a contingent outcome of that history
Summary
Claims to (and accusations of) “liberalism” or “conservatism” abound in the literature on human genetic modification (HGM) They are usually taken at face value. Assumptions about the general political alignment of the arguments for and against HGM permeate the public arena but are not always made explicit, so they need testing out. What part do they play in the presentation of the case? When I use the terms liberal and conservative, I am not talking about political allegiances in a party-political sense. On the contrary, it is well-known that the drive towards biological. Readers who are researchers of any kind will recognize that the very departure-point of research is a refusal to take starting assumptions for granted
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