Abstract
This study takes off from the ethical problem that racism grounded in population genetics raises. It is an analysis of four standard scientific responses to the problem of genetically motivated racism, seen in connection with the Human Genome Diversity Project (HGDP): (1) Discriminatory uses of scientific facts and arguments are in principle ‘misuses’ of scientific data that the researcher cannot be further responsible for. (2) In a strict scientific sense, genomic facts ‘disclaim racism’, which means that an epistemically correct grasp of genomics should be ethically justified. (3) Ethical difficulties are issues to be ‘resolved’ by an ethics institution or committee, which will guarantee the ethical quality of the research scrutinized. (4) Although population genetics occasionally may lead to racism, its overall ‘value’ for humankind justifies its cause as a desirable pursuit. I argue that these typical responses to genetically motivated racism supervene on a principle called the ‘ethic of knowledge’, which implies that an epistemically correct account has intrinsic ethical value. This principle, and its logically related ideas concerning the ethic of science, effectively avoids a deeper ethical question of responsibility in science from being raised.
Highlights
This study takes off from the ethical problem that racism grounded in population genetics raises
(4) population genetics occasionally may lead to racism, its overall ‘value’ for humankind justifies its cause as a desirable pursuit
The Human Genome Diversity Project (HGDP) was a global study of human genetic diversity that sought to explore human genetic ancestry and migration worldwide (Cavalli-Sforza et al, 1994; Human Genome Organization [HUGO], 1994)
Summary
This study takes off from the ethical problem that racism grounded in population genetics raises. I argue that these typical responses to genetically motivated racism supervene on a principle called the ‘ethic of knowledge’, which implies that an epistemically correct account has intrinsic ethical value.
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