Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
celebration of moral pioneers, and the disdain for moral objections to
the project of redesigning humanity—that has emerged in the raft of
recent topics and essays applauding new genetic possibilities.
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In fact,
with its scathing critique of what would come to be called the “wisdom
of repugnance” argument against tampering with our nature,
Daedalus
could serve as a manifesto for today's utopian geneticists. But as it is not
part of the traditional narrative of eugenics, few modern utopians or
their critics are likely to know it.
The standard narrative also coheres uneasily with the moral most
critics want to draw from the history of eugenics. Focused as it is on
brutal measures of state control, the obvious implication of that narra-
tive is that a principal wrong of eugenics was its use of coercion. The
correlative lesson is the need to be wary of any interference with repro-
ductive decision making. That libertarian message is happily embraced
by enthusiasts for all forms of human genetic engineering. But many
critics wish to regulate or even prohibit the use of these technologies (or
particular uses of these technologies). Thus, the history is in tension with
their larger agenda.
Let me offer a brief road map to what follows: first, this chapter
sketches an alternative history of plans to biologically transform human-
ity. This history incorporates utopian elements and takes into account
that not all such plans were coercive. The chapter then analyzes the uses
of history in current debates. It delineates the interests that both enthu-
siasts and critics have in constructing a narrative that features coercive
practices, and briefly explores how the critics resolve, or at least manage,
the resulting tensions.
Biological Utopians: First Generation
Eugenics, in its modern form, was a stepchild of Charles Darwin's theory
of evolution by natural selection. In Darwin's view and his contempo-
raries' reading of his theory, selection led to the constant improvement
of plants and animals. But with respect to the human species, nature's
intentions had been thwarted. In modern, civilized societies, selection
had apparently ground to a halt. As a consequence of medical, sanitary,
and charitable measures, the weak in mind and body were no longer
being effectively culled from the human stock. At the same time, the least
