Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
to be effective arguments about genetic enhancement, they must repre-
sent a metaphysical discussion about human nature.
I will argue that such a discussion is possible and is rooted in two
issues: the nature of our existence as physical beings, and the effect of
mortality on the urgency of creating content for our lives.
There are certain conceptions of the soul that explicitly or implicitly
encourage genetic engineering while in effect begging the question of the
significance of altering the body. The concept of the soul has a long and
significant role in philosophical as well as theological ethics. For one,
there is the Platonic, Augustinian, or Cartesian view of the soul as a sep-
arate substance that uses the body as an instrument. Given this view, cer-
tainly the condition of the body dramatically influences the quality of
human life endured by the soul, and the soul's success or failure in har-
nessing the impulses of the body in part depends on the challenges the
body presents. But it cannot be alleged that the soul requires these chal-
lenges or would be harmed by the absence of these difficulties, unless the
argument is supported by a claim that the soul needs to prove itself in
some fashion by overcoming these difficulties. René Descartes, for
example, is explicit about the advantages of improving the body for
acquiring wisdom and happiness.
2
A
res cogitans
with a healthy body
will be wiser and happier simply because the absence of bodily troubles
will allow the soul's natural good sense to express itself more directly
and efficiently. A soul that journeys with a well-formed and harmonious
body still has work to do for wisdom (most obviously for Descartes,
work in learning a method and developing the discipline necessary to
stick with it), but in the absence of distractions, more of the soul's energy
can be focused on the end to be achieved, rather than the insufficiencies
of the means.
Another important example is Jean-Jacques Rousseau's view of the
human being as a free being capable of radically changing its nature
through the imitation of other creatures and, ultimately, even other
members of its own species.
3
If we are capable of improving ourselves
through imitating others, then the perception that some other animal has
an advantage of a specific type becomes a model for imitation. Thus, if
working in a group, being taller, or being stronger poses an advantage,
then those characteristics are desirable. If the advantage allows for imi-
tation, then others may acquire this advantage. By watching others, I
