Abstract
Christopher Freiman argues that parents have a defeasible moral obligation to use biotechnological enhancements to improve their children’s health and well-being. Freiman is skeptical that the distinction between an environmental enhancement and a biological enhancement is morally significant in its own right. Freiman also rejects the claims that parents must only pursue treatment but not enhancement, as well as the claim that parents should avoid enhancement on the grounds that they are likely to do more harm than good by attempting to actively control their children. Freiman concludes by considering the social costs and benefits of allowing parents to enhance their children, and ultimately maintains that even if there are some social costs and if enhancement strikes some people as repugnant, concerns about costs and feelings of repugnance do not undermine the case in favor of enhancing one’s children.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsNotes
- 1.
So I am not making an argument about whether parents ought to select embryos for certain genetic traits. For an argument to this effect, see Savulescu (2001). The selection issue is wrapped up in the nonidentity problem in a way that the modification of existing children is not.
- 2.
- 3.
For a good discussion of the vaccine case, see Harris (2010, chap. 3).
- 4.
As Harris puts the point, it is “doubtful ethics to deny a benefit to any until it can be delivered to all” (Harris 2010, p. 28).
- 5.
For discussion, see Persson and Savulescu (2012).
- 6.
See Kass (2003, p. 16).
- 7.
For a similar point, see Harris (2010, p. 22ff.).
- 8.
References
Bostrom, Nick. 2005. In defense of posthuman dignity. Bioethics 19 (3): 202–214.
Bostrom, Nick, and Toby Ord. 2006. The reversal test: Eliminating status quo bias in applied ethics. Ethics 116 (4): 656–679.
Freiman, Christopher, and Adam Lerner. 2015. Self-ownership and disgust: Why compulsory body part redistribution gets under our skin. Philosophical Studies 172 (12): 3167–3190.
Haidt, Jonathan. 2013. The righteous mind: Why good people are divided by politics and religion. New York: Vintage Books.
Harris, John. 2010. Enhancing evolution: The ethical case for making better people. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Jay, Mike. 2009. The day pain died: What really happened during the most famous moment in Boston medicine. Boston Globe. http://archive.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2009/06/07/the_day_pain_died_what_really_happened_during_the_most_famous_moment_in_boston_medicine/. Accessed 1 Dec 2016.
Kass, L.R. 1998. The wisdom of repugnance: Why we should ban the cloning of humans. Valparaiso University Law Review. Valparaiso University. School of Law 32 (2): 679–705.
Kass, Leon. 2003. Ageless bodies, happy souls. The New Atlantis 1: 9–28.
Looney, Douglas. 1988. Bred to be a superstar. Sports Illustrated. http://www.si.com/vault/1988/02/22/117185/bred-to-be-a-superstar-todd-marinovich-was-groomed-from-infancy-to-be-a-top-notch-quarterback. Accessed 1 Dec 2016.
Nussbaum, Martha Craven. 2004. Hiding from humanity: Disgust, shame, and the law. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Persson, Ingmar, and Julian Savulescu. 2012. Unfit for the future: The need for moral enhancement. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Sandel, Michael. 2004. The case against perfection. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2004/04/the-case-against-perfection/302927/. Accessed 1 Dec 2016.
Savulescu, J. 2001. Procreative beneficence: Why we should select the best children. Bioethics 15 (5–6): 413–426.
Streeter, Kurt. 2014. On road to recovery, Todd Marinovich discovers painting. Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-marinovich-20141013-story.html. Accessed 1 Dec 2016.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Freiman, C. (2018). Why Parents Should Enhance Their Children. In: Flanigan, J., Price, T. (eds) The Ethics of Ability and Enhancement. Jepson Studies in Leadership. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95303-5_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-95303-5_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, New York
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-95302-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-95303-5
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)