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Title:       Species Ethics
Date:        2022-06-15
Tags:        box3
Link:        https://spool-five.com/box3/20220615t000004--species-ethics__box3/
Word Count:  351
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#philosophy[1]
=>[1] https://spool-five.com/box3/20220602t000000--philosophy__box3/

A concept used by Jurgen Habermas in his book _The Future of Human
Nature_. The book is largely a response to the model of liberal eugenics[2]
found in _From Chance to Choice_. There are many arguments you could
make against liberal eugenics, but Habermas approaches it from what you
could possibly call an _existentialist_ perspective. In short, he
considers the problem of genetic therapies from the perspective of the
child whose genotype has been altered. His argument centers on the idea
that, through pre-birth genetic intervention, the child's _singularity_
has in some manner been tampered with. The situation is qualitatively
(I hesitate to say "metaphysically") different from cases where, for
example, a parent forces their child to practice violin every day from
the ages of four until eighteen. Here, there is indeed some infringement
on the autonomy of the child, but it is an infringement that is
_reversible_. The child is always free to rebel later on, and distance
themselves from this relation. However, in the case of genetic intervention,
the infringement is _irreversabile_ - the child is forced to live with
a decision that was made prior to their existence, involving their
parents and medical professionals, and which affects them in the most
intimate way possible.
=>[2] https://spool-five.com/box3/20220615t000002--liberal-eugenics__box3/

The concept of a "species ethics" emerges as a response to this hypothetical
future in which genetic technologies would be used to intervene, either
therapeutically or with the aim of "enhancement", in the genome prior
to birth, and prior to the point at which the person being altered is
capabale of responding. A species ethics accepts the _contingency_ of
the human genome as a potential ground for the _singularity of the
person_. It aims to promote the _dignity_ and _autonomy_ of the human
person by drawing a link between the existential singularity of the self
and the genetic singularity that is produced at a lower level. A species
ethics accepts the _givenness_ of life a the starting point for dialogue,
not as a "problem" that has to be overcome with technical solutions.