Liberal Eugenics - Paperback

by Nicholas Agar (Author)

In this provocative book, philosopher Nicholas Agar defends the idea that parents should be allowed to enhance their children's characteristics.

• Gets away from fears of a Huxleyan 'Brave New World' or a return to the fascist eugenics of the past
• Written from a philosophically and scientifically informed point of view
• Considers real contemporary cases of parents choosing what kind of child to have
• Uses 'moral images' as a way to get readers with no background in philosophy to think about moral dilemmas
• Provides an authoritative account of the science involved, making the book suitable for readers with no knowledge of genetics
• Creates a moral framework for assessing all new technologies

Back Jacket

Public debate about the use of genetic technology is dominated by fears of a Huxleyan 'Brave New World' or a return to the fascist eugenics of the past. In this controversial book, philosopher Nicholas Agar defuses these anxieties and defends the idea that parents should be allowed to enhance their children's genetic characteristics.

Agar describes three technologies that may soon make liberal eugenics a practical possibility - cloning by somatic cell nuclear transfer, genomics, and genetic engineering - and argues that parents can use these technologies to realize their procreative goals without harming the people they will bring into existence. He rejects the idea that eugenics need divide society into genetic haves and have-nots, and denies that social pressures need force eugenic choices to converge on a single view of human excellence, suggesting that these threats to liberal social arrangements can be resisted.

Author Biography

Nicholas Agar is Senior Lecturer at Victoria University of Wellington. His previous books include Life's Intrinsic Value (2001) and Perfect Copy (2002).