Synthetic Biology and the Argument from Continuity with Established Technologies
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Book chapter › Research › peer-review
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Synthetic Biology and the Argument from Continuity with Established Technologies. / Christiansen, Andreas.
Ambivalences of Creating Life: Societal and Philosophical Dimensions of Synthetic Biology. ed. / Kristin Hagen; Margaret Engelhard; Georg Toepfer. Cham : Springer, 2015. p. 293-311 (Ethics of Science and Technology Assessment, Vol. 45).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Book chapter › Research › peer-review
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TY - CHAP
T1 - Synthetic Biology and the Argument from Continuity with Established Technologies
AU - Christiansen, Andreas
N1 - Cop. 2016, men udgivet 2015
PY - 2015/11/30
Y1 - 2015/11/30
N2 - Defenders of synthetic biology commonly make reference to the fact that established technologies, such as domestication or selective breeding, share some of the features of synthetic biology that critics argue make it ethically problematic. In this chapter, I reconstruct such references as instances of a type of argument which I dub the Continuity Argument. Roughly, the Continuity Argument seeks to show that if we are not disposed to reject the established technology, then features that this technology share with synthetic biology cannot provide reasons to find it ethically problematic. I assess the soundness of this argument and point out three problems with it: (1) That it fails to show that we should stop being critical of synthetic biology rather than start being critical of the established technologies; (2) that it does not take differences in degree into account; and (3) that it ignores the distinction between what reasons we have and what we should do all things considered. I then illustrate the Continuity Argument and its problems in the case where human manipulation of organisms’ genetic makeup is a suggested reason for finding synthetic biology problematic. Finally, I suggest ways in which references to established technologies can be used in a sound way in the ethical assessment of synthetic biology.
AB - Defenders of synthetic biology commonly make reference to the fact that established technologies, such as domestication or selective breeding, share some of the features of synthetic biology that critics argue make it ethically problematic. In this chapter, I reconstruct such references as instances of a type of argument which I dub the Continuity Argument. Roughly, the Continuity Argument seeks to show that if we are not disposed to reject the established technology, then features that this technology share with synthetic biology cannot provide reasons to find it ethically problematic. I assess the soundness of this argument and point out three problems with it: (1) That it fails to show that we should stop being critical of synthetic biology rather than start being critical of the established technologies; (2) that it does not take differences in degree into account; and (3) that it ignores the distinction between what reasons we have and what we should do all things considered. I then illustrate the Continuity Argument and its problems in the case where human manipulation of organisms’ genetic makeup is a suggested reason for finding synthetic biology problematic. Finally, I suggest ways in which references to established technologies can be used in a sound way in the ethical assessment of synthetic biology.
U2 - 10.1007/978-3-319-21088-9
DO - 10.1007/978-3-319-21088-9
M3 - Book chapter
SN - 978-3-319-21087-2
T3 - Ethics of Science and Technology Assessment
SP - 293
EP - 311
BT - Ambivalences of Creating Life
A2 - Hagen, Kristin
A2 - Engelhard, Margaret
A2 - Toepfer, Georg
PB - Springer
CY - Cham
ER -
ID: 143114631