Synthetic Biology and the Argument from Continuity with Established Technologies
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Book chapter › Research › peer-review
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.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Ambivalences of Creating Life : Societal and Philosophical Dimensions of Synthetic Biology |
Editors | Kristin Hagen, Margaret Engelhard, Georg Toepfer |
Number of pages | 18 |
Place of Publication | Cham |
Publisher | Springer |
Publication date | 30 Nov 2015 |
Pages | 293-311 |
ISBN (Print) | 978-3-319-21087-2 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 978-3-319-21088-9 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 30 Nov 2015 |
Series | Ethics of Science and Technology Assessment |
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Volume | 45 |
ISSN | 1860-4803 |
Bibliographical note
Cop. 2016, men udgivet 2015
ID: 143114631