![]() | Robert Ranisch M. A. - International Centre for Ethics in Science and Humanities Bioethics - Medical ethics, Philosophy |
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02.02.2015-30.03.2015
The moral status of future people
Debates on "liberal eugenics", esp. selective reproduction by means of preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), are dominated by false beliefs concerning the moral status of future offspring. This leads most authors to accept one of the two conclusions: a) reproductive decision making is morally indifferent and should not be regulated, because future people cannot be harmed or made 'worse off' by genetic selection. Thus, prospective parents should enjoy full reproductive autonomy and must not be limited in their selective reproduction (see Rebecca Bennett or Collin Gavaghan) b) in cases of reproductive decision making prospective parents should maximize the welfare of their future offspring. Thus, they are morally obliged to select the 'best' children they can have, if they wish to use reproductive technologies such as PGD. (see Julian Savulescu or John Harris) Reconsidering the moral status of future people, however, leads to a more coherent and plausible conclusion for the question the moral evaluation of selective reproduction. This project will i) bring forward a theoretical account of the moral status of future persons and ii) spell out the implications of this model for the case of selective reproduction. This will allow a more nuanced debate on the ethics of reproductive technologies.