Overcritical, overfriendly? : A dialogue between a sociologist and a philosopher on genetic technology and its applications

Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy 8 (3):377-383 (2005)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

Are sociologists always critical about genetics? Are philosophers always more supportive? This is the impression of many sociologists in the United Kingdom who argue that contemporary British philosophers criticise genetic technologies and applications in ways that scientists and medical doctors can deal with. They emphasise matters like informed consent, but pay less or no attention to the wider social consequences of technologies, practices and policies. Philosophers in their turn may see sociologists as irrationally hostile to science and medical practice. Some of them refuse to criticise genetics, arguing that there is nothing to criticise. Others feel that their criticisms are in fact more accurate than the concerns raised by sociologists. And yet others point out that the impression of uncritical support can only be true of a certain specific group. Philosophers have so many internal disagreements among themselves that the generalisation can hardly be justified. In this paper an attempt is made by a sociologist and a philosopher to understand how sociological and philosophical perspectives on bioethics may differ in discussions about genetics. The paper, which proceeds in dialogue form, is based on our email correspondence on the advantages and disadvantages of genetic technologies and their applications, and on the idea of social consequences as understood by scholars from two different disciplines.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,616

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

New Genetics, New Indentities.Paul Atkinson - 2006 - Routledge. Edited by Peter E. Glasner & Helen Greenslade.
The morality of human Gene patents.David B. Resnik - 1997 - Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 7 (1):43-61.
Informed consent and genetic information.O. O'Neill - 2001 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 32 (4):689-704.

Analytics

Added to PP
2011-01-29

Downloads
27 (#506,960)

6 months
3 (#447,120)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Mairi Levitt
Lancaster University

References found in this work

Early Writings.Karl Marx & T. B. Bottomore - 1964 - McGraw-Hill Companies.
Prenatal Testing and Disability Rights.Erik Parens & Adrienne Asch (eds.) - 2000 - Georgetown University Press.
The logic of the moral sciences.John Stuart Mill - 1872 - La Salle, Ill.: Open Court. Edited by Henry Meyer Magid.

View all 27 references / Add more references