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Utilitarianism, Dune, and the Moral Problem of Genetic Engineering
No full textMoral Philosophy Essay
Research in progress for PHIL 2306: Introduction to Ethics (Honors)
Faculty Mentor: John Macready, PhD
This article began as a research essay during the Fall 2024 semester for my honors- level course, Introduction to Ethics (PHIL 2306). In this course, students are asked to research a moral issue and offer an argument for whether the issue is morally required, morally permitted, morally permissible, or morally impermissible. Mathias Alling’s philosophically ambitious article “Utilitarianism, Dune, and the Moral Problem of Genetic Engineering” examines the moral permissibility of genetic engineering through the fictional universe of Frank Herbert’s novel Dune. To accomplish this, he develops a logical framework from two opposing ethical theories: utilitarianism and deontological ethics. He distills these theories into two moral principles that allow him to argue for the moral permissibility of genetic engineering. While using the Bene Gesserit of Dune as an exemplary foil for his ethical exploration, Mathias tests his moral claim using three cases of genetic modification: Huntington’s Disease, the sex selection of children, and increased intelligence.
Mathias’s article is especially noteworthy because of his skillful use of the dialectical method to generate new insights from divergent sources and perspectives. For example, he derives two moral principles from a critical comparison of the competing ethical theories of John Stuart Mill and Immanuel Kant. He then uses these principles to interpret a variety of secondary sources on genetic engineering and to evaluate specific cases of genetic engineering. This dialogical and generative way of thinking allows him to arrive at an inventive claim about the moral permissibility of genetic engineering. This article also exhibits intellectual courage and a vibrant imagination, two qualities that contribute to good philosophical thinking and writing
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