Genes

Gordon Graham brings his philosophical acumen to bear on the complex questions surrounding public debate on genes and genetics. He begins with an overview of the relationship between science and technology, pointing out that the icon of science is fractured into the creative and destructive associations evoked by Einstein and Frankenstein. The next two chapters examine the nature of genetic explanations within the larger frame of biology, then genetic engineering itself. Finally, Graham devotes a chapter to 'Playing God' where he rightly argues that the phrase denotes the kind of hubris with which the Greeks were already familiar and which arguably leads to 'procreative irresponsibility' - for Graham the Oncomouse is a case in point. The paradox, also noted by Mary Midgley, is that even convinced Darwinians seem to need 'an ethical perspective that transcends and can stand in judgement on the human'.