Will Ethics Survive?

Realist Moral Theories Unit IV: Bioethics The moral of the film "Gottaca" is quite obvious and the development of events also quite predictable. The film starts from the idea that parents want their children to have the best start in life. The majority of parents would agree with it. This idea is put into the context of genetic engineering, a palpable reality today.

The moral is that letting doctors apply genetics to do every magic possible in order to get the "best version of you" by eliminating all the "less perfect possibilities" is wrong. Most religions teach one to mind the body as well as the soul in order to be in harmony with God and the rest of the universe. They also teach about free will.

Causal determinism, on the other side, superposes the end over the beginning and leaves no chance for the "chance." According to this philosophical theory, human beings are preconditioned to develop in a certain way, with the perspective of a predictable end. The parents who chose to give birth to a "God child" as their first born and then for their second birth, they went for a perfect "full option best version of themselves" are obviously doing something wrong.

They are wrong not because they were inconsistent with their idea about what they expected from their offspring, but for having fallen victims into the hands of "racism" concerning their attitude towards their own children. Statistics are of great help in many scientific fields, but statistics without human judgment are worthless. The will to have a child that will be as safe as possible from degenerative diseases, cancers, obesity, etc. is fine, the means to reach this goal can be right or wrong.

The film presents a society where the specialists in the field of Genetics think Genetics is the new God. Obeying His commands might get one close to a state of perfection. Speeding the evolutionary process in the hope to one day see the perfect human beings walking on earth is at the base of almost every action of the members of the society created in the film.

The fact that ethics may be as old as humanity points to the fact that humans always needed the guide of established values to have a functional society. Gottaca instills the idea that what was once considered natural would become unnatural. Vincent is a "degenerate" in a future not far away from the moment the film was released. In present days, Vincent is normal. In the society in Gottaca, he is abnormal, degenerate.

Things are turned upside down as soon as human beings actually act consequently to their desire to give their children "the best start possible." Because nowadays child psychology has developed tremendously compared to what it used to be only a generation or two ago, one is bound to hear parents often talking about child rearing and methods to give children "the best start." On the other hand, one is also bound to meet endless rows of adult patients in psychotherapy who claim their parents messed them up precisely because of a natural wish to see one's children succeed where one has failed.

Instead of getting the world closer to perfection, genetic engineering is a perverse tool in the hands of those who want their children to be a perfect "version." The word "version" in itself creates the premises for failure. The very theory of evolution emphasizes the importance of variety in developing better and stronger specimens. It is rather interesting to point out that those who are the result of genetic engineering are still human beings. Oddly enough, they are presented with slightly robot like features in the film.

Their faces are almost expressionless. They are as human as possible, it's just the thought that they are superior and therefore part of a different class, that actually takes humanity out of them. The ancient Greeks have left us the Hippocratic oath. Because of their powers over life and death, doctors in ancient times were supposed to take this oath before they could start practicing medicine. Among others, they would swear to abstain from doing harm.

Like their ancient predecessors taught them, scientists have the responsibility to use their knowledge cautiously. Once everyone will have access to procedures as those presented in Gottaca, many will be tempted to use them. As soon as a great deal will use them, the rest will be compelled to do the same in order to get their offspring equal opportunities. The risk would otherwise be to have children who are condemned right from the beginning, just like Vincent. He.