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Gattaca
The main question asked in the film Gattaca is whether or not genetics is the best way to define humanity, or should non-physical attributes be used. Set in a nearing dystopian future where genetics is the basis of success or failure, this science fiction film follows the actions of a naturally-born human, named Vincent, who attempts to overcome his genetic inferiority and become an astronaut. Forever in competition with his younger, but genetically modified brother Anton, Vincent uses the genetic material from another modified human to mask his own DNA, or Deoxyribonucleic Acid, and enter the space program. ("hat is DNA?") But it is Vincent's superiority of drive and ambition that allows him to cheat the system and succeed in a society that believes his genetic inferiority will make that impossible. The fact that he does succeed calls into question the belief in the inherent superiority of genetically modified…
Works Cited
Gattaca. Dir. Andrew Niccol. Columbia Pictures, 1997. DVD.
"What is DNA?" Genetics Home Reference. Web. 27 Feb. 2011.
http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/handbook/basics/dna
There are too many factors that cannot be controlled. Children may develop inferiority feelings regarding their own specialness due to the choices of their parents. Many people who may be able to make contributions to society will more than likely be aborted. There is also the possibility that just because someone has a genetic trait for a malady, they may not even manifest such a condition. Additionally, the lack of clear boundaries in this field leaves the potential for catastrophes, such as that which happened during orld ar II.
orks Cited
Abraham, Carolyn. "Unnatural Selection: Is Evolving Reproductive Technology Ushering in a New Age of Eugenics?" The Globe and Mail, 7 January 2012.
Appel, Jacob M. "Toward an Ethical Eugenics: The Case for Mandatory Preimplantation Genetic Selection." JONA's Healthcare Law, Ethics, and Regulation 14:1, 2012, 7-14.
Gattaca. Dir. Andre Niccol. Perf. Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, Jude Law. Columbia, 1997. Film.…
Works Cited
Abraham, Carolyn. "Unnatural Selection: Is Evolving Reproductive Technology Ushering in a New Age of Eugenics?" The Globe and Mail, 7 January 2012.
Appel, Jacob M. "Toward an Ethical Eugenics: The Case for Mandatory Preimplantation Genetic Selection." JONA's Healthcare Law, Ethics, and Regulation 14:1, 2012, 7-14.
Gattaca. Dir. Andre Niccol. Perf. Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, Jude Law. Columbia, 1997. Film.
King, David S. "Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis and the 'New' Eugenics." Journal of Medical Ethics, 25, 1999, 176 -- ?182
technology has revolutionized society: communication, transportation, commerce, and especially medicine. . Ironically, for centuries and still in Oriental Medicine, healthcare was and is tailored to the individual. Even the Greek Physician Hippocrates wrote that he prescribed sweet elixirs to some and astringents to others depending on their individual condition (Pray, 2008). 21st century medicine, though, is more about an individual person's genetic code, and is made possible by advances in genetic technology and engineering. This is partially due to the Human Genome Project, a massive program completed in 2003 that focused on the identification of the individual genes that make up human DNA with the overall hope that it would initiate genomic medicine -- healthcare delivered based on the individual's medical history and genetic profile (About the Human Genome Project, 2011). Traditionally, medicine diagnoses human illnesses based on quantitative and qualitative signs and symptoms. With the advent of genetic technology,…
References
About the Human Genome Project. (2011, September 19). Human Genome Management Information Systems. Retrieved from: http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources / Human_Genome/project/about.shtml
Gattaca. (1997, March). Retrieved from International Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119177/
Personalized Medicine - An Overview. (2011, January 11). Retrieved from: U.S. News Health report: http://health.usnews.com/health-conditions/cancer/personalized-medicine
Public Law 110-223. (2008). The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008. Retrieved from: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-110publ233/content-detail.html
Picard: Like this hearing.
Maddox: Yes
With this acknowledged, Maddox admits Data is intelligent, but lacks self-awareness and consciousness.
Picard: What about self-awareness? What does that mean? Why am I self-aware?
Maddox: Because you are conscious of your existence and actions. You are aware of your own self and your own ego.
Picard: Commander Data. What are you doing now?
Data: I am taking part in a legal hearing to determine my rights and status. Am I a person or am I property?
Picard: And what is at stake?
Data: My right to choose, perhaps my very life.
Really, then, we see that if Data has information about his own beliefs and can extrapolate those consequences, he must then be self-aware and therefore, closer to being human.
Picard: Now tell me Commander [Maddox], what is Data?
Maddox: I don't understand.
Picard: What is he?
Maddox: A machine.
Picard: Are you…
Sources:
Star Trek: The Next Generation. "Measure of a Man."
Retrieved from: http://www.youtube.com /watch?v=3PM1DidyG-I' target='_blank' REL='NOFOLLOW'>
Saints and the oughnecks by William Chambliss is a masterpiece study in Seattle suburb in the 1970s and it demonstrates the significance of connecting the macro and micro factors together. (Conformity, deviance and Crime) The Saints and the oughnecks were two clusters of boys from the same Hanibal High School, who got involved in the same kinds of abnormal behaviors but were branded differently by the public. (Violence; Disease or Attitude) The Saints belonged to upper-middle-class families, while the oughnecks belonged to a lower socioeconomic setting. (Conformity, deviance and Crime) The saints were a cluster of eight young men of fine, steady, white upper-middle class families on the pre-college track in high school, who were vigorous in school affairs, who associate in unbelievably large amounts of absenteeism, much of drinking and driving, quite a bit of little stealing and vandalism, and loads of deceiving in school, but cope up to…
References
"Conformity, deviance and Crime" (2003) Retrieved from http://www.wwnorton.com/giddens4/chapters/chapter7/welcome.htm Accessed on 14 November, 2004
'Self-Fulfilling Prophecies" Retrieved from http://www94.homepage.villanova.edu/peter.knapp/IthemeSFP.htm Accessed on 14 November, 2004
'Theories of Deviance: Conflict Theory" Retrieved from http://www.d.umn.edu/~bmork/2306/Theories/BAMconflict2.htm Accessed on 14 November, 2004
'The Saints and the Roughnecks" Retrieved from http://chat.wcc.cc.il.us/~kwestman/Week_7_Chambliss01.htm Accessed on 14 November, 2004
Realist Moral Theories Unit IV: Bioethics
The moral of the film "ottaca" 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 od 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…
Gottaca's predictable end warns us of the danger of deifying science and placing all our hopes into it.
"Gottaca," 1997.Directed by Andrew Niccol, produced by Columbia Pictures Corporation, Jersey Films, United States
Shapshay, Sandra.2009. Bioethics and the Movies. JHU Press