Volume 16, Number 2 Article by Fr (Dr) K Cyriac June, 2004
Biotech Research: Moral Permissibility vs Technical Feasibility :
It is now being rapidly recognised that 'innovation' in a science like genetic engineering, including aspects like artificial horizontal gene transfer across species, cloning and stem cell research, has a strong social and ethical flavour. The controversy in the field centres on the very definition of the human person and the moral status of the early human embryo, particularly the moment of its 'ensoulment'. Proponents of the liberal view on biotech research resort to teleological arguments advanced by the Utilitarian school of philosophy, which judges actions by their consequences. In spite of the practical appeal of this philosophy, Utilitarianism as a Weltanschauung faces the most serious challenge on its foundation of moral rights. According to Fr Cyriac, the ethical approach proposed by Immanuel Kant can better serve as an adequate foundation for moral rights. Unlike the Utilitarians, Kant focuses on the inner motivations of the moral agent, rather than on the consequences of external actions. A careful and healthy integration of the principles of both teleology (utilitarianism) and deontology, especially Kant's version, could be seriously considered in applying them to biotech research.
Regulatory mechanisms need to address people's concerns about the possible uses and misuses of biotech research through genetically engineered germs and viruses, 'Terminator' seeds incapable of reproducing, embryo engineering and so on.
Reprint No 04205b
