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Journal of Medicine and Philosophy Advance Access originally published online on February 25, 2009
Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 2009 34(2):119-134; doi:10.1093/jmp/jhp015
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press, on behalf of the Journal of Medicine and Philosophy Inc. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Egalitarianism and Responsibility in the Genetic Future

Linda Barclay

Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia

Address correspondence: Linda Barclay, PhD, Centre for Human Bioethics, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia. E-mail: Linda.Barclay{at}arts.monash.edu.au


  Abstract

Recent discussions of genetic enhancement have argued that unregulated access to genetic enhancement technology will have a mainly negative impact on equality, a development that an egalitarian approach to distributive justice should be concerned with and seek to address. I argue that the extent to which egalitarians should be concerned about unequal access to genetic enhancement therapies has been overplayed. Many of the genetic differences that exist between people, including those that arise from differential access to genetic enhancement technology, are simply irrelevant to egalitarian concerns. I also argue that most commentators have failed to appreciate that an egalitarian-inspired program of equal access to genetic enhancement technology may not be altogether favourable for the genetically disadvantaged in any case. The true implications of egalitarian justice in the genetic future have not been adequately explored.

Keywords: egalitarianism, genetic enhancement, justice


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Introduction
J Med Philos, April 1, 2009; 34(2): 93 - 101.
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