Abstract

The Genetic Virtue Project (GVP) is a proposed interdisciplinary effort between philosophers, psychologists and geneticists to discover and enhance human ethics using biotechnology genetic correlates of virtuous behavior. The empirical plausibility that virtues have biological correlates is based on the claims that (a) virtues are a subset of personality, specifically, personality traits conceived of as “enduring behaviors,” and (b) that there is ample evidence that personality traits have a genetic basis. The moral necessity to use the GVP for moral enhancement is based on the claims that we should eliminate evil (as understood generically, not religiously), as some evil is a function of human nature. The GVP is defended against several ethical and political criticisms.

Mark Walker "Enhancing genetic virtue," Politics and the Life Sciences 28(2), 27-47, (1 September 2009). https://doi.org/10.2990/28_2_27
Published: 1 September 2009
JOURNAL ARTICLE
21 PAGES

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KEYWORDS
genetic engineering
moral enhancement
pre-implantation genetic diagnosis
Virtue
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