Immanuel Kant
Philosopher
Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher who is considered the central figure of modern philosophy.
Kant's theory is an example of a deontological moral theory–according to these theories, the rightness or wrongness of actions does not depend on their consequences but on whether they fulfill our duty. Kant believed that there was a supreme principle of morality, and he referred to it as The Categorical Imperative:
Kant promoted the categorical imperitive- a command WITHOUT conditions, e.g. You should not steal
Kant rejected the hypothetical imperitive- a command with conditions, e.g. You should not steal unless your life depends on it.
Kant believed that we should act in a way that youh would wish your action/s to become a universal law/s. Essentially his law promotes morality.
Philosopher
Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher who is considered the central figure of modern philosophy.
Kant's theory is an example of a deontological moral theory–according to these theories, the rightness or wrongness of actions does not depend on their consequences but on whether they fulfill our duty. Kant believed that there was a supreme principle of morality, and he referred to it as The Categorical Imperative:
Kant promoted the categorical imperitive- a command WITHOUT conditions, e.g. You should not steal
Kant rejected the hypothetical imperitive- a command with conditions, e.g. You should not steal unless your life depends on it.
Kant believed that we should act in a way that youh would wish your action/s to become a universal law/s. Essentially his law promotes morality.
Kantian Ethics in response to Gene Editing
In my opinion, it is not possible to universalise all parts of gene editing even though some parts of it can help many lives. It is also impossible for everyone to be able changes genes as that would require a very large amount of money and knowledge. Kant would not be interested in the consequences of the action, only the nature of the act itself in which case he would not oppose genetic modification. Even xenotransplantation (using animals to harvest organs for human's) Kant would agree with, using the argument: Animals cannot reason e.g. if you asked a pig whether they want to be used to grow human organs, it would make no sense as pigs are not capable of wanting or talking. The same would apply to human embryos - they cannot reason so using them for genetic modification would be considered right.
However, a key part of kantian ethics is that 'a person should be treated as an end and not a a means to an end'. This would make genetic engineering in the genes of a person - even if it is to treat genetic forms of cancer -wrong as we cannot be sure whether the experiments would work.
In conclusion, almost all aspects of gene editing would be allowed by kantian ethics. It is also quite rare for a person- who is old enough to reason- to be treated by genetic engineering techniques that could backfire. All in all, i believe that Kantian ethics would support gene editing as it does not really clash with any of its laws.
In my opinion, it is not possible to universalise all parts of gene editing even though some parts of it can help many lives. It is also impossible for everyone to be able changes genes as that would require a very large amount of money and knowledge. Kant would not be interested in the consequences of the action, only the nature of the act itself in which case he would not oppose genetic modification. Even xenotransplantation (using animals to harvest organs for human's) Kant would agree with, using the argument: Animals cannot reason e.g. if you asked a pig whether they want to be used to grow human organs, it would make no sense as pigs are not capable of wanting or talking. The same would apply to human embryos - they cannot reason so using them for genetic modification would be considered right.
However, a key part of kantian ethics is that 'a person should be treated as an end and not a a means to an end'. This would make genetic engineering in the genes of a person - even if it is to treat genetic forms of cancer -wrong as we cannot be sure whether the experiments would work.
In conclusion, almost all aspects of gene editing would be allowed by kantian ethics. It is also quite rare for a person- who is old enough to reason- to be treated by genetic engineering techniques that could backfire. All in all, i believe that Kantian ethics would support gene editing as it does not really clash with any of its laws.