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Genetic Virtue

Genetic Virtue. Mark Walker Research Associate, Trinity College, U of T Lecturer, McMaster University. What is Genetic Virtue?. Refers to the idea that using genetic technologies (broadly understood) we can make ourselves more virtuous. . Why Should We Be Interested in Genetic Virtue? .

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Genetic Virtue

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  1. Genetic Virtue Mark Walker Research Associate, Trinity College, U of T Lecturer, McMaster University

  2. What is Genetic Virtue? • Refers to the idea that using genetic technologies (broadly understood) we can make ourselves more virtuous.

  3. Why Should We Be Interested in Genetic Virtue? • Presently we spend enormous energy, in the form of socialization and education, to make ourselves more virtuous. • Genetic virtue is an alternate but complimentary means to achieve this end. Other things being equal, we ought to welcome different avenues to achieve this goal. • Furthermore, there may well be limits to what we can do on the socialization side. E.g., many have argued that humans are innately evil.

  4. The Genetic Virtue Program (GVP) • The GVP is a proposal for an interdisciplinary program combining ethics, psychology and genetics to pursue the goal of genetic virtue.

  5. Why Virtue? • To make these three disciplines “speak” to one another it is necessary to find a “bridge” between them.

  6. Virtue is the Bridge • Virtue provides the bridge in the idea of ‘enduring behaviors’. • On the one hand, theories of virtue typically focus on long-term patterns of actions or behaviors of ethical agents. • On the other hand, “nearly all personality traits show moderate heritability” (Plomin et al. 2001: 235) where ‘personality traits are conceived as enduring behaviors that are stable across time and situations (Pervin and John, 1999).

  7. The Tasks of Ethics • Provide a list (or lists) of virtues and vices. (We shall assume for our list today, without argument, that truthfulness, justice and caring are virtues that we would like to instill in ourselves and our children). • Articulate the behavioral manifestations of the virtues.

  8. The Tasks of Psychology • To identify the degree to which individuals exhibit the relevant virtues. • To provide an “analytic of virtue”. For example, psychologists sometimes investigate “complex” behaviors such as the personality trait of “extroversion” which includes subtraits like sociability, activity, impulsiveness, dominance, sensation seeking, and liveliness (Plomin, et. al, 2001: 237).

  9. The Tasks of Genetics • To investigate the heritability of virtues, e.g., through twin studies. • To discover the genes associated with the virtues or subtraits of virtues.

  10. Which technologies would be used to implement the GVP? • We could use IVF technology in conjunction with genetic screening to select those embryos that show the greatest promise for exhibiting virtuous behavior. • We could use genetic engineering techniques to alter extant embryos to exhibit more of the desirable genes (and fewer of the undesirable genes).

  11. What Evidence is there that the virtues are under genetic Influence? • In general, systematic studies of the entire field of behavioral genetics reveal that personality traits typically exhibit a significant heritable component, often in the range of 30 to 50%. • The conjecture is that virtues are quite likely in the set of personality traits that are heritable.

  12. What Evidence is there that the virtue of truth-telling is heritable? • Deception is a common tactic among animals and there is a very well developed literature on deception that covers the whole range of biological species (Gintis, 2000). • Lying is among the criteria for diagnosing ASP as are other behaviors such as irresponsibility, aggressiveness, irritability and recklessness. A number of studies have shown that ASP has a heritable component (Niggs and Goldsmith, 1994; Grove et al., 1990; and Loehlin, Willerman and Horn, 1987).

  13. What evidence is there that the virtue of justice is heritable? • Frans B. M. de Waal (1996) has put forward the interesting and controversial thesis that other primates possess a moral life and that considerations of “justice” influence social life in Java-monkey society. • Kohlberg (1984) argues that justice figures centrally in our moral reasoning and that there is a common ontogeny to human moral reasoning.

  14. What evidence is there that the virtue of caring is heritable? • The animal world is replete with examples of animals “caring” for one another. • ‘Agreeableness’ as defined by psychologists, includes the subtraits of being good-natured, trusting, helpful, and compassionate. Recent studies indicate that ‘agreeableness’ has a moderate heritable component (Jang et al., 1996; and Jang et al., 1998).

  15. Is this virtue or a simulacrum of virtue? • In general, genes influence but do not determine behavior. • Compare providing children with genes for perfect pitch. • Nazi school example.

  16. References • References can be found in the online version of this paper available at www.permanentend.org/gvp.htm

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