Filozofska istraživanja, Vol. 26 No. 1, 2006.
Preliminary communication
Anatomy of a Paternalist and Anti-liberal View on Contemporary Eugenics
Darko Polšek
Abstract
The author dissects a polemic by Tonči Matulić against Polšek's book Sudbina odabranih (Destiny of the Chosen Ones. Eugenics in the Age of Genetic Technology) printed in Filozofska istraživanja 98/2005: 671-693. The main point of the article is a dissection of Matulić's views that there is no fundamental difference between old eugenics and new, and of his overall anti-liberal, paternalist, and allegedly "bioetical" contentions. Polšek uses J.St. Mill's arguments from On Liberty and argues that a democratic and a just society has to respect "mere wishes" of prospective parents when fulfilling their right to bear children, as to be able, among other things, to avoid far greater dangers of collectivism and all sorts of state intervention in private matters, from which ugly forms of eugenics arose in the past. Moreover, Polšek argues that one has to respect these liberal principles (especially if one wishes to be a good bioethicist) in order to take seriously uncontested principles of bioethics: of personal autonomy, independence, and equality.
Keywords
Eugenics; parenthood; liberal principles; paternalism; bioethics
Hrčak ID:
4603
URI
Publication date:
3.4.2006.
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