Can We Make Ourselves More Moral? Designer Babies, Hormone Therapy, and the New Eugenics of Transhumanism

Apr 20, 2020 by Jill

By Richard Weikart, Public Discourse:

If a non-teleological process produced human morality, then how can we find a measuring rod for morality outside of nature that allows us to prefer “moral” behaviors to “immoral” behaviors?

Julian Savulescu, professor of philosophy at Oxford University and editor of the Journal of Medical Ethics, provocatively argued in a popular 2012 Reader’s Digest article that “It’s Our Duty to Have Designer Babies.” Savulescu is a leading figure in the transhumanist movement, which seeks to transform humanity by seizing the reins of human evolution. Interestingly, however, Savulescu is not a strong proponent of cognitive genetic enhancement, which many transhumanists—and parents wanting a designer baby—favor.

Indeed, Savulescu thinks cognitive enhancement might make us humans even more dangerous to each other, given our technological prowess at building weapons of mass destruction and our propensity to pollute our environment. He regularly invokes the fear of humans destroying themselves; one talk he gave was entitled “Unfit for Life: Genetically Enhance Humanity or Face Extinction.” The solution that Savulescu proposes to keep us humans from killing each other off is what he calls moral enhancement, which comes in two forms: genetic engineering and hormone therapy, both designed to make us more cooperative and altruistic.

Savulescu’s goal in advocating designer babies is to transform human nature, to rid us of our selfish tendencies, and to help us to love one another. Who could argue with such a noble goal?

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