80-136 HW 3

updated on 7/23 11:25am

Email me your assignment by 1:30 Tuesday, 7/23.

Watch Gattaca. Then:

1. Identify the various ethical dilemmas and public policies in Gattaca's hypothetical society. Include both the explicit and the implicit dilemmas and policies.


2. Drawing upon your reading, conduct a moral assessment of that society. Argue for or against each policy. Include citations where appropriate.


3. Think about the hypothetical society in toto -- not just what's on the silver screen, but what is implicit, or implied by what is presented.


4. Don't write a film review. Write a philosophy piece. Think about the film as a window into a possible world that you wish to comment on.


5. Hint: It may be useful to think about the following topics:
• Bad genetic luck and the natural bases of inequality
• equality of opportunity
• genetic determinism
• genetic discrimination
• stigmatization
• the public health model vs. the personal health model
• the individual vs. the state
• the right to privacy vs. the duty to warn (a family member, the public, etc.)
• "the 'normalization' of genetic information and the notion of our citizenry" (GRHR 48)
• social vs. natural inequalities
6. Hint: It may be helpful to review Burley's discussion of her hypothetical society.


7. added on 7/23:
   • write a moral argument filled with normative claims and principles, not a description of Gattaca's society
   • to the best of your ability, employ the ethical and gen-ethical vocabulary we've been studying (i.e., moral concepts such as personal autonomy, reproductive freedom, distributive justice, consequentialist, etc., as well as such FCC terms as direct/indirect interventions, genetic determinism, public health model, etc.)
   • keep it short: say just enough to prove your claims. unnecessary baggage will count against you
   
   
8. confine your remarks to 500 words