 |
As
it stands, assumptions
about the radical autonomy of all individuals are well
established and virtually unquestioned. They pervade everything
from constitutional law to consumerism, from popular therapy
to art. The picture of the human person as utterly independent,
self-creating, and unencumbered by social ties or moral
obligations dominates our discourses, mores, and imagination.
It is also fundamentally flawed.
New challenges are arising that portend further
radical changes in our understanding of human life and
the human person. Perhaps the most obvious of these challenges
comes from novel developments in technology. In biotechnology,
for example, scientists are moving genes across species
boundaries and promising profound transformations in
the human experience of frailty, aging, reproduction,
and disease. Linked to the power of the market and a
pervasive market culture, biotechnological change is
raising troubling questions about the nature of life,
the meaning of our bodies to our self-understanding,
what is unique to the human person, and the social implications
toward which these changes are pushing us. What is clear
is that technological innovation in these areas has far
outpaced our ability to limit, direct, or control them. |
