Michael Sandel on Genetic Enhancement in Sports

You can now listen to my interview with  Harvard Professor Michael Sandel on the ethics of using genetic enhancement in sports on Ethics Bites (a transcript is also available).  You can also read a blog post I wrote for the Open University site Open2.net.

Michael Sandel's summary of the main themes of his book The Case Against Perfection.

Listen to Michael Sandel interviewed about Genetic Enhancement and Sport for Ethics Bites

Watch a video of Michael Sandel lecturing on Justice

Comments

[alex]

the point is very interesting. sports are small societies with evident links to the "real" society we live in, so if some genetic enhancement will be available (thanks to improvements in the ability of researchers to manipulate genes), these will be used first in sports. it's just a matter of (much) money: a champion is worth billions.

i just had an idea: if genetic enhancements will be available for everyone, they will too for researchers on genetic enhancements.

the case against perfection can't stand only on the "moral" prohibition to play god (only in a society which recognizes some "god", like the classical greece -in fact, you talk about ybris- or some "mediaeval" sort of europe). i'm thinking about a chance to enforce the position - no genetic enhancements for healty people, only for people who has healt problems - but i can't find a clear way. after all, the sportsmen are also "normal" men/women, citizens. so, if everybody will have access to enhancements, why shouldn't they?

but if only the unhealty people would be helped, the question is by far more simple: no genetic enhancements in sport only because "perfection" has a moral meaning, it's the way everyone is trying to become the better he/she can. and some kind of enhancement are plain cheating: you can't be the better "you" if you cheat.