The Sorting Society : The Ethics of Genetic Screening and Therapy

Focuses on the ethical, legal and social issues raised by genetic testing and therapy. This book will be of interest to philosophers, political commentators, clinicians, lawyers, people with genetic conditions and their families - indeed to anyone concerned about one of the major issues of our time.

The 'sorting society' expresses what many people believe will be the outcome of advances in genetic technology: a society in which many characteristics of children are no longer the result of genetic chance but of deliberate selection. This book focuses on the ethical, legal and social issues raised by this technology. Is the prospect of a sorting society something that we should welcome or deplore? Do concerns about how parents or societies might exercise the choice given to them by genetic technology give us reason to restrain its creation or use, and if so how? Would a sorting society increase the freedom of parents and the well being of children, or would it undermine values that are central to a liberal democratic society? These are questions of the most profound significance, bearing on the world in which our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren will live.