Michael

Michael Sandel – “The Case Against Perfection”

1. What is wrong with designer babies?

• Sandel critiques designer babies for their disruption of the natural balance between the “giftedness” of life and human willfulness:

  • Designer babies represent a hubristic drive to control and master nature, reducing children to projects of parental ambition rather than beings to be accepted as they come.

  • This practice undermines the humility and openness essential to parenting, replacing the unpredictability of life with a market-driven pursuit of perfection​.

2. What is the real problem with genetic enhancement in Sandel’s view?

• Sandel identifies the drive to mastery as the core problem with genetic enhancement:

  • Enhancement reflects a Promethean aspiration to reshape human nature to serve personal desires, eroding the sense of life as a gift.

  • It amplifies responsibility and pressure, creating unrealistic expectations for perfection while undermining values like humility and solidarity.

  • Sandel argues that the pursuit of genetic enhancement disfigures the moral landscape by prioritizing control and achievement over acceptance and reverence for the unbidden​.

3. Why would Sandel disagree with Savulescu?

• Julian Savulescu, a proponent of genetic enhancement, argues that it is a moral obligation to enhance traits if it improves well-being or reduces harm.

• Sandel would disagree because:

  • He sees enhancement as a misguided exercise of willfulness that undermines the appreciation of life’s giftedness.

  • Sandel critiques the notion of optimizing life through genetic control, arguing that it disregards the moral and spiritual dimensions of accepting life as it come