Objectives and Background Principles

Abstract

In this book, evolutionary, developmental, and ethical principles are used to evaluate the quality of ongoing life, the ending of that life, and the merits of mapping the human genome and manipulating its structure and function. This discussion continues arguments developed in Hu-man Evolution, Reproduction, and Morality (Petrinovich, 1995), in which an evolutionary view of human reproduction was presented. These evolutionary ideas apply to all sexually reproducing organisms, and aspects of human morality were interpreted in their light. It was argued that insights regarding the structure of human moral intuitions and existing systems of morality result when they are viewed from the perspective of actions that would be expected to perpetuate the genotypes of individuals.