Gattaca as Philosophy: Genoism and Justice

Abstract

The world of Gattaca lacks justice, and that means it’s hard for anyone to be happy. Gattacan society – divided among what are called “In-valids” and “Valids” – is built on intrinsic genoism that strongly favors the Valids. Despite some claims in the movie, In-valids are not treated the way they are because of some testable statistical claim about their substandard abilities; they are treated as though they simply are substandard in virtue of being In-valids. In-valids are excluded from many opportunities in the society, but Valids too may be denied an open future via imperfect engineering or even a too-specific customization of their genotype. Moreover, despite what the genetic engineers say about providing the “best start in life,” even those children who received the best possible engineering can’t choose a life theme and will therefore still struggle to live quality lives. The movie confronts us again and again with the unfairness and injustice that result from genoism, and does so in a way that suggests a solution very much in line with John Rawls’s work on justice as fairness.