by Corry Shores
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Nature is no more what we essentially are but the product of what we want or choose. Nature becomes artifice, the product of human voluntary design. (159d)
A genetically modified rose is not artificial in the same sense as a paper rose (appropriately called ‘‘artificial flower’’). Yet, despite the greater similarity to ‘‘natural’’ flowers than to paper flowers, we feel ill at ease about the genetic modification of roses in a way which we do not with regard to artificial flowers. (160c)
Human nature is paradoxically more sacred than flowers and rocks exactly because humans are not merely part of nature! This is exactly the lesson learnt from Kant’s view of reason as constituting the dignity of man, its inner priceless worth. (161bc)
And the same argument applies to any philosophical view which considers essential human nature to lie in non-natural features like the faculty of free choice, the existence of a soul, the capacity for language or the ability to lead a contemplative life. Insofar as genetic engineering does not affect these powers and features, it is immune from the critical argument from human nature. (161-162)
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