Juha Raikka – författare

“Genetic Democracy” involves an in-depth analysis of the ethical, social and philosophical issues related to modern genetic research and gene technology. The aim of the book is to introduce systematic research on the social and ethical impacts of the use and development of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) as well as the acquisition, use and storage of human genetic information (HGI). The book contributes to enhancing public discussion and reaching fair and democratic decision-making practices in GMO and HGI use and development both on local and global level.

There are currently few European texts which address the issues involved in a theoretical and systematical manner. “Genetic Democracy” has been written from the viewpoint of social and political philosophy rather than that of traditional bioethics. There is a clear need for a throughout and authoritative philosophical and ethical analysis of the issues involved in genetic research and gene technology. The book will appeal to philosophers, social scientists, genetics professionals, policy makers, academics, industrial organisations and human rights organisations as well as university students and legal scholars. The book will have a broad appeal across Europe, Asia and America since many states are currently considering policy responses to many of the practices discussed in the books (e.g., human biobanks).

In this book the practical dimension of social justice is explained using the analysis and discussion of a variety of well-known topics. These include: the relation between theory and practice in normative political philosophy; the issue of justice under uncertainty; the question of whether we can and should unmask social injustices by means of conspiracy theories; the issues of privacy and the right to privacy; the issue of how certain psychological states may affect our moral obligations, in particular the obligation to treat others fairly; and finally the concepts of morality, fairness, and self-deception. The primary goal of the book is to provide readers with an updated discussion of some important and practical social justice issues. These issues are presented from a new perspective, based on the author´s research. It is hoped that bringing these topics together in a single book will promote the emergence of new insights and challenges for future research.

Juha Räikkä is a professor at the Department of Philosophy at the University of Turku, Finland. His research focuses on ethics and political philosophy.

This volume gathers together previously unpublished articles focusing on the relationship between preference adaptation and autonomy in connection with human enhancement and in the end-of-life context. The value of individual autonomy is a cornerstone of liberal societies. While there are different conceptions of the notion, it is arguable that on any plausible understanding of individual autonomy an autonomous agent needs to take into account the conditions that circumscribe its actions. Yet it has also been suggested that allowing one’s options to affect one’s preferences threatens autonomy. While this phenomenon has received some attention in other areas of moral philosophy, it has seldom been considered in bioethics. This book combines for the first time the topics of preference adaptation, individual autonomy, and choosing to die or to enhance human capacities in a unique and comprehensive volume, filling an important knowledge gap in the contemporary bioethics literature.