Eugenic selection denotes the selection of human persons according to desired genetic traits. It connects preimplantation genetic testing (PGD/PGT), transhumanism, and the oblivion of the person in a common logic: the human being is not affirmed for his own sake, but evaluated by the standard of desired traits.
Historical and Current Forms
The eugenic idea has a long and burdened history — from the forced-sterilization programs of the twentieth century to today’s possibilities of reproductive medicine. The means have changed; the underlying logic has not: human life is sorted according to traits.
Current forms of eugenic selection include:
- Preimplantation genetic testing (German) (PGT-A, PGT-P): selection of embryos according to genetic findings or polygenic risk score.
- Non-medical sex selection: selection of embryos by sex for reasons of preference.
- Savior-sibling selection (German): selection of an embryo as a tissue donor for a sick sibling.
Classification in Personal Ontology
Eugenic selection is a form of practical oblivion of the person: the person is not accepted as a someone who is there for his own sake, but evaluated as a bearer of traits. This contradicts the personalist norm (Wojtyła): the human person may never be a mere means, but is always an end in itself.
Every embryo is, from fertilization onward, a human person with full ontological dignity — in the first dimension, as prote energeia. Selection according to traits fails to recognize this ontological state of affairs and reduces the person to her biological properties.
Ontological Classification
Superordinate concepts: Practical oblivion of the person
Ontological relations:
- is subclass of: practical oblivion of the person
- has subclass: preimplantation genetic testing
- violates: personalist norm
Chapter assignment: Chapter 5: Oblivion of the Person (German)
See also
- Preimplantation Genetic Testing
- Sex Selection
- Oblivion of the Person
- Personalist Norm
- Transhumanism
- Ontological Dignity
- Embryo
- Fertilization
- Someone
- Savior Sibling
- Bioethics
Sources: Generated by querying the Personhood ontology.