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Article: DNA and the goal of human perfectibility. (genetic engineering in human beings)
- Article from:
- Monthly Review
- Article date:
- July 1, 1986
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1986 Monthly Review Foundation, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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DNA AND THE GOAL OF HUMAN PERFECTIBILITY
Science has a peculiar status in modern society. Its institutions and practitioners are widely perceived as being neutral, objective, value free, above mere human politics. Yet this is far from being the case. The history of science, its errors as well as its successes, its peculiar obsessions and its ideological role as a legitimator of the social order, cannot be understood unless we recognize that scientists can only approach the world in ways which are shaped by their own class perspectives and their assumptions as predominantly white males in a racist and patriarchal society. This is not to say that knowledge about ...