Thompson Paul B
Center for Biotechnology Policy and Ethics, Texas A&M University, College Station 77843-4355.
J Anim Sci. 1993;71(Suppl. 3):51-6. doi: 10.2527/1993.71suppl_351x.
The method of ethical analysis is reviewed and applied to questions relating to the unintended consequences, ownership, and metaphysical significance of genetically modified animals. The question of how genetics and recombinant DNA discoveries have an impact on human understanding of the moral community and the limits of acceptable action are emphasized. The potential for genetically modified animals presents a challenge to implicit norms for defining these boundaries. Four philosophical responses to this challenge are reviewed: fundamentalism, conventionalism, dualism, and naturalism. The naturalist response is most consistent with contemporary biology, but it also entails that animals have limited moral significance.
本文回顾了伦理分析方法，并将其应用于与转基因动物的意外后果、所有权和形而上学意义相关的问题。文中强调了遗传学和重组DNA发现如何影响人类对道德共同体的理解以及可接受行为的界限这一问题。转基因动物的潜力对界定这些界限的隐含规范构成了挑战。本文回顾了对这一挑战的四种哲学回应：原教旨主义、传统主义、二元论和自然主义。自然主义的回应与当代生物学最为一致，但它也意味着动物的道德意义有限。
