Wolpe Paul Root
Kennedy Inst Ethics J. 1997 Sep;7(3):213-30. doi: 10.1353/ken.1997.0027.
With the advent of the Genetic Age comes a unique new set of problems and ethical decisions. There is a tendency to take the scientific developments presented by modern genetics at face value, as if the science itself were value-neutral and not influenced by cultural and religious images. One example of the fallout of the Genetic Age is the development of a "genetic self," the idea that our essential selfhood lies in our genes. It is important to understand the assumptions of the Genetic Age, the development of genetic selfhood, and the broader cultural trends and assumptions that underlie modern genetic thinking. It is equally important, however, to shape a reaction to the concept of a genetic self. Judaism has long carried on a unique discussion about the nature of selfhood in different times and places and about the relation of the corporeal self to the essential self. Insights from Judaism therefore may help to craft a reaction to the modern genetic self that incorporates the best of modern genetics as well as the integrity of a more transcendent selfhood.
随着基因时代的到来，出现了一系列独特的新问题和伦理抉择。人们往往直接接受现代遗传学所呈现的科学进展，仿佛科学本身是价值中立的，不受文化和宗教观念的影响。基因时代的一个后果是“基因自我”的出现，即认为我们的本质自我存在于基因之中。理解基因时代的假设、基因自我的发展，以及构成现代基因思维基础的更广泛的文化趋势和假设非常重要。然而，对基因自我的概念形成一种回应同样重要。长期以来，犹太教一直在不同的时间和地点对自我本质的性质以及肉体自我与本质自我的关系进行独特的探讨。因此，来自犹太教的见解可能有助于形成一种对现代基因自我的回应，这种回应既融合了现代遗传学的精华，又兼顾了更具超越性的自我本质的完整性。
