New article in The Monist

The somewhat overdue October 2006 issue of The Monist, a prestigious refereed journal in the field of academic philosophy, has just appeared in print. This issue is devoted to genetics and ethics, and contains my article "Dr. Frankenstein Meets Lord Devlin: Genetic Engineering and the Principle of Intangible Harm".

In this article, I consider what might be reasonable circumstances for the state to prohibit, or otherwise impose a regulatory burden on, genetic enhancement technologies. While I offer some comment on when and how the state should act, I also conclude that the approach proposed, if applied rigorously, would put significant hurdles in the way of banning any particular technology. The idea is to find a principled basis for protecting social harmony while also gaining the potential benefits of genetic engineering.