Genes and social justice: A Rawlsian reply to Moore

In this article I critically examine Adam Moore's claim that the threshold for overriding intangible property lights and Privacy lights is higher, in relation to genetic enhancement techniques and sensitive personal information, than is commonly suggested. I argue that Moore fails to see how important advances in genetic research are to social justice. Once this point is emphasised one sees that the issue of how formidable overriding these lights are is open to much debate. There are strong reasons, on grounds of social justice, for thinking the importance of such lights is likely to be diminished in the interests of ensuring a more just distribution of genes essential to pursuing what John Rawls calls a person's 'rational plan of life'.