Book Summary: Glenn McGee is a philosopher at the Center for Bioethics in Philadelphia, but The Perfect Baby is no dry or abstract tome. "Philosophical systems must be tested where the rubber meets the road," says McGee, and he discusses ethical issues in human reproduction with a focus on real people and real choices. McGee's approach is based on the pragmatism of American philosophers William James and John Dewey, brought up to date by looking at "the ideas that are in play in our actual discussions of parenthood and babies, about ideas like identity, perfection, enhancement, and illness." McGee concludes that "we must resist the tendency to explain away the 'felt' aspects of the problem": feelings have ethical reality. |