14th Annual Lehman Medical Ethics Lecture at Allegheny College
Free and open to the public

Lisa Parker, Ph.D.
Professor, Human Genetics
Director, Center for Bioethics & Health Law
Director, Master of Arts Program in Bioethics, University of Pittsburgh

Like the use of steroids or blood-doping, the possibility of genetic enhancement to improve sport performance raises questions about the fairness of such enhancement and the goals of sport. This talk will suggest that considering these questions in the athletic context can inform consideration of the demands of justice in social life more generally. Given the prospect of genetic enhancement, examining our understanding of individual effort, merit, and desert in athletics can help us think more clearly about unchosen, undeserved inequalities and what is assumed to be their opposite — namely, the exercise and results of individual effort. Contemplating enhancement of natural assets previously outside human control may reinforce recognition of social responsibility to intervene with regard to social advantages so as to support individual effort and improve individuals’ life prospects.

This lecture is made possible through the John W. Lehman, M.D. Medical Ethics Fund.