E55. "The Perfect Daughter" - Should you betray your morals to give your child every legal advantage in life?

Named “Top 20 Philosophy Podcast” for 2021!

STORY SUMMARY: Jane goes to visit her parents over the Christmas holiday. She has recently learned that her parents, under a program that favors the rich and elite, had had her genetically modified before she was born to be the best possible version of herself. Jane is crushed at learning that her life success has nothing to do with her hard work and is angry at her parents for having genetically modified her. Her father argues the problem of evil; that it was in his means to do good, and had he failed to do so, he would have been a god that allowed evil to exist. Jane is unhappy with his responses, but now must move forward with the choice of what she will do, when it is her time to have children.

DISCUSSION: This discussion didn’t go the way I thought it would. Jeremy and Sarah are both parents, but also have expressed a strong dislike for gene editing for the wealthy as a form of class-ism. Therefore, it was assumed they would be against gene editing your own child. However, they both agree that when it comes to our own child, you have a moral obligation to do everything you are legally allowed to do to give them the best chance at success in life, including doing legal things that violate your own personal morals. We also discuss the “problem of evil” and if a parent who fails to give their child the best chance of success, is, in fact, guilting for allowing the evil of lessor traits to exist. Can’t lie, this discussion did not go the way I expected!

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