Playing God?: Genetic Determinism and Human Freedom [Paperback]

Ted Peters (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 23, 1996 | ISBN-10: 0415915228 | ISBN-13: 978-0415915229 | Edition: 1

This volume examines the concept of genetic determinism, finding it unsupportable by science yet prevalent in our culture in the form of the "gene myth". Despite DNA determinism, we as persons are still free. We are also morally responsible. That responsibility includes building a better future through genetic science, a form of human creativity expressive of the image of God imparted by the divine to the human race.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Peters, the author of Sin (LJ 4/1/94) and author or editor of eight other semipopular books on science, theology, and New Age religion, was funded by the National Institutes of Health to look into ethical and theological aspects of the Human Genome Project, an attempt to map the human gene structure. Here he debunks the "myth" that our lives are controlled by genes or some combination of genetics and environment, further arguing that we need a theology of freedom. Only fanatics will find his analyses unreasonable, but readers will notice that the book depends on two kinds of sentences?scientific and theological. Scientific sentences score points when they report data verifiable by methods the scientific community approves. But what of theological sentences? Must they report the will of the scriptural God, draw on Judeo-Christian tradition (as Peters thinks), or just be reasonable? Peters adds his theological score to the scientific score, which is like adding basketball scores to baseball scores. He hints that science and theology are part of a larger game defined by Western culture, but this would introduce cultural relativism into both. Even then, would they add up? For comprehensive collections only.?Leslie Armour, Univ. of Ottawa, Canada
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

" Playing God? makes an important and thought-provoking contribution to the debate about genetics. Above all, it demonstrates that scientific facts are open to multiple theological interpretations. Creationism is only one end of the spectrum of relations between science and religion. Peters show us the opposite end, a theology that embraces gene science." -- New Scientist

"In this remarkable book, Ted Peters explores the fallacies of the 'gene myth' and presents a resounding array of arguments against this kind of all-encompassing genetic determinism.." -- From the foreword by Francis S. Collins Director, National Center for Human Genome Research --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 218 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (November 23, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415915228
• ISBN-13: 978-0415915229
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,413,185 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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7 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A Good Writer uses the Thought of Others, January 19, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Playing God?: Genetic Determinism and Human Freedom (Paperback)

Playing God plays with us by its title, which plays to the fears and power of humans in approaching new DNA and related technologies. Ted Peters has academic credentials, but he does not use them other than to collect the work of some of the ethicists laboring in this vineyard and present it to us in a low level sensational style. He encloses his collected presentations of others' work in a peculiar theology of his own :
the proleptic yet determinist/predestinationist view of a modern Calvinsim.
This is not a useful guide for our ethical debate on this topic.