Are Transgenic Organisms Unnatural? D.R. Cooley History Department 402 Minard Hall North Dakota State University Fargo, ND Supported by a USDA/CSREES/IFAFS grant, “Consortium to Address Social, Economic, and Ethical Aspects of Biotechnology.”

The Unnatural is Unethical Argument: P1. X is an unnatural object/action. P2. Any unnatural object/action is morally bad/wrong. Conclusion: X is morally bad/wrong.

Unnatural Objects O1. X is an unnatural object =Df. X’s existence violates the descriptive laws of nature. O2. X is an unnatural object =Df. X is an artificial or man-made object. O3. X is an unnatural object =Df. X is an uncommon or abnormal object. O4. X is an unnatural object =Df. X is an object that results from using an organ or instrument contrary to its principal purpose or function. O5. X is an unnatural object =Df. X’s existence is morally bad. (Leiser 1989 )

Unnatural Actions A1. A is an unnatural action =Df. A is an action which violates the descriptive laws of nature. A2. A is an unnatural action =Df. A is an artificial action. A3. A is an unnatural action =Df. A is an uncommon or abnormal action. A4. A is an unnatural action =Df. A is an action which uses of an organ or instrument that is contrary to its principal purpose or function. A5. A is an unnatural action =Df. A is morally wrong action.

Rejecting the Definition Pairs O1 and A1: X is an unnatural object =Df. X’s existence violates the descriptive laws of nature. A is an unnatural action =Df. A is an action which violates the descriptive laws of nature. Problem: All human actions are ethical. All supernatural actions (miracles) are unethical.

Rejecting the Definition Pairs O2 and A2: X is an unnatural object =Df. X is an artificial or human made object. A is an unnatural action =Df. A is an artificial action. Problem: All human made objects and all human actions are unethical.

Rejecting the Definition Pairs O3 and A3: X is an unnatural object =Df. X is an uncommon or abnormal object. A is an unnatural action =Df. A is an uncommon or abnormal action. Problems: Virtually all actions and objects are unethical because they are uncommon. The mere fact something is a convention does not entail that it is moral.

Rejecting the Definition Pairs O4 and A5: X is an unnatural object =Df. X is an object that results from using an organ or instrument contrary to its principal purpose or function. A is an unnatural action =Df. A is an action which uses of an organ or instrument that is contrary to its principal purpose or function. Problems: Who decides the function of an object? How do we discover the function of an object? Using an object contrary to its primary function is not necessarily wrong.

Rejecting the Definition Pairs O5 and A5: X is an unnatural object =Df. X’s existence is morally bad. A is an unnatural action =Df. A is morally wrong action. Problem: Defining terms in this manner creates a useless tautology.

Conclusion Resorting to the “unnaturalness” of something is going to provide no evidence to support one’s position.

For further consideration Will the concept of flourishing be helpful in defining the natural? Probably not Flourishing will need to be defined. Suspicions are that it will be defined in terms that eliminate any need for the natural/unnatural distinction.