The Meanings of Genetics: accounts of biotechnology in the work of Habermas, Baudrillard and Derrida

Abstract

There can be little doubt that, like the Darwinian revolution in evolutionary thought, modern developments in and perceptions of genetics will have an impact upon a variety of intellectual disciplines in terms of issues, form and content. How are humanities disciplinhes to help themselves and others to re-image and understnad the cultural, social and other possibilities that genetics presents beyond the realm of action and the ethical? This paper looks at discussions of genetics provided by Jurgen Habermas, Jean Baudrillard and Jacque derrida, who attempted to explore what light the advent of genetic research and biotechnology cast on Western culture and what effect they may have on the meanings of being human in the future. It will be discussed how knowledge and practices arising out of genetics, as well as the images of genetics proliferated in the mass media, informed the thought of these three authors and their critique of Western society.