[SydPhil] University of Sydney Philosophy Seminar Series, Anna Smajdor, (University of Oslo)

[Ryan Cox]

Hi everyone,

This week's speaker in the University of Sydney Philosophy Seminar Series is Anna Smajdor, (University of Oslo)

The title of the talk is "Epigenetics and the non-identity problem". Here is an abstract for the talk:

The ‘non-identity problem’ has profoundly influenced the ways in which philosophers think about harm in reproductive ethics. Suppose, for example, that a woman is undergoing treatment for syphilis. If she becomes pregnant now, rather than waiting until she is cured, the child will suffer from congenital syphilis. Derek Parfit suggests that our intuition that the child is harmed if the woman fails to wait, is false. If she waits, she will have a different child: one conceived with different gametes. Parfit’s point has been taken by many commentators, to indicate a specifically genetic account of identity. But with increased understanding of epigenetics, it is not so clear that genetic identity is fixed from conception. A variety of environmental factors determine whether specific genes are silenced, or active before conception and after, and to what degree. This process - epigenetics - calls into question the relationship between genes and identity. Accordingly, the distinction between harmful and identity-changing genetic interventions becomes difficult to sustain. In this paper, I will explore several approaches to understanding the relationship between genes, harm and identity, in ways that preserve our fundamental intuitions. Ultimately, I conclude that it is not possible to sustain both a genetic understanding of identity, and a belief that some genetic interventions are harmful (or therapeutic) and others identity-changing, whether in the conception phase or afterwards.

The seminar will take place at 3:30pm on Wednesday March 13th in the Philosophy Seminar Room (N494).

Enquiries about the seminar series can be directed to ryan.cox at sydney.edu.au<mailto:ryan.cox at sydney.edu.au>

Ryan Cox
Associate Lecturer in Philosophy
Discipline of Philosophy
School of Humanities
University of Sydney
ryan.cox at sydney.edu.au
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