PH 352

Intrinsic value indicates that something is good. Intrinsic value differs with instrumental value. While instrumental value is usually valued for the final result obtained from it, intrinsic value is normally valued for its sake (Westacott, 2019). In our case, people value sex selection and other genetic manipulations as they generate happiness and pleasure. Genetic manipulation is good in diagnosing illness, manufacturing of vaccines, and improvement of medical treatment and, therefore, linked to pleasure and happiness.

According to Utilitarianism, happiness is the final principle and measure to decide what is right and what is not. The ideal society or community is where everybody is happy and is free of suffering and pain. The more pleasure/happiness is generated among those impacted by a specific act, the superior the act. From this viewpoint, sex selection and other genetic manipulations are acceptable and moral as it generates happiness rather than pain which would exist had the genetic manipulation and sex selection not occurred.

According to the theory, an act is ethically right if it maximizes the overall happiness of all individuals and minimizes their pain equally. No life is more valuable and important than the other. Everyone is equal and they all deserve maximum pleasure and happiness. According to Westacott (2019), the overall happiness will be best served by every individual concentrating on themselves and those around them. However, one individual maximum happiness cannot be the same as another person’s maximum happiness. In the case of sex selection and genetic manipulation, one individual’s maximum happiness as a result of genetic manipulation may not be the same to another individual’s maximum happiness.

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