Abstract

I use the deconstruction of the nature-culture dichotomy, with its attendant opposition between grown and made, to challenge debates in bioethics over cloning. Indeed, deconstructing the central terms assumed in these debates can change the very framework of them. These debates are currently dominated by the liberal notion of an autonomous individual with free choice, precisely the notion of the sovereign subject that comes under scrutiny in Derrida's later work. Taking John Harris and Jürgen Habermas as representatives of two sides in debates over genetic engineering and cloning, I show how deconstruction unsettles both. In addition, I consider Derrida's own views on cloning and how they might help us navigate complex ethical issues raised by new technologies of reproduction.

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