As molecular biologists race toward the goal of mapping and sequencing the human genome–discovering more and more about human heredity and human physiology–they are unearthing a treasure trove of knowledge that not only alters our conception of ourselves but also promises extensive power to transform medicine and even to shape the future evolution of our species.

Philip Kitcher, author of The Lives to Come: The Genetic Revolution and Human Possibilities and a leading philosopher of science, surveys important advances in human genetics and probes the moral and social consequences. To what extent do new discoveries support the idea that our destinies are written in our genes? More fundamentally, what will become of our self-image as we find out more and more about the mechanisms of our bodies and brains?

Philosophy Annual Lecture

Cosponsored by: School of Chemical Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Department of Anthropology, Department of Biochemistry, Department of Cell and Structural Biology, Department of Chemistry, Department of Ecology, Ethology, and Evolution, Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, Department of Philosophy, Department of Plant Biology, Department of Political Science, Department of Sociology, Medical Scholars Program, Graduate Philosophy Organization