Abstract:
There are ongoing concerns of social justice regarding inequalities in the distribution of access to potential genome editing technologies. Working within non-ideal theory, Colin Farrelly advances a justification for the use of patents to speed up the arrival of safe and effective interventions for all, including the socially disadvantaged. This paper argues that such success is less assured when one considers the actual functioning of patents and the practical implications of the patent system in the context of biotechnological innovations. I suggest that non-ideal theoretical approaches risk reverting back to a form of ideal theory if they simply refer to such real-world constraints - e.g. patents - but do not critically assess and fully examine how such constraints manifest themselves in practice. I highlight some considerations that would be important in order to develop and foster a more robust non-ideal approach to justice in biotechnological developments.
摘要:
对于潜在基因组编辑技术的使用分配不平等,社会正义一直存在担忧。在非理想理论中工作,科林·法雷利提出了使用专利的理由,以加快为所有人提供安全有效的干预措施,包括社会弱势群体。本文认为,当人们在生物技术创新的背景下考虑专利的实际功能和专利制度的实际含义时,这种成功就不那么可靠了。我认为,非理想的理论方法有可能回到理想理论的一种形式,如果它们只是指现实世界的约束——例如专利——但没有批判性地评估和全面检查这些约束在实践中是如何表现出来的。我强调了一些重要的考虑因素,以便在生物技术发展中发展和促进更强大的非理想司法方法。