Editing Eugenics (section)

===Contemporary ethical opposition===
{{See also|Larry Arnhart|Leon Kass|Preimplantation genetic diagnosis#Religious objections}}
In a book directly addressed at socialist eugenicist [[J. B. S. Haldane#Social and scientific views|J.B.S. Haldane]] and his once-influential ''[[Daedalus; or, Science and the Future|Daedalus]]'', [[Political views of Bertrand Russell#Eugenics|Betrand Russell]] had one serious objection of his own: eugenic policies might simply end up being used to reproduce existing power relations "rather than to make men happy."<ref>{{cite book|last=Russell|first=Bertrand|author-link=Political views of Bertrand Russell#Eugenics|title=Icarus, or, The future of science|date=1924|publisher= E.P. Dutton & Co.|location=New York|url=https://archive.org/download/icarusorfutureof00russ/icarusorfutureof00russ.pdf|pages=5}}</ref>

[[environmental ethics|Environmental ethicist]] [[Bill McKibben]] argued against [[germinal choice technology]] and other advanced biotechnological strategies for human enhancement. He writes that it would be morally wrong for humans to tamper with fundamental aspects of themselves (or their children) in an attempt to overcome universal human limitations, such as vulnerability to [[aging]], [[maximum life span]] and biological constraints on physical and cognitive ability. Attempts to "improve" themselves through such manipulation would remove limitations that provide a necessary context for the experience of meaningful human choice. He claims that human lives would no longer seem [[Meaning of life|meaningful]] in a world where such limitations could be overcome with technology. Even the goal of using germinal choice technology for clearly therapeutic purposes should be relinquished, he argues, since it would inevitably produce temptations to tamper with such things as cognitive capacities. He argues that it is possible for societies to benefit from renouncing particular technologies, using [[Ming dynasty|Ming China]], [[Tokugawa shogunate|Tokugawa Japan]] and the contemporary [[Amish]] as examples.<ref name="McKibben 2003">{{cite book |last=McKibben |first=Bill |author-link=Bill McKibben |title=Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age |publisher=Times Books |date=2003 |isbn=9780805070965 |oclc=237794777}}</ref>