Abstract

In The Future of Human Nature Jürgen Habermas discusses moral and ethical problems connected with genetic engineering. He argues that it will change our understanding of ourselves as human beings and will damage the natural basis of modern morality. Therefore we are not allowed to dispose of human nature. In the article I raise the question what the meaning is of the «Unantastbarkeit» of human dignity in terms of basic rights and what Habermas means by the term «Unverfügbarkeit» of human nature. The meaning of the concepts and their relation to morality, «species-ethics» and law will be discussed. In the end Habermas’s moral and «species-ethics» argumentations for the «undisposability» of human nature will be explored