The Way Things Are Does Not Determine

I Think The Reason We Might Hesitate To Pay Cash To Students For Doing Well On Tests Or Getting Good Grades Or Reading Books Is That We Sense That The Monetary Payment Is An Extrinsic Reward.

One Can Imagine A Kind Of Hormonal Arms Race Or Genetic Arms Race, Whether It's To Do With Height Or Iq, Conceivably, In The Future. So It's Limitless, And That's Another Of The Features That Sets It Apart From Medical Intervention.

Other Animals Can Make Sounds, And Sounds Can Indicate Pleasure And Pain. But Language, A Distinctly Human Capacity, Isn´t Just For Registering Pleasure And Pain. It´s About Declaring What Is Just And What Is Unjust, And Distinguishing Right From Wrong. We Don´t Grasp These Things Silently, And Then Put Words To Them; Language Is The Medium Through Which We Discern And Deliberate About The Good.

Over The Past Three Decades, Markets And Market Thinking Have Been Reaching Into Spheres Of Life Traditionally Governed By Non-market Norms. As A Result, We've Drifted From Having A Market Economy To Becoming A Market Society.

I Think People Who Want To Use Genetic Technologies To Gain A Competitive Edge For Their Children Are Engaging In A Kind Of Overreaching That Could Really Undermine Our Appreciation Of Children As Gifts For Which We Should Be Grateful And, Instead, To View Them As Products Or Instruments That Are There To Be Molded And Directed.