The Philosophy Society Celebrates World Philosophy Day

For this auspicious occasion the movie Gattata, which is a movie made in 1997 on genetic testing and genetic mutation was shown and a discussion was led by Dr Natasha Anwar, a professor from the Biotechnology department and Aamna Mahmood a student of Biotechnology. The discussion was about Bioethics and where the future of genetic testing is going to take us. The main theme of the movie revolved around an era when our social status will be determined by our genetic code. This brought in the debate of how the social class will not always revolve around money, color, power, etc.

The vast amount of students in the audience were given a chance to ask questions and their thoughts were shared among the staff and the students regarding genetics and ethics.

     

Dr Ghazala Irfan and Dr Mark Boone were also a part of the audience and Dr Boone brought another interesting point of view to the discussion. He thought the lesson in the movie is that man is not just his genetic make up, something scientists would take him to be.  The session ended with a discussion about whether a fetus is a person or not; the old abortion debate.  Many students enjoyed being a part of an intellectual discussion on a very touchy issue regarding the society and how advances in genetics have led us to have a greater choice than we had just a decade ago.

The Philosophy Society is working hard in order to impart an uncommon common sense and allow different perspectives on a common notion. They do this by creating the best interactive environment and to give people a platform to think and put their ideas on the table. After all, that is exactly what philosophy is about.