
"We should not play God before we have learned to be men, and as we learn to be men we will not want to play God." (Ramsey, 1970, 151)
Too many instances where men have exceeded what they thought would be forever-limitations. Too many attempts to beat their own understanding yet still emerged thirsting for more. Who would have thought that a lamb named Dolly would create such huge controversy that scientists are left exulting in triumph and priests pounding on the altar in rage? Who would have sensed that there could be signs of life on the red planet? Who would have imagined that one day many would be in dire need of liposuction and botox? The endless search for truth has become the drive of many to obtain one goal: to improve life on earth. However, is this really what they aim for?
The words of Paul Ramsey quoted above is deemed cautionary to intellectual people who claim that their strife for investigations and experiments about components of being is for the improvement of life. Sooner, as they are becoming overwhelmed by the recognitions and affluence they gain, say, due to a discovery of a cure, the tendency is to further seek for power until sheer superiority encroaches their being. Such superiority can be attributed to doing things which have been previously thought as immutable to men (i.e. extending their powers in a way that would enable them to manipulate the basic structures of life forms and things). This is exemplified by Daniel Keyes in his thought-provoking novel about Charlie Gordon who was made to undergo brain surgical operations to improve his I. Q.
The skillfully-crafted novel presents moral issues that are mirrored in today’s technology-driven society. Keyes beautifully conveys his detest to the idea of “man playing God” as he elucidates the bad effects of altering the designs of nature to the lives of many. Charlie Gordon, primarily, was seen as the one who was badly affected by Dr. Strauss’ great attempt to alter the protagonist’s brain as Charlie was required to endure humiliating tests and operations. Charlie nonetheless had to go through all these (i.e. racing with a mouse in maze and appearing a specimen under Strauss’ microscope) with the thoughts of gaining more friends and getting a better life now that he is intelligent. For long, Charlie’s enthusiasm and his clear goals held him to unpredictable sessions with Dr. Strauss but never did Charlie realize that his getting smart would start to ruin his relationships with his friends and co-workers.
This is one of the downsides of human beings who play a role that is reserved for somebody much greater. Men are playing God when they should not be. In the novel, as Dr. Strauss dared to create a genius out of a man who had I.Q. of 68, he is playing God.
This CRP attempts to find explanation to one of the critical ethical issues raised by the Flowers for Algernon. This paper seeks to find answer to the question: “When do people really play God?” In the work of De Castro and Alvarez (2006), situations where human beings have been accused of "playing God” are presented. They believe that phrase has been taken to have a broad range of meanings, including the following: tinkering with nature, tampering with the basic structure of what it takes to be a human being, making decisions about the fate of our fellow human beings without proper authority, taking advantage of (exploiting) one's fellow human beings, determining a person's destiny and looking into the secrets or mysteries of life. Surprisingly, these situations are present in the novel and are gravely committed by Dr. Strauss. The character heightens his ambitions to acquire power and affluence by taking on his experiments with Charlie. This is demonstrated by him when he and Dr. Nemur had heated arguments on who should take the full credit after succeeding in their experiments and operation with Charlie. The characterizations of Dr. Strauss also consistently manifest greed for power and fame that he had neglected essential ethical concerns such as making decisions about the fate of Charlie Gordon and his exploitation as a human being.
At the outset, the novel presented the importance of "playing God" as a reminder that when human beings try to accelerate their response to pressing problems they could be overlooking essential ethical concerns. The charge of playing God needs to be taken seriously because it raises ethical issues that strike at the heart of humanity. People need to learn that playing god is not the reason why they are created just as what Ramsey puts it in his thoughts.