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ORIGINAL SIN opens with Kathryn Paige Harden taking LSD with her boyfriend in the West Texas desert, precipitating an experience in which he is unable to escape from the sense that he alone is responsible for an apocalyptic event, despite the fact that the event was impossible to avoid. Using this idea - of being born into sin, the eternal human paradox of free will versus destiny, sharpened to a razor edge by contemporary genetics - Harden explores some of the most important questions in philosophy: How are we to take responsibility for the individuals we become in light of what we know about behavioural genetics? We are not responsible for our genomes, but where does that leave us in respect of justice and punishment? If we possess a predisposition toward violence, does that make such behaviour any less egregious? If we can''t help being attracted to certain people, in what sense can we be said to choose a mate or partner? In light of what we know about biology, how should we treat one another, and how can we use policies and social intervention to create a society in which all of us flourish? Beautifully written, deeply literate, autobiographically daring and informed by her own research on the cutting edge of behavioural genetics, this is a profoundly original work of literary non-fiction that promises to take us on a wild intellectual journey - and stay with us long after we turn the final page.
