This does not mean that any individual has the right to do whatever they would like to any other individual, but rather that humanity as a whole can make its own decisions without impunity, which robs humanity of their dignity (Ramsey, qtd. In Verhey, 292). Thisties directly back to Verhey's thesis that "the fundamental perspective from which we interpret our responsibilities is critically important to seeing what those responsibilities are" (Verhey, 292). Even without surety of a God or other overriding moral imperative, the perspective that neither of these things does or even can exist is a dangerous one. In this sense, the concept of "playing God" actually refers to a perspective -- a healthy one, according to the author (and with which it is difficult to disagree) of caution and hesitancy in performing all the we as a species are capable of. That is, the mere usage of the phrase "playing God" reflects a belief in a greater responsibility that we bear to the world, and such an attitude cannot be but a decent check on advancement.
Verhey takes a much more definitive stance regarding his next perspective on what it means to play God. He reflects on what it would mean to "playfully cast ourselves in the role of the creator," speaking explicitly about a Judeo-Christian view of God, and even referring specifically to the stories of the Bible (Verhey, 293). With this view in mind, Verhey insists that "human beings are created and called to exercise dominion over the world" (Verhey, 293). He therefore concludes that human creativity can extend to its full reaches without worry.
This argument is more than a little disingenuous, and not only for its use of a very selective dogma and its feigned ignorance of the broader social meaning of "playing God" which Verhey has already...
Verhey, Allen. "Playing God and Invoking a Perspective." Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, 20 (1995): 347-364. Any physician of a moral and ethical frame of mind would be reflexively offended if a patient, or the loved one of a patient, accused that physician of 'playing God.' But what does this phrase mean? According to Allen Verhey's essay on medicine, modern bioethics, and "Playing God and Invoking a Perspective," the phrase
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