Biotechnology and the Human Good

C. Ben Mitchell

• Publisher: Georgetown University Press
• Year: 2007
• ISBN:
  9781589012769
• Topic: Médecine
• Subtopic: Déontologie en médecine

Some of humankind's greatest tools have been forged in the research laboratory. Who could argue that medical advances like antibiotics, blood transfusions, and pacemakers have not improved the quality of people's lives? But with each new technological breakthrough there comes an array of consequences, at once predicted and unpredictable, beneficial and hazardous.

Outcry over recent developments in the reproductive and genetic sciences has revealed deep fissures in society's perception of biotechnical progress. Many are concerned that reckless technological development, driven by consumerist impulses and greedy entrepreneurialism, has the potential to radically shift the human condition—and not for the greater good. Biotechnology and the Human Good builds a case for a stewardship deeply rooted in Judeo-Christian theism to responsibly interpret and assess new technologies in a way that answers this concern.

The authors jointly recognize humans not as autonomous beings but as ones accountable to each other, to the world they live in, and to God. They argue that to question and critique how fields like cybernetics, nanotechnology, and genetics might affect our future is not anti-science, anti-industry, or anti-progress, but rather a way to promote human flourishing, common sense, and good stewardship.

A synthetic work drawing on the thought of a physician, ethicists, and a theologian, Biotechnology and the Human Good reminds us that although technology is a powerful and often awe-inspiring tool, it is what lies in the heart and soul of who wields this tool that truly makes the difference in our world.

Index

The Abolition of Man (Lewis), 1, 27

abortion

choice and, 96

culture and, 179n9

disabled children and, 92, 96

violinist analogy for, 89–90, 178–79n4

accountability, 127, 155

Adleman, Leonard, 10

The Age of Spiritual Machines (Kurzweil), 42

aging, 77, 97–98

Alzheimer’s disease, 2

America as Second Creation (Nye), 17–19

American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, 142–43

androcentrism, 49–50

angels, 73

animal rights, 52

animals, nonhuman, 52, 62, 79

anthropocentrism, scientized, 103

anthropology, 25–27, 68, 131, 132

Aristotle, 116

artificial evolution, 41–42

artificial retinas, 6

Artificial Vision for the Blind, 5–6

Ashby, W. Ross, 4

assisted reproductive technology, 140

athletic performance, 123

ATP, 9–10

“At Woodward’s Garden” (Frost), 137

Aurelius, Marcus, 63

autonomy

bioethics and, 131

cybernetics and, 13

enhancement technologies and, 126

human dignity and, 62, 64, 66, 67, 79–80

axe narrative, 18

Bailey, Britt, 49–50

beauty, 141–42, 183n41

beaver story, 22

benefits, 61, 127, 149, 156

Berger, Peter, 173n6

Beyleveld, Deryck, 64–65, 66

Beyond Cloning (Cole-Turner), 139–40

Beyond Therapy (President’s Council on Bioethics), 119

the Bible. See also Christian theism; specific books of the Bible

on creation and the creator, 51–52

on creation in God’s image, 69–74, 76

on embryos, 77–78

as a guide for life, 145–46

on human dignity, 69–76, 79, 80–81, 86

on the material world, 53–54

on re-creation, 74–76

speciesism and, 79

on technology, 25–27

biocentric holism, 50

biocentric individualism, 50

biocentrism, environment...