Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
course allowed for advance preparation, and so for a longer and more
sustained conversation. In planning the conference, we were acutely
aware that most of our participants had not met one another—a result
no doubt of the narrow disciplinary character of conference-going today.
Nor, we knew, were they of one mind about the issues we laid out before
them. In fact, the group as a whole represents a diversity of views: some
in the group are very much concerned with the impact of biotechnology
on humans and on the role the concept of the human condition should
play in determining genetic research and application, while others
contend that such concerns may be obsolete and, at the very least, are
not a necessary condition for moral reflection on the refashioning of our
genetic constitution. What these scholars do have in common are
national and international reputations for their astuteness in these
matters and the sobriety of their reflections. Most important for us was
the public nature of their work, ranging from publishing topics for the
general populace and writing for popular journals and magazines to tes-
tifying before Congress and even advising the president. Their ability to
speak in nuanced and sophisticated ways to an educated audience outside
their own disciplines and beyond the walls of academe, we believe, is
reflected in the chapters published here.
Still, the quality of the conversation, not to mention the genuine bon-
homie that quickly emerged in the group, exceeded our most optimistic
expectations. Rather than getting bogged down in questions of medical
or scientific practice, everyone focused on questions of fundamental,
ontological importance. And instead of rushing to the practical side of
the debate, where all too many believe the real “action” is, the group
was eager to explore the humanistic implications of a technology that
promises not just to add a trait here or subtract a defect there but to
alter radically our very being. The results of this interaction, which have
been incorporated into these published papers, were exciting to the
participants and will be to readers as well.
Summary of Chapters
It is the philosophical nature of these issues and chapters that make this
volume unique. The substance of each chapter remains philosophical, or
at times theological, rather than technical. The issues discussed may
