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Overview
Who could have imagined that President Bush's first special address to the nation would be about the coming genetic revolution? Or that one of the defining issues in American Politics would be stem cell research? Clearly, a national debate has begun that will not soon end — one that will force America to confront whether genetics advances will contribute to human dignity or threaten it, whether there are moral limits to scientific progress, and in general what life will look like in the genetic age. Welcome to the politics of the 21st century. This collection, edited by William Kristol and Eric Cohen, chronicles the start of this great national debate. It looks back, beginning with selections from Aldous Huxley and C.S. Lewis, who first imagined the possibility of a Brave New World many decades ago. It looks forward, moving on to the current debate over human cloning and stem cells, including articles, essays, speeches and testimony from genetic enthusiasts and critics, scientists and moralists, politicians and scholars. An original introduction by Kristol and Cohen maps out the major disagreements, the questions ahead, and their own view that America's unchecked faith in technological progress needs a radical reconsideration. Other selections include essays by Leon Kass, Francis Fukuyama and Charles Krauthammer; testimony from Geron president Thomas O'Karma, bioethicist Daniel Callahan and actor-activist Michael J. Fox; speeches from the House of Representatives debate on human cloning; and the President's address to the nation.
Synopsis
This collection, edited by William Kristol and Eric Cohen, aims to chronicle the start of the great national debate over stem cell research. It looks back, beginning with selections from Aldous Huxley and C.S. Lewis, who first imagined the possibility of a Brave New World many decades ago. It looks forward, moving on to the current debate over human cloning and stem cells, including articles, essays, speeches and testimony from genetic enthusiasts and critics, scientists and moralists, politicians and scholars. An original introduction by Kristol and Cohen maps out the major disagreements, the questions ahead, and their own view that America's unchecked faith in technological progress needs a radical reconsideration.
Booknews
This reader includes classic writings (e.g. George Orwell) as well as more recent essays and congressional testimony about human cloning, genetic engineering, stem cell research, biotechnology, human nature, and American democracy. Editors Kristol () and Cohen (the Ethics and Public Policy Center) write that they "have sought to include the best arguments on all sides, though of course many important articles and essays had to be left out. And taken as a whole, we have aimed to be fair, though we will candidly say that our intention is to awaken readers to the moral challenges of the Brave New World, so that we might set moral limits on biological `progress' before it is too late." Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Editorials
Booklist
This compilation will attract not only those struggling to understand the ethical debate over bioscience but also those trying to predict the political fortunes of the Republican right.Claremont Review Of Books
Morally serious people will be grateful to have this collection on hand as America faces the challenge nicely stated in the editor's closing reflections.— Glenn Ellmers
For those with archival interest to the history of this debate, there may be no more useful primer to conservative arguments over human nature and the limits of science.
An interesting read, The Future Is Now should alert us all to the need for scientific literacy among a populace that will elect tomorrow's decision makers.
Kristol and Cohen have edited a reader, The Future Is Now, that aims to present fairly many sides of a complex issue. In the main they have succeeded.
This reader includes classic writings (e.g. George Orwell) as well as more recent essays and congressional testimony about human cloning, genetic engineering, stem cell research, biotechnology, human nature, and American democracy. Editors Kristol () and Cohen (the Ethics and Public Policy Center) write that they "have sought to include the best arguments on all sides, though of course many important articles and essays had to be left out. And taken as a whole, we have aimed to be fair, though we will candidly say that our intention is to awaken readers to the moral challenges of the Brave New World, so that we might set moral limits on biological `progress' before it is too late." Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)