Human Cloning and Human Dignity: The Report of the President's Council on Bioethics by Leon R. Kass

From the Publisher

A council of leading scientists and philosophers offers wise and provocative insights into the ethical implications of one of the most momentous developments of all-cloning.

Few avenues of scientific inquiry raise more thorny ethical questions than the cloning of human beings, a radical way to control our DNA. In August 2001, in conjunction with his decision to permit limited federal funding for stem-cell research, President George W. Bush created the President's Council on Bioethics to address the ethical ramifications of biomedical innovation. . Over the past year the Council, whose members comprise an all-star team of leading scientists, doctors, ethicists, lawyers, humanists, and theologians, has discussed and debated the pros and cons of cloning, whether in the service of producing children or as an aid to scientific research. The questions the Council members confronted do not have easy answers, and they did not seek to hide their differences behind an artificial consensus. Rather, the Council decided to allow each side to make its own best case, so that the American people can think about and debate these questions, which go to the heart of what it means to be a human being. Just as the dawn of the atomic age created ethical dilemmas for the United States, cloning presents us with similar quandaries that we are sure to wrestle with for decades to come.

About the Author:

Leon R. Kass, M.D., is the Addie Clark Harding Professor at the University of Chicago, and the Hertog Fellow at American Enterprise Institute. A nationally renowned bioethicist, he has written extensively on biology and human affairs; his books include Toward a More Natural Science, The Hungry Soul, and The Ethics of Human Cloning (with James Q. Wilson). He lives in Washington, D.C.

Library Journal

Established in late 2001 by President Bush to consider the ethical ramifications of biomedical research, the President's Council on Bioethics is made up of 17 scholars representing medicine, law, genetics, government, international studies, psychiatry, philosophy, and ethics. Its first report focuses on three major issues: cloning to produce children (reproductive uses), cloning for biomedical research (therapeutic uses), and various public policies that could be enacted. The council members were divided on their recommendations regarding human cloning, so both a majority and a minority opinion are presented here. While both groups favored a ban on human cloning to produce children, they disagreed in the areas of therapeutic research; ten members recommended a four-year moratorium on cloning for biomedical research, while seven urged the regulated use of cloned embryos for biomedical research. Along with brief background information on human cloning and a discussion of terminology related to the field, the report also includes a glossary and a bibliography. In addition, many of the members have included a personal statement that clarifies their own specific viewpoint. Although the prepublication version of this report is available on the web, the reasonably priced paper copy fairly represents the many opinions and complexities related to human cloning, making it a worthy purchase for convenience and archival stability. Highly recommended for all libraries.-Tina Neville, Univ. of South Florida at St. Petersburg Lib. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Product Details