Bioethicists Show How to Disagree Without Rancor

Posted by Pete Shanks April 19, 2011
Biopolitical Times

Two substantial excerpts of a conversation between Robert P. George and Arthur Caplan have been posted at Public Discourse. The discussion took place in December 2010, and was intended to cover "the current state of bioethics in America," with Caplan presenting the liberal point of view and George the conservative. The selections are presented as if to maximize controversy, but the agreement between the two is more striking.

The first is published as "Stem Cells: The Scientists Knew They Were Lying?" (which did attract some attention). Caplan does indeed excoriate stem cell researchers and their supporters who badly over-hyped ESC research, which he supports; George, who opposes it, notes that allies of his made false claims that "everything that could be done with embryonic stem cells could be done with adult stem cells" — which he and they knew to be false. Although Caplan and George disagree on embryo research and other issues, they do both accept that moral norms are vital to bioethics and that reductionist scientism is to be condemned.

The second excerpt is titled "Democratic Bioethics and Eugenics" and worth reading for a nuanced discussion which demonstrates that their areas of agreement are substantially larger than their conflicts. Again, it is possible to extract quotes ("the problem with eugenics is eugenics itself" ... "many say you can't [distinguish between enhancement and therapy], but I think you can at the extremes") but they really should be read in context.

More conversations like this please.

Update: Caplan was apparently surprised that his remarks about over-hyped ESC research were considered by some to be new, and taken out of context. He elaborates in Science Progress about the hype on all sides of that debate.

Previously on Biopolitical Times: