The Biological Foundations of Bioethics

The Biological Foundations of Bioethics
Author: Tim Lewens
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Total Pages: 192
Release: 2015-01-08
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0191061980

Download The Biological Foundations of Bioethics Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Much recent thought on the ethics of new biomedical technologies, and work in ethics and political philosophy more generally, is committed to hidden and contestable views about the nature of biological reality. This selection of essays by Tim Lewens, a leading expert in the field, teases out these biological foundations of bioethical writing and subjects them to scrutiny. The topics covered include human enhancement, the risks of technical progress, the alleged moral threat of synthetic biology, the reality of human nature, the relevance of evolutionary psychology to social policy, the nature of the distinction between health and disease, and justice in healthcare decision-making.

Biology and the Foundations of Ethics

Biology and the Foundations of Ethics
Author: Jane Maienschein
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 348
Release: 1999-02-28
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 9780521559232

Download Biology and the Foundations of Ethics Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

This collection of essays focuses on the connection between biology and questions in ethics.

The State of Nature

The State of Nature
Author: Gregg Mitman
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 308
Release: 1992-10
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780226532370

Download The State of Nature Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Although science may claim to be "objective," scientists cannot avoid the influence of their own values on their research. In The State of Nature, Gregg Mitman examines the relationship between issues in early twentieth-century American society and the sciences of evolution and ecology to reveal how explicit social and political concerns influenced the scientific agenda of biologists at the University of Chicago and throughout the United States during the first half of this century. Reacting against the view of nature "red in tooth and claw," ecologists and behavioral biologists such as Warder Clyde Allee, Alfred Emerson, and their colleagues developed research programs they hoped would validate and promote an image of human society as essentially cooperative rather than competitive. Mitman argues that Allee's religious training and pacifist convictions shaped his pioneering studies of animal communities in a way that could be generalized to denounce the view that war is in our genes.

The Temptations of Evolutionary Ethics

The Temptations of Evolutionary Ethics
Author: Paul Lawrence Farber
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 228
Release: 1994-10-11
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780520920972

Download The Temptations of Evolutionary Ethics Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Evolutionary theory tells us about our biological past; can it also guide us to a moral future? Paul Farber's compelling book describes a century-old philosophical hope held by many biologists, anthropologists, psychologists, and social thinkers: that universal ethical and social imperatives are built into human nature and can be discovered through knowledge of evolutionary theory. Farber describes three upsurges of enthusiasm for evolutionary ethics. The first came in the early years of mid-nineteenth century evolutionary theories; the second in the 1920s and '30s, in the years after the cultural catastrophe of World War I; and the third arrived with the recent grand claims of sociobiology to offer a sound biological basis for a theory of human culture. Unlike many who have written on evolutionary ethics, Farber considers the responses made by philosophers over the years. He maintains that their devastating criticisms have been forgotten—thus the history of evolutionary ethics is essentially one of oft-repeated philosophical mistakes. Historians, scientists, social scientists, and anyone concerned about the elusive basis of selflessness, altruism, and morality will welcome Farber's enlightening book.

Biology and the Foundations of Ethics

Biology and the Foundations of Ethics
Author: Jane Maienschein
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 346
Release: 1999-03-13
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9780521551007

Download Biology and the Foundations of Ethics Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

There has been much attention devoted in recent years to the question of whether our moral principles can be related to our biological nature. This collection of new essays focuses on the connection between biology and foundational questions in ethics. The book asks such questions as whether humans are innately selfish, and whether there are particular facets of human nature that bear directly on social practices. This is the first book to offer this historical perspective on the relation of biology and ethics, and has been written by some of the leading figures in the history and philosophy of science, whose work stands very much at the cutting edge of these disciplines.

Bridging the Gap between Aristotle's Science and Ethics

Bridging the Gap between Aristotle's Science and Ethics
Author: Devin Henry
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 319
Release: 2015-05-05
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1107010365

Download Bridging the Gap between Aristotle's Science and Ethics Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Explores the extent to which Aristotle's ethical treatises employ the concepts, methods, and practices developed in his 'scientific' works.

Evolution and the Foundations of Ethics

Evolution and the Foundations of Ethics
Author: John Mizzoni
Publisher: Lexington Books
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2017-02-03
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0739199846

Download Evolution and the Foundations of Ethics Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

If human biological evolution is part of our worldview, then how do commonplace notions of ethics fit in? To ask the question, “what does evolution imply about ethics?” we must first be clear about what we mean by evolution. Evolution and the Foundations of Ethics discusses four models of evolution, represented by Darwin, Dawkins, Gould, and Haught. We must also be clear about what we mean by ethics. Do we mean metaethics? If so, which variety? With metaethical theories (such as Error Theory, Expressivism, Moral Relativism, and Moral Realism), theorists are attempting to explain the general nature, status, and origins of ethics. In the first four chapters of this book (Part I), John Mizzoni examines how metaethical theories fit with evolution. Next, in asking about the implications of evolution for ethics,do we mean normative ethics? Theorists who work with normative ethical theories—such as Virtue Ethics, Natural Law Ethics, Social Contract Ethics, Utilitarian Ethics, Deontological Ethics, and Ethics of Care)—articulate and defend a normative ethics that people can and do use in a practical way when deliberating about specific actions, rules, and policies. The next six chapters (Part II) look at how normative ethical theories fit with evolution. A full reckoning of ethics and evolution demands that we consider the range of ethical elements, both metaethical and normative. Thus, this book looks at what several different models of evolution imply about four metaethical theories and six normative ethical theories. This book will be of interest to scholars interested in the intersection of evolutionary theory and ethical theory.

Collected Writings, 1920-1950

Collected Writings, 1920-1950
Author: Alfred Korzybski
Publisher: Institute of GS
Total Pages: 952
Release: 1990
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9780910780087

Download Collected Writings, 1920-1950 Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Fifty-six items, plus documentary 'supplements', can be considered a biographical as well as theoretical working edition of the origins and development of Korzybski's revolutionary system called "general semantics".

Biographical Memoirs

Biographical Memoirs
Author: National Academy of Sciences
Publisher: National Academies Press
Total Pages: 409
Release: 1982-02-01
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0309032873

Download Biographical Memoirs Book in PDF, Epub and Kindle

Biographic Memoirs: Volume 53 contains the biographies of deceased members of the National Academy of Sciences and bibliographies of their published works. Each biographical essay was written by a member of the Academy familiar with the professional career of the deceased. For historical and bibliographical purposes, these volumes are worth returning to time and again.