ASA/CSCA Newsletter

Recommended Books

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Today’s public talk about moral values is usually framed in terms of a search for a moral consensus that is no longer self-evident—indeed that to many people is not evident at all.

The search for a moral consensus based on a common human nature has, for some time now, replaced the social function of religious belief, which was long thought to be the indispensable foundation of social peace.

For most of history, unity of religion was deemed essential to the unity of society and culture.

That assumption was shattered in the religious wars in Europe of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

As a consequence of the wars of religion, precisely the opposite conclusion was drawn: Social peace requires that religious beliefs, and disagreements over religious beliefs, be determinedly disregarded.

Although established religion continued for some time in most of Europe, religion no longer served its earlier function. --
W. Pannenberg

Current Ethical Issues in Science

apoth The last several decades have seen a rapid increase of scientific knowledge in areas which have wide-ranging ethical implications - most prominently in biosciences, the environment and medicine. There has been intense discussion both within and without the Christian community on points of contention. In many cases the question now turns more on should we rather than the traditional can we.

At the same time one's personal ethics are being challenged in increasing measure. This topic often receives front page coverage as yet again another scientist is charged with fraud. Walter Hearn has ably dealt with day-to-day questions in his Being a Christian in Science (InterVarsity, 1997) . For Walt:

Christian behavior is rooted in biblical precepts and in loyalty to Jesus Christ. We need not apologize for bringing those precepts with us into scientific work . (40)

Try this short video: Atheism and morality Can atheism provide grounds for morality? (8 min.)

Roman J. Miller, "When Fraud Knocks on the Door" PSCF 58 (March 2006): 1. Thoughts of a Teacher/editor.

Wolfhart Pannenberg's "When Everything is Permitted" Argues the need for "Christian ethics."

Ethical Method in Christian Bioethics: Mapping the Terrain Offers an "analysis of patterns of ethical methodology among Christians weighing in on contemporary debates."

Bioethical—and especially biotechnological—developments are both so urgent and have come so quickly upon us that there has been little time for Christian bioethicists to reflect upon or develop a coherent methodological approach. However, our answers to particular questions—e.g., what should we think and say about nanotechnology or germ-line genetic intervention or cryopreservation or any other issue—demand reflection on a prior methodological question: How should a Christian go about discerning a reliable answer to such ethical questions? I would here like to offer a very preliminary analysis of patterns of ethical methodology among Christians weighing in on contemporary biotechnology debates.

Values and Science Research – what is Science for? A Faraday Institute Lecture 2007 Prof. Tom McLeish MP3 file (27.7Mb)
(45 min + discussion)

Note: The views represented on this page do not represent the official position of the American Scientific Affiliation.

Current Issues

Chemicals

Claus Jacob & Adam Walters*, "Risk and Responsibility in Chemical Research The Case of Agent Orange," HYLE--International Journal for Philosophy of Chemistry, Vol. 11, No.2 (2005)

Excessive Consumption

Swearengen, Jack & Woodhouse, Edward, "Overconsumption: An Ethical Dilemma for Christian Engineers," PSCF 54 (June2002): 80

Fraud

Kurt M. Pickett, John W. Wenzel, Stephen W. Rissing, "Iconoclasts of Evolution: Haekel, Behe, Wells & the Ontolgeny of a Fraud,", The American Biology Teacher 67 (May 2005): 275-282.
Wells talks-back: Jonathan Wells, Critics Rave Over Icons of Evolution: A Response to Published Reviews

Rodney L. Bassett, David Basinger, and Paul Livermore, "Lying in the Laboratory: Deception in Human Research from Psychological, Philosophical, and Theological Perspectives," JASA, 33 (December 1982): 201-212.

Brian E. Porter and Steve VanderVeen, "Does Being Honest Pay? An Empirical Study," Christian Scholars Review XXVIII (Number 3 1999): 452-465.

Thomas D. Pearson, "Ethics in the Workplace: What Should the Christian Do? " PSCF 50 (June 1998): 85.

Stephen K. Moroney, "How Sin Affects Scholarship," Christian Scholars Review XXVIII (Number 3 1999): 432-451.

Genetic Engineering

J. Bruce McCallum, "Evolving Concepts of Nature and Human Genetic Engineering," PSCF 58 (September 2006): 171-178.

D. Gareth Jones, "Genetic Prospects: Finding a Balance Between Choice and Acceptance." PSCF 57 (September 2005): 202-211.

D. Gareth Jones, "Biomedical Manipulation: Arguing the Case for a Cautiously Optimistic Stance," PSCF 54 (June 2002).

Pattle Pun, "Toward an Ethics of the Human Genome Project," Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 50 (September 1998): 164-175.

Leon R. Kass, "The Age of Genetic Technology Arrives," Leon R. Kass, M.D. is professor in social thought at the University of Chicago, Hertog fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and chairman of the President's Council on Bioethics. Excerpted from Life, Liberty and the Defense of Dignity. Published by Encounter Books, San Francisco, October 2002. Reprinted with permission by The American Spectator, November/December 2002.

Medical Practice

The Christian Medical and Dental Society provides position papers on many issues in medical and dental practice.

New Study by Harvard Medical School Researchers at Cambridge Health Alliance finds US Medical Students Receive Negligible Instruction about Military Medical Ethics.(November 2007) A new study by Harvard Medical School researchers who are also clinicians at Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA) found that medical students receive very little teaching about military medical ethics and are ignorant about a physician's ethical duties according to the Geneva Conventions. The study, entitled "Medical Student Knowledge Regarding the Military Draft, the Geneva Conventions, and Military Medical Ethics," appears in the current issue of the International Journal of Health Services... Cambridge Health Alliance Full Story

Dennis M. Sullivan, "The Oral Conceptive as Abortifacient: An Analysis of the Evidence," PSCF 58 (September 2006): 189-195.

Hessel Bouma III, "Challenges and Lessons from The Teri Schiavo Case ," PSCF 57 (September 2005): 212-220.

John H. Woodburn, "Life, the Ultimate Challenge," PSCF 57 (June 2005): 126-127.

Lawrence R. Huntoon, "Editorial: Modern Bioethics," Journal of the American Physicians and Surgeons - Vol. 10 No. 4 Dec. 2005.

James J. Rusthoven, "Current Concepts of Capacity and Autonimy in Medical Decision-Making: A Critique from a Christian Perspective," PSCF 57 (December 2005): 311-317.

Robert Trundle and Robert Vossmeyer, "Sex Revolution and Psychosexual Disorder: A Historical Perspective on the Delusion of Medical Neutrality," Aquinas 47, No. 1 (2004) Used by permission

Jay L. Holman, "The Future of Medical Science: Ethical and Theological Implications, Part I," PSCF 46 (December 1994): 220-229.

Jay L. Holman, "The Future of Medical Science: Ethical and Theological Implications, Part II," PSCF 47 (March 1995): 23-31.

D. Gareth Jones, "The Human Cadaver: An Assessment of the Value We Place on the Human Body," PSCF 47 (March 1995): 43-51.

D. Gareth Jones, "Contemporary Medical Scandals: A Challenge to Ethical Codes and Ethical Principles," PSCF 42 (March 1990): 2-14.

Neuroscience

William Polk Cheshire, With All Your Mind: Implications of Functional Neuro-imaging for Ethics | Audio| A talk from the ASA/CIS Edinburgh Meeting 2007

Stem Cell Research

The Biology of Stem Cells (Proquest) An overview.