Table of Contents

Preface Acknowledgments ONEThe Rapidly Changing World of Biotechnology TWOHumanity and the Technological Narrative THREEBiotechnology and Competing Worldviews FOURBiotechnology and Human Dignity FIVEBiotechnology and the Quest for Control SIXBiotechnology, Human Enhancement, and the Ends of Medicine SEVENConclusion: Toward a Foundation for Biotechnology Notes Authors and Collaborators Index

Promotional Information

Moves the ethical debate over biotechnology to a new level. Biotechnology and the Human Good offers a critical analysis and constructive engagement that is informed, astute, and elegant. A must-read for anyone concerned about the prospect of a posthuman future. -- Brent Waters, associate professor of Christian social ethics and director, Stead Center for Ethics and Values, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary United by their conviction that traditional Christianity must respond to the latest conundrums of biomedical research, the authors of Biotechnology and the Human Good write with clarity and passion. They are cautious without being negative, quite willing to endorse all the genuine benefits of biomedical science but wary of its prospects for remaking human nature. They warn that secular arguments against enhancement won't restrain our enthusiasm to make ourselves more than human. They insist that only a theology that sees humanity as created and redeemed by God will equip us to resist the temptation to re-create and improve ourselves. Not everyone will share their concerns, but everyone will be enriched by the cogency of their arguments and the clear theological framework they develop. -- Ronald Cole-Turner, H. Parker Sharp Professor of Theology and Ethics, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary

About the Author

C. Ben Mitchell is associate professor of bioethics and contemporary culture at Trinity International University. Edmund D. Pellegrino, MD, is the chair of the President's Council on Bioethics, and professor emeritus of medicine and medical ethics, Center for Clinical Bioethics, Georgetown University Medical Center. Jean Bethke Elshtain is the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Professor of Social and Political Ethics in the Divinity School at the University of Chicago. John F. Kilner is the Franklin Forman Chair of Ethics, professor of bioethics and contemporary culture, and the director of the bioethics program at Trinity International University. Scott B. Rae is professor of biblical studies and Christian ethics at Biola University.

Reviews

"Moves the ethical debate over biotechnology to a new level. Biotechnology and the Human Good offers a critical analysis and constructive engagement that is informed, astute, and elegant. A must-read for anyone concerned about the prospect of a posthuman future." --Brent Waters, associate professor of Christian social ethics and director, Stead Center for Ethics and Values, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary "United by their conviction that traditional Christianity must respond to the latest conundrums of biomedical research, the authors of Biotechnology and the Human Good write with clarity and passion. They are cautious without being negative, quite willing to endorse all the genuine benefits of biomedical science but wary of its prospects for remaking human nature. They warn that secular arguments against enhancement won't restrain our enthusiasm to make ourselves more than human. They insist that only a theology that sees humanity as created and redeemed by God will equip us to resist the temptation to re-create and improve ourselves. Not everyone will share their concerns, but everyone will be enriched by the cogency of their arguments and the clear theological framework they develop." --Ronald Cole-Turner, H. Parker Sharp Professor of Theology and Ethics, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary