Biocracy: Public Policy and the Life Sciences

ISBN-13: 9780367013844 / Angielski / Twarda / 2019 / 246 str.

Lynton Keith Caldwell

Opis

Biocracy, a term invented by physiologist Walter Bradford Cannon, refers to the influence of biological science on society and its public policies. Beginning with the prophetic essay “Biopolitics: Science, Ethics, and Public Policy,†this book addresses various aspects of the relationships among the life sciences, society, and government. Included in the topics considered are some of the more critical issues of our time: the social responses to life science innovations; health and homeostasis as social concepts; the relationship between history and biology and that between the life sciences and the law; biocratic interpretations of ethical behavior and biopolitical conflicts; and the options, risks, and international consequences of biotechnology. Caldwell’s book is a collection of articles that he wrote on this subject over a period of twenty-five years. Of the ten chapters, four have previously appeared in scholarly journals but have undergone extensive editorial revisions appropriate to this publication. The remaining six chapters have been presented at various professional meetings but have not hitherto been available in print.

Spis treści

Preface -- Biopolitics: Science, Ethics, and Public Policy -- Social Response to Advances in the Life Sciences -- Health and Homeostasis as Societal Concepts -- Biological Relevance of Historical Experience -- Life Sciences as Problems for Polifics and Law -- Biocratic Interpretations of Ethical Behavior -- Biocracy and Bureaucracy: Coping with Conflict -- Biotechnology: Options, Benefits, and Risks -- International Consequences of Applied Biology -- Biocrats and Democrats: Allies or Adversaries?