The Experiences and Challenges of Science and Ethics Proceedings of an American-Iranian Workshop (2003) / Chapter Skim
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Appendix E Bioengineering Ethics: The Ethics of the Linkage Between Engineering and Biology1
Appendix E Bioengineering Ethics: The Ethics of the Linkage Between Engineering and Biology1
Pages 42-50
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From page 42... ...
In turn, science, with its discoveries, pushed religion and helped shape views 1 Based on the Keynote Speech at the First International Conference on Ethical Issues in Biomedical Engineering, Clemson University, September 29, 1997. 2 Bailey, N., Dictionarium Britannicum.
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From page 43... ...
. Engineering, as an agent modifying nature, interacts with the physical inanimate world, and as an agent to extend biology, it interacts with the biological world.
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From page 44... ...
For example, biomimesis, with its goal of designing machines by drawing inspiration from biological processes and designs, is an extension from the organism outward. Simple examples of biomimesis are today's artificial organs, as well as bio-electrical sensors, that is, biological sensors implanted on an electronic platform, or vice versa.
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From page 45... ...
The domain of physics is universal; that of biology is limited, of course, to biological organisms; that of medicine is limited primarily to humans and, in veterinary medicine, to higher animals, while the domain of engineering is the potentially limitless one of machines and alterations of nature, from nanomachines to macroenvironmental machines or processes such as dams, highways and weather modification. The key challenges today in physics are cosmogony and the development of a unified theory.
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From page 46... ...
Nature of Goal Nonteological Teleological Nonteological Teleological Domain Universal Machines (from nano to Biological organisms Primarily humans and higher macroenvironmental) animals Key Challenges • Cosmogony • Enhancement of • Origins of life Prevention and treatment of • Unifying theory humans through • Evolution of life forms disease o Materials (including behavior)
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From page 47... ...
Another focus issue with ethical implications is medical versus industrial. Both medical and industrial activities are important to society, but when they are carried out side by side in a research laboratory, they sharply bring in focus the issue of disinterest versus vested interest -- the disinterest that should govern medical-oriented activity versus the vested interest which characterizes industrial activity and is a prime mover of industrial success.
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From page 48... ...
In terms of views of nature, how complex the ethical issues confronting bioengineering are can be underscored by the multitude of basic and often conflicting values involved.4 These values range from utilitarian (emphasis on the way in which humans derive benefits from nature) to the naturalistic (the satisfaction that people obtain from the direct experience of nature)
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From page 49... ...
It is clear even from a cursory view of issues such as these, that the ethical questions involved in bioengineering are very broad and very fundamental, and it is equally clear that, as of now, barely the surface of many of these questions has been addressed. ETHICAL TENETS FOR BIOENGINEERS In reviewing the immense challenges in the development of bioengineering ethics, it is tempting to suggest -- very subjectively -- some initial tenets for the bioengineer that may, if nothing else, open up a much needed dialogue on the issues: • the finality tenet: to expand the capabilities of biological organisms, individually and collectively.
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From page 50... ...
CONCLUSION The ethics of bioengineering is one of the most complex and challenging of all ethics, as it must blend the ethics of engineering, biology, medicine, and the physical sciences. To the extent that it can do so, it brings bioengineering to the forefront of human endeavors, as an activity that synthesizes the two most exquisitely human activities -- how to understand nature and how to modify it for an ever better future of our species.
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