Life Science Ethics

About this book

Does nature have intrinsic value? Should we be doing more to save wilderness and ocean ecosystems? What are our duties to future generations of humans? Do animals have rights? This revised edition of "Life Science Ethics" introduces these questions using narrative case studies on genetically modified foods, use of animals in research, nanotechnology, and global climate change, and then explores them in detail using essays written by nationally-recognized experts in the ethics field.

Part-I introduces ethics, the relationship of religion to ethics, how we assess ethical arguments, and a method ethicists use to reason about ethical theories. Part-II demonstrates the relevance of ethical reasoning to the environment, land, farms, food, biotechnology, genetically modified foods, animals in agriculture and research, climate change, and nanotechnology. Part III presents case studies for the topics found in part-II.

Contents

Acknowledgments for the second edition.- Acknowledgments for the First Edition.- Contributors.- List of Figures.- List of Tables.- Introduction to the Second Edition.- Introduction to the First Edition.- PART I: Ethical reasoning.- 1. Ethics.- 2. Religion.- 3. Reasoning.- 4. Method.- PART II: Life Science Ethics.- 5. Environment.- 6. Land.- 7. Farms.- 8. Food.- 9. Biotechnology.- 10. Genetically Modified Foods.- 11. Animals in Agriculture.- 12. Animals in Research.- 13. Climate Change.- 14. Nanotechnology.- 15.- PART III: Case Studies.- 15. Environment - Marine Mammal Protection.- 16. Land -- Hybrid Corn.- 17. Farms -- Lost in the Maize.- 18. Food -- Edible Antibiotics in Food Crops.- 19. Biotechnology -- Trait Protection System.- 20. Genetically Modified Foods -- Golden Rice.- 21. Animals in Agriculture -- Beef, Milk, and Eggs.- 22. Animals in Research -- Enviropigs.- 23. Climate Change -- Coastal Dead Zones.- 24. Nanotechnology -- Nanotechnology and Human Enhancement.- Appendix A: Exercises.- Appendix B: Note for Instructors.- Index.

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Biography

Gary L. Comstock is Professor of Philosophy at North Carolina State University, author of Vexing Nature? On the Ethical Case against Agricultural Biotechnology (Kluwer, 2000), and Editor-in-chief of On the Human at the National Humanities Center.