The biotechnology revolution, though promising enormous returns in human well-being, is rapidly expanding our powers of control over our bodies, our thoughts, and our world. How we acquire these powers and how we decide to use them are questions not only for science, but also moral and political questions of profound importance to the future of democratic society and the dignity of human life. EPPC's program on Bioethics and American Democracy is an effort to clarify our responsibilities to future Americans by encouraging much needed moral and political deliberation on emerging biotechnologies.
Bioethics Policy Guide
UNESCO Bioethics Chair
The New Atlantis
The Embryo Question
The Ethics of Enhancement
Eugenics: Past and Future
Aging and Human Dignity
Latest News & Publications
Dr. Obama's Prescription It isn't one we should want to take. By James C. Capretta Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Senator Obama's plan, like all government-run health-care systems, would eventually resort to price controls to keep budgetary costs down, and these controls would reduce the number of willing suppliers of health care services, leading to waiting lists. This is not some economist’s theory; it is observable all over the world.
TRANSCRIPT: Ethical Questions in the Reform of Health and Medical Care By James C. Capretta Monday, August 4, 2008
EPPC Fellow James C. Capretta presented at a June 26, 2008 session of the President's Council on Bioethics in Chicago, Illinois. The Council held the session to explore the relative merits of alternative health care reform plans. Mr. Capretta presented the reasons policymakers should implement a reform program based on consumer choice and market competition.
In the Shadow of Progress Being Human in the Age of Technology By Eric Cohen Tuesday, July 1, 2008
We live in an age of unprecedented human mastery -- over birth and death, body and mind, nature and human nature. In every realm of life, science and technology have brought remarkable advances and improvements: we are healthier, wealthier, and more comfortable than ever before. But our gratitude for the benefits of progress increasingly mixes with concern about the meaning and consequences of our newfound powers.
Health Care 2008: A Political Primer By James C. Capretta Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Reform of the U.S. health care system is a tremendously complex undertaking, and while it may seem that those who support government-run health care are nearing victory, James C. Capretta argues that proponents of market-based reforms are starting to coalesce around a workable and politically practicable program-one that would make much-needed incremental changes without disrupting existing arrangements for Americans satisfied with the health care they have today.
The New Atlantis is an effort to clarify the nation's moral and political understanding of all areas of technology, with a special emphasis on bioethics. The quarterly journal is an attempt to make sense of the larger questions surrounding technology and human nature, and the practical questions of governing and regulating science -- especially where the moral stakes are high and the political divides are deep.
In the latest issue:
The Editors on John McCain and the Stem Cell Debate. Yuval Levin on the past and future of the “party of science.” O. Carter Snead on brain scans and the conflicted aspirations of neuroscience. Matthew B. Crawford on the dangers of a mindless brain science. Cheryl Miller on the lively and fractious community of “infertiles.” Thomas W. Merrill reads Descartes’ Discourse on Method. Jeremy Lott on suburbs, bomb shelters, and bottled water. Christy Hall Robinson on celebrity patients as advocates. James C. Capretta on why health care records are so low-tech. Caitrin Nicol on predictions of robotic intimacy. David Franz on the utopian origins of Dilbert's sorkspace. George Mitchell on drugs in baseball.
