The Body Politic

August 29, 2011
Bioethicist Moreno, of the University of Pennsylvania, and editor of the Center for American Progress’s Science Progress, offers an important analysis of the societal currents swirling around volatile scientific issues, primarily biotechnology. Leaping into what he calls a “new biopolitics,” implying the interconnection of biology and national political and cultural debate, Moreno brings rare insight to his description of conservative fears about the dangers of biotech, invoking a change from biology as a way of describing life to today’s use of biology to attempt to alter, and commodify, life. Although interested in the philosophical questions raised by modern biology, he wisely uses familiar ethical questions to illustrate the various strands of the debate: on abortion, end-of-life decisions, and stem cell research, among others. Moreno also explores the philosophical underpinnings of Western civilization’s views of science; in a few short pages he discusses Marx, Edmund Burke, Kant, and Heidegger, and how their views inform the debate over modern bioethics. Moreno delivers a powerful defense of science and an equally powerful indictment of those conservatives who have a fundamental quarrel with biotechnology. Moreno respects his readers’ intelligence in this nuanced and thoughtful book.

Starred review from April 15, 2011

An eminent bioethicist presents a nuanced survey of the fraught politics of science in 21st-century America.

Moreno (Philosophy and Medical Ethics/Univ. of Pennsylvania; Science Next: Innovation for the Common Good, 2009, etc.), a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress who served on President Obama's transition team, makes no bones about falling on the pro-progress side of the often brutal debate Americans have been waging over the proper role of science in society since Roe v. Wade. Nevertheless, he gives plenty of air time to the arguments of his opponents as he searches for the roots of their critiques in American and European intellectual history from the Middle Ages through the Enlightenment and into the progressive era and beyond. Despite general admiration for science among the public since Benjamin Franklin's day, a darker strain of thought, influenced by the progress-averse romantics and German philosophers from Kant to Heidegger, has grown increasingly influential among American intellectuals as biological discoveries, in particular, have schematically displaced humans from the center of the universe. Moreno coins the term "biopolitics" to distinguish this realm of debate from ordinary politics. In this new battleground, left and right divide and re-merge into two opposing camps: the bioconservatives and bioprogressives, the former (which comprises greens as well as neocons) fretting over the blurring of lines between humans and the rest of creation, the latter lamenting the drag on innovation that might save or radically improve lives. Along the way, Moreno pulls apart the debates on eugenics, abortion, end-of-life decisions, embryonic stem-cell research, reproductive cloning, chimeras and synthetic biology, among others, carefully reassembling what's at stake for each side. In graceful, sparkling prose, he illuminates intricate threads of history and complex philosophical arguments. Patient general readers, as well as scholars and students of bioethics, will benefit from Moreno's erudition and fairness, whether or not they're convinced by his argument for human-centered progress in science.

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August 1, 2011

According to Moreno (David & Lyn Silfen University Professor, Univ. of Pennsylvania; Senior Fellow, Ctr. for American Progress; Mind Wars: Brain Research and National Defense), the American dream is founded on a belief in a future of scientifically driven progress. That is why the new biology (his term for recent developments in the life sciences) strikes at the heart of America's political consciousness, challenges established alliances, and has the potential either to bring people together or to drive them apart. Moreno shows how biological discoveries aggravate cultural tensions, challenge our political system and values, and stimulate debate about the place of science and scientists in America. Although his progressive leanings are clear, he gives balanced treatment to a variety of views and arguments, equally discussing the promise of the new biology and the cultural, political, and social uncertainties it brings. VERDICT This is a sophisticated, useful, and well-written guide to the history and complex political issues surrounding the new biology. Recommended for anyone, general and scholarly readers alike, interested in a deeper understanding of the new biology, bioethics, and the political debates they engender.--Jon Bodnar, Emory Univ. Lib., Atlanta

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