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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 6, 2014
A great academic accomplishment! The book carried so much material for thought, I actually found myself obsessing about parts of it.
The primary question that would not leave my mind was, "Two hundred years ago, learned people could argue that some practices that are reprehensible to us now, were ethically acceptable; what practices do we accept today that will be seen as unethical two hundred years from now?" I obsessed and ruminated, began (and continue) a list with very surprising results. I share the list only with my wife, but what a wonderful exercise!
In our nation, most of our ethical issues seem to be resolved (for now) in the courts--and you can sometimes hear these great judicial minds weighing pros and cons--what sort of people do we want to be? What is most fair to people overall?
I came late to the party. For years, I was a medical researcher. Over time, I began to hear rumblings about medical and research practices, and hooray for those critical voices. Witholding treatment to study the progression of syphilis--"You can't do that!" Studying the effects of LSD by giving it to people without their knowledge--"You can't do that!" Breaking any semblance of medical confidentiality ("Hey, Dr. J's blood shows a sexually-transmitted disease!")--"You can't do that!" (And now Facebook allegedly allowing a psychological study without informed consent--Can you do that?)
As time went on, research review boards became stronger, and they began including (hooray!) ethicists. I was lucky. None of my proposals were ever criticized for ethical problems, although some needed better scientific rigor. And researcher are all better off because we think more thoroughly about what we are doing.
But many people will not want this book right now. It is an academic treatise, not entirely a novel. Some of the chapters are very dense, tough going. And there are numerous complex footnotes--the author is, after all, a professor of philosophy, and she does a thorough job documenting her research and the bases of her conclusions.
As the title says, philosophy is here to stay. Thanks for helping us appreciate that.
The primary question that would not leave my mind was, "Two hundred years ago, learned people could argue that some practices that are reprehensible to us now, were ethically acceptable; what practices do we accept today that will be seen as unethical two hundred years from now?" I obsessed and ruminated, began (and continue) a list with very surprising results. I share the list only with my wife, but what a wonderful exercise!
In our nation, most of our ethical issues seem to be resolved (for now) in the courts--and you can sometimes hear these great judicial minds weighing pros and cons--what sort of people do we want to be? What is most fair to people overall?
I came late to the party. For years, I was a medical researcher. Over time, I began to hear rumblings about medical and research practices, and hooray for those critical voices. Witholding treatment to study the progression of syphilis--"You can't do that!" Studying the effects of LSD by giving it to people without their knowledge--"You can't do that!" Breaking any semblance of medical confidentiality ("Hey, Dr. J's blood shows a sexually-transmitted disease!")--"You can't do that!" (And now Facebook allegedly allowing a psychological study without informed consent--Can you do that?)
As time went on, research review boards became stronger, and they began including (hooray!) ethicists. I was lucky. None of my proposals were ever criticized for ethical problems, although some needed better scientific rigor. And researcher are all better off because we think more thoroughly about what we are doing.
But many people will not want this book right now. It is an academic treatise, not entirely a novel. Some of the chapters are very dense, tough going. And there are numerous complex footnotes--the author is, after all, a professor of philosophy, and she does a thorough job documenting her research and the bases of her conclusions.
As the title says, philosophy is here to stay. Thanks for helping us appreciate that.
May 15, 2014
Good for the novice or even more advanced person who would like a better understanding of philosophy and how it relates to today's world
June 29, 2014
Great book;
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews