Synopses & Reviews
In this book experts in the environment, theology and science argue that the challenge posed to society by biotechnology lies not only in terms of risk/benefit analysis of individual genetic technologies and interventions, but also has implications for the way we think about human identity and our relationship to the natural world. Such a profound--they would suggest religious--challenge requires a response that is genuinely interdisciplinary in nature, a conversation that draws as much on expertise in theology and philosophy as on the natural sciences and risk assessment techniques. They argue that an adequate response must also be sociologically informed in at least two ways. First it must draw on contemporary sociological insights about contemporary cultural change, the complex role of expert knowledge in modern complex society and the specific social dynamics of contemporary technological risks. Secondly, it must endeavour to pay sensitive attention to the voice of the lay public in the current controversy over the new genetics. This book attempts to realise such an aim, as a contribution not just to academic scholarship, but also to the public debate about biotechnology and its regulation. Thus the collection includes contributions from scholars in a range of intellectual domains (indeed, many of the chapters themselves draw on more than one discipline in new and challenging ways). The book invites the reader to enter into this conversation in a creative way and come to appreciate more fully the many-sided nature of the debate.
Table of Contents
PrefaceIntroductionPART I: CURRENT DEBATES IN THEOLOGYIntroduction to Part 11. Celia Deane-Drummond, Robin Grove-White and Bronislaw Szerszynski: Genetically Modified Theology, The Religious Dimensions of Public Concerns about Agricultural BiotechnologyChristopher Southgate: Response to Chapter 12. John Hedley Brooke: Detracting from Divine Power? Religious Belief and the Appraisal of New TechnologiesArthur Peacocke: Response to Chapter 23. Michael Banner: The Sublime, The Sabbath and the Limits of BiotechnologyMichael Reiss: Response to Chapter 34. Michael Northcott: 'Behold I Have Set the Land Before You' (Deut 1.8). Christian Ethics, GM Foods and the Culture of Modern FarmingPeter Scott: Response to Chapter 4PART II: REFLECTIONS FROM SPECIFIC CASESIntroduction to Part II5. Arthur Peacocke: Relating Genetics to Theology on the Map of Scientific Knowledge6. Michael Reiss: Is It Right to Move Genes between Species? A Theological Perspective7. Donald Bruce: Playing Dice with Creation, How Risky Should the New Technologies Be?8. Stephen Clark: Thinking about Biotechnology, Towards a Theory of Just ExperimentationPART III: PUBLIC VOICES AND GENETIC TECHNOLOGIESIntroduction to Part III9. Mairi Levitt: 'Just Because We Can Do Something Doesn't Mean We Should', Young People's Responses to Biotechnology10. Bronislaw Szerszynski: At Reason's End, The Inoperative Liturgy of Risk Society11. Brian Wynne: Interpreting Public Concerns about GMOsPART IV: TECHNOLOGY, THEOLOGY AND SOCIETYIntroduction to Part IV12. Jacqui Stewart: Reordering Means and Ends, Ellul and the New Genetics13. Peter Scott: Nature, Technology and the Rule of God, (En)Countering the Disgracing of Nature14. Celia Deane-Drummond: Aquinas, Wisdom Ethics and the New Genetics15. Bronislaw Szerszynski and Celia Deane-Drummond: The Reordering of Nature, a Post-ScriptList of ContributorsIndex