Is Peter Singer the future of American bioethics?
Invited as plenary speaker at Harvard conference
Want a peek into the future of American bioethics? It could be Peter Singer. The American Society of Bioethics and Humanities has selected the controversial philosopher as a keynote speaker for a national undergraduate bioethics conference in March 2009. The conference will be held at Harvard University and will be sponsored by the Harvard Undergraduate Bioethics Society and a number of other Harvard groups. It is a two-day event which will draw about 200 students from around the country. That Singer is to be welcomed at Harvard, home of some of the most talented students in the US, when appearances in Europe provoke protests over his views on infanticide, abortion and euthanasia, could mean that American bioethics will tilt even further towards utilitarianism. Time will tell.
Michael Cook edits BioEdge, a bioethics newsletter, and MercatorNet, an on-line magazine whose focus is human dignity. He writes from Sydney, Australia.
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