Facts, values, and stem cells

Ronald Bailey at Reason Magazine insightfully criticizes Michael Peroski, of the Progressive Bioethics Initiative at the Center for American Progress, and his call for a “data-driven” as opposed to an “ideology-driven” President’s Council on Bioethics. Peroski writes:

Proceeding from ideology-driven inquiry entails starting from an answer: “Research on human embryonic stem cell should be forbidden because embryos are equivalent to human lives” and working backwards to a question: “Is research on human embryonic stem cells ethical?” Proceeding with data-driven inquiry means starting with the question: “Is embryonic stem cell research ethical?” and then taking the time to educate the public, gather information about public sentiment on the topic, carefully analyze the costs and benefits of proceeding with or prohibiting the research, and offering a pragmatic recommendation that takes all of these considerations into account.

Bailey correctly points out that Peroski is “basically begging the most important question rather than answering it,” specifically whether and to what extent embryos are indeed human beings.  Data and economists alone are incapable of determining the value of stem cell research.  Ethics cannot be about public polls and cost/benefit ratios only, even though those tools are quite useful.  I dicussed the limitations of this form of “pragmatism” here.

-Jake

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August 26, 2009 · Filed Under Jake, Science

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