Biopolicy: A Restatement of Its Role in Politics and the Life Sciences

Extract

There is nothing unique in a call for increased attention to the policy dimensions of biological developments. Almost two decades ago, Caldwell (1964:2) urged a “policy synthesis of scientific knowledge and ethical values” in response to the public policy questions raised 1JY the “explosion of biomedical knowledge and technology.” Despite similar exhortations intermittently since that time, Somit and Peterson (1979) conclude that political scientists have yet to give adequate attention to the public policy implications of biological issues. Wiegele, too, (1979: 151) sees the need for “some students of biopolitics to become interested in the political policy relevance of certain aspects of the life sciences” but sees only a few scholars interested in pursuing such an endeavor at this time.