Books
The Wisdom of Repugnance: Why We Should Ban the Cloning of Human Beings
– The New Republic, June 2, 1997.Excerpt: Our habit of delighting in news of scientific and technological breakthroughs has been sorely challenged by the birth announcement of a sheep named Dolly. Though Dolly shares with… More
The Ethics of Human Cloning
– With James Q. Wilson, American Enterprise Institute Press, June 1, 1998.Today biological science is rising on a wall of worry. No other science has advanced more dramatically during the past several decades or yielded so many palpable improvements in human… More
Book Discussion on The Ethics of Human Cloning
– CSPAN, December 11, 1998.Mr. Kass and Mr. Wilson talked about their book, The Ethics of Human Cloning, published by AEI Press. The book is about the ethical debate over human cloning. Mr. Kass is against… More
The Ethics of Human Cloning
– The American Enterprise, March 1, 1999.Social critics James Q. Wilson and Leon Kass debate the social, psychological and ethical ramifications of human cloning. Wilson supports limited cloning to two-parent heterosexual… More
Why We Should Ban the Cloning of Human Beings
– Texas Review of Law & Politics 4(1): 41-49, Fall 1999.Excerpt: “To clone or not to clone a human being” is no longer a fanciful question. Success in cloning first sheep, then cows, and most recently, great success in cloning mice… More
The Moral Meaning of Genetic Technology
– Commentary, September 1999. Reprinted in The American Journal of Jurisprudence 45:1-16, 2000.Abstract: As one contemplates the current and projected state of genetic knowledge and technology, one is astonished by how far we have come in the less than 50 years since Watson and Crick… More
Preventing a Brave New World: Why We Should Ban Human Cloning Now
– The New Republic, May 21, 2001.Excerpt: The urgency of the great political struggles of the twentieth century, successfully waged against totalitarianisms first right and then left, seems to have blinded many people to a… More
The Ethics of Cloning
– Testimony Before United States House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Crime, June 7, 2001.Excerpt: Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee. My name is Leon Kass, and I am the Addie Clark Harding Professor in the Committee on Social Thought and the College at the University of… More
Ban Stand
– With Daniel Callahan, The New Republic, August 6, 2001.Excerpt: Everyone has been arguing for weeks about whether President Bush should authorize funding for research on human embryonic stem cells. But few have noticed the much more momentous… More
Brave New Biology: The Challenge for Human Dignity
– London: The Institute of United States Studies, 2002.Excerpt: The urgency of the great political struggles of the twentieth century and the new global struggle against terrorism and fanaticism seems to have blinded many people to a deep truth… More
Interview on Washington Journal
– CSPAN, January 23, 2002.Mr. Kass talked about his role in advising President Bush on cloning and stem cell research. The new President’s Council on Bioethics is made up of 17 philosophers, medical experts… More
Defending Dignity
– Christianity Today, May 23, 2002.Excerpt: Condensed from an interview with Leon Kass, head of President Bush’s Advisory Council on Bioethics, and a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. The interview was… More
Human Cloning and Human Dignity: An Ethical Inquiry
– The President's Council on Bioethics, Washington, DC, July 2002.Excerpt: Man’s biotechnological powers are expanding in scope, at what seems an accelerating pace. Many of these powers are double-edged, offering help for human suffering, yet… More
Stop All Cloning of Humans For Four Years
– Wall Street Journal, July 11, 2002.Excerpt: For the past five years, the prospect of human cloning has been the subject of much public attention and sharp moral debate. Several mammalian species have been cloned; the first… More
The President’s Council on Bioethics on Patenting Human Organs
– CSPAN, July 11, 2002.Council members talked about human cloning and bioethics, concentrating on the ethical questions surrounding granting patents for medical and scientific research and techniques using… More
President’s Council on Bioethics on Genetic Enhancement in Sports
– CSPAN, July 11, 2002.As part of a day-long conference on bioethics and human cloning, Doctor Friedman talked to council members about genetic engineering and its potential use in sports. Following his remarks… More
Report to the President on Human Cloning
– CPAN, July 11, 2002.Mr. Kass presented and summarized some of the debate found in the council’s report on human cloning. Among the issues that the report examined were reproductive and therapeutic… More
Book Discussion on Life, Liberty, and the Defense of Dignity
– CSPAN, October 25, 2002.Professor Leon Kass discussed his book Life, Liberty and the Defense of Dignity: The Challenge for Bioethics, published by Encounter Books, at the Commonwealth Club of… More
American Enterprise Institute Event on the Human Cloning Report
– CSPAN, October 29, 2002.Participants talked about a report issued by the President’s Council on Bioethics. Among the topics they addressed were the ethics of human cloning, uses of cloning for biomedical… More
The Age of Genetic Technology Arrives
– American Spectator, November-December 2002.Excerpt: As one contemplates the current and projected state of genetic knowledge and technology, one is astonished by how far we have come…
Interview on Washington Journal
– CSPAN, January 1, 2003.Dr. Kass talked about ethical issues involving human cloning and recent news of the first human reproductive clone by a private organization. He also responded to viewer comments and… More
How One Clone Leads to Another
– New York Times, January 24, 2003.Excerpt: The failure of the last Congress to enact a ban on human cloning casts grave doubt on our ability to govern the unethical uses of biotechnology, even when it threatens things we… More
Being Human: Readings from the President’s Council on Bioethics
– The President's Council on Bioethics, Washington, DC, December 2003.Summary: Increasingly, advances in biomedical science and technology raise profound challenges to familiar human practices and ways of thinking, feeling, and acting. It is no wonder, then,… More
Life, Liberty, and the Defense of Dignity: The Challenge for Bioethics
– Encounter Books, January 1, 2004.At the onset of Life, Liberty and the Defense of Dignity, Leon Kass gives us a status report on where we stand today: “Human nature itself lies on the operating table, ready for… More
We Don’t Play Politics with Science
– Washington Post, March 3, 2004.Excerpt: Even before the President’s Council on Bioethics had its first meeting in January 2002, charges were flying that the council was stacked with political and religious… More
Human Frailty and Human Dignity
– The New Atlantis (Fall 2004-Winter 2005).Excerpt: In the aftermath of an election season, with the question of stem cell research in the public eye and demagogued in the most awful way, Eric Cohen has chosen to ask more… More
Reflections on Public Bioethics: A View from the Trenches
– Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 15 (3): 221-250, 2005.Abstract: For many reasons, and more than its predecessors, the President’s Council on Bioethics has been the subject of much public attention and heated controversy. But little of… More
Alternative Sources of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells: A White Paper
– The President's Council on Bioethics, Washington, DC, May 2005.Excerpt: I am pleased to present to you Alternative Sources of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells, a White Paper of the President’s Council on Bioethics.Since the publication of our… More
How Brave a New World?
– 2007 Convocation Address, St. John’s College, Annapolis, Maryland. Reprinted in Society 45 (1): 5-8 (February 2008).Excerpt: Surveying the world you graduates are about to enter, I am reminded of the ancient Chinese curse: “May you live in interesting times.” My own time has been interesting… More
Defending Life and Dignity
– Weekly Standard, February 25, 2008.Excerpt: In his State of the Union address President Bush spoke briefly on matters of life and science. He stated his intention to expand funding for new possibilities in medical research,… More
Keeping Life Human: Biology and Human Dignity
– Seminar, Princeton University, September 2010.Essays
The Wisdom of Repugnance: Why We Should Ban the Cloning of Human Beings
– The New Republic, June 2, 1997.Excerpt: Our habit of delighting in news of scientific and technological breakthroughs has been sorely challenged by the birth announcement of a sheep named Dolly. Though Dolly shares with… More
The Ethics of Human Cloning
– With James Q. Wilson, American Enterprise Institute Press, June 1, 1998.Today biological science is rising on a wall of worry. No other science has advanced more dramatically during the past several decades or yielded so many palpable improvements in human… More
Book Discussion on The Ethics of Human Cloning
– CSPAN, December 11, 1998.Mr. Kass and Mr. Wilson talked about their book, The Ethics of Human Cloning, published by AEI Press. The book is about the ethical debate over human cloning. Mr. Kass is against… More
The Ethics of Human Cloning
– The American Enterprise, March 1, 1999.Social critics James Q. Wilson and Leon Kass debate the social, psychological and ethical ramifications of human cloning. Wilson supports limited cloning to two-parent heterosexual… More
Why We Should Ban the Cloning of Human Beings
– Texas Review of Law & Politics 4(1): 41-49, Fall 1999.Excerpt: “To clone or not to clone a human being” is no longer a fanciful question. Success in cloning first sheep, then cows, and most recently, great success in cloning mice… More
The Moral Meaning of Genetic Technology
– Commentary, September 1999. Reprinted in The American Journal of Jurisprudence 45:1-16, 2000.Abstract: As one contemplates the current and projected state of genetic knowledge and technology, one is astonished by how far we have come in the less than 50 years since Watson and Crick… More
Preventing a Brave New World: Why We Should Ban Human Cloning Now
– The New Republic, May 21, 2001.Excerpt: The urgency of the great political struggles of the twentieth century, successfully waged against totalitarianisms first right and then left, seems to have blinded many people to a… More
The Ethics of Cloning
– Testimony Before United States House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Crime, June 7, 2001.Excerpt: Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee. My name is Leon Kass, and I am the Addie Clark Harding Professor in the Committee on Social Thought and the College at the University of… More
Ban Stand
– With Daniel Callahan, The New Republic, August 6, 2001.Excerpt: Everyone has been arguing for weeks about whether President Bush should authorize funding for research on human embryonic stem cells. But few have noticed the much more momentous… More
Brave New Biology: The Challenge for Human Dignity
– London: The Institute of United States Studies, 2002.Excerpt: The urgency of the great political struggles of the twentieth century and the new global struggle against terrorism and fanaticism seems to have blinded many people to a deep truth… More
Interview on Washington Journal
– CSPAN, January 23, 2002.Mr. Kass talked about his role in advising President Bush on cloning and stem cell research. The new President’s Council on Bioethics is made up of 17 philosophers, medical experts… More
Defending Dignity
– Christianity Today, May 23, 2002.Excerpt: Condensed from an interview with Leon Kass, head of President Bush’s Advisory Council on Bioethics, and a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. The interview was… More
Human Cloning and Human Dignity: An Ethical Inquiry
– The President's Council on Bioethics, Washington, DC, July 2002.Excerpt: Man’s biotechnological powers are expanding in scope, at what seems an accelerating pace. Many of these powers are double-edged, offering help for human suffering, yet… More
Stop All Cloning of Humans For Four Years
– Wall Street Journal, July 11, 2002.Excerpt: For the past five years, the prospect of human cloning has been the subject of much public attention and sharp moral debate. Several mammalian species have been cloned; the first… More
The President’s Council on Bioethics on Patenting Human Organs
– CSPAN, July 11, 2002.Council members talked about human cloning and bioethics, concentrating on the ethical questions surrounding granting patents for medical and scientific research and techniques using… More
President’s Council on Bioethics on Genetic Enhancement in Sports
– CSPAN, July 11, 2002.As part of a day-long conference on bioethics and human cloning, Doctor Friedman talked to council members about genetic engineering and its potential use in sports. Following his remarks… More
Report to the President on Human Cloning
– CPAN, July 11, 2002.Mr. Kass presented and summarized some of the debate found in the council’s report on human cloning. Among the issues that the report examined were reproductive and therapeutic… More
Book Discussion on Life, Liberty, and the Defense of Dignity
– CSPAN, October 25, 2002.Professor Leon Kass discussed his book Life, Liberty and the Defense of Dignity: The Challenge for Bioethics, published by Encounter Books, at the Commonwealth Club of… More
American Enterprise Institute Event on the Human Cloning Report
– CSPAN, October 29, 2002.Participants talked about a report issued by the President’s Council on Bioethics. Among the topics they addressed were the ethics of human cloning, uses of cloning for biomedical… More
The Age of Genetic Technology Arrives
– American Spectator, November-December 2002.Excerpt: As one contemplates the current and projected state of genetic knowledge and technology, one is astonished by how far we have come…
Interview on Washington Journal
– CSPAN, January 1, 2003.Dr. Kass talked about ethical issues involving human cloning and recent news of the first human reproductive clone by a private organization. He also responded to viewer comments and… More
How One Clone Leads to Another
– New York Times, January 24, 2003.Excerpt: The failure of the last Congress to enact a ban on human cloning casts grave doubt on our ability to govern the unethical uses of biotechnology, even when it threatens things we… More
Being Human: Readings from the President’s Council on Bioethics
– The President's Council on Bioethics, Washington, DC, December 2003.Summary: Increasingly, advances in biomedical science and technology raise profound challenges to familiar human practices and ways of thinking, feeling, and acting. It is no wonder, then,… More
Life, Liberty, and the Defense of Dignity: The Challenge for Bioethics
– Encounter Books, January 1, 2004.At the onset of Life, Liberty and the Defense of Dignity, Leon Kass gives us a status report on where we stand today: “Human nature itself lies on the operating table, ready for… More
We Don’t Play Politics with Science
– Washington Post, March 3, 2004.Excerpt: Even before the President’s Council on Bioethics had its first meeting in January 2002, charges were flying that the council was stacked with political and religious… More
Human Frailty and Human Dignity
– The New Atlantis (Fall 2004-Winter 2005).Excerpt: In the aftermath of an election season, with the question of stem cell research in the public eye and demagogued in the most awful way, Eric Cohen has chosen to ask more… More
Reflections on Public Bioethics: A View from the Trenches
– Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 15 (3): 221-250, 2005.Abstract: For many reasons, and more than its predecessors, the President’s Council on Bioethics has been the subject of much public attention and heated controversy. But little of… More
Alternative Sources of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells: A White Paper
– The President's Council on Bioethics, Washington, DC, May 2005.Excerpt: I am pleased to present to you Alternative Sources of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells, a White Paper of the President’s Council on Bioethics.Since the publication of our… More
How Brave a New World?
– 2007 Convocation Address, St. John’s College, Annapolis, Maryland. Reprinted in Society 45 (1): 5-8 (February 2008).Excerpt: Surveying the world you graduates are about to enter, I am reminded of the ancient Chinese curse: “May you live in interesting times.” My own time has been interesting… More
Defending Life and Dignity
– Weekly Standard, February 25, 2008.Excerpt: In his State of the Union address President Bush spoke briefly on matters of life and science. He stated his intention to expand funding for new possibilities in medical research,… More
Keeping Life Human: Biology and Human Dignity
– Seminar, Princeton University, September 2010.Commentary
The Wisdom of Repugnance: Why We Should Ban the Cloning of Human Beings
– The New Republic, June 2, 1997.Excerpt: Our habit of delighting in news of scientific and technological breakthroughs has been sorely challenged by the birth announcement of a sheep named Dolly. Though Dolly shares with… More
The Ethics of Human Cloning
– With James Q. Wilson, American Enterprise Institute Press, June 1, 1998.Today biological science is rising on a wall of worry. No other science has advanced more dramatically during the past several decades or yielded so many palpable improvements in human… More
Book Discussion on The Ethics of Human Cloning
– CSPAN, December 11, 1998.Mr. Kass and Mr. Wilson talked about their book, The Ethics of Human Cloning, published by AEI Press. The book is about the ethical debate over human cloning. Mr. Kass is against… More
The Ethics of Human Cloning
– The American Enterprise, March 1, 1999.Social critics James Q. Wilson and Leon Kass debate the social, psychological and ethical ramifications of human cloning. Wilson supports limited cloning to two-parent heterosexual… More
Why We Should Ban the Cloning of Human Beings
– Texas Review of Law & Politics 4(1): 41-49, Fall 1999.Excerpt: “To clone or not to clone a human being” is no longer a fanciful question. Success in cloning first sheep, then cows, and most recently, great success in cloning mice… More
The Moral Meaning of Genetic Technology
– Commentary, September 1999. Reprinted in The American Journal of Jurisprudence 45:1-16, 2000.Abstract: As one contemplates the current and projected state of genetic knowledge and technology, one is astonished by how far we have come in the less than 50 years since Watson and Crick… More
Preventing a Brave New World: Why We Should Ban Human Cloning Now
– The New Republic, May 21, 2001.Excerpt: The urgency of the great political struggles of the twentieth century, successfully waged against totalitarianisms first right and then left, seems to have blinded many people to a… More
The Ethics of Cloning
– Testimony Before United States House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Crime, June 7, 2001.Excerpt: Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee. My name is Leon Kass, and I am the Addie Clark Harding Professor in the Committee on Social Thought and the College at the University of… More
Ban Stand
– With Daniel Callahan, The New Republic, August 6, 2001.Excerpt: Everyone has been arguing for weeks about whether President Bush should authorize funding for research on human embryonic stem cells. But few have noticed the much more momentous… More
Brave New Biology: The Challenge for Human Dignity
– London: The Institute of United States Studies, 2002.Excerpt: The urgency of the great political struggles of the twentieth century and the new global struggle against terrorism and fanaticism seems to have blinded many people to a deep truth… More
Interview on Washington Journal
– CSPAN, January 23, 2002.Mr. Kass talked about his role in advising President Bush on cloning and stem cell research. The new President’s Council on Bioethics is made up of 17 philosophers, medical experts… More
Defending Dignity
– Christianity Today, May 23, 2002.Excerpt: Condensed from an interview with Leon Kass, head of President Bush’s Advisory Council on Bioethics, and a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. The interview was… More
Human Cloning and Human Dignity: An Ethical Inquiry
– The President's Council on Bioethics, Washington, DC, July 2002.Excerpt: Man’s biotechnological powers are expanding in scope, at what seems an accelerating pace. Many of these powers are double-edged, offering help for human suffering, yet… More
Stop All Cloning of Humans For Four Years
– Wall Street Journal, July 11, 2002.Excerpt: For the past five years, the prospect of human cloning has been the subject of much public attention and sharp moral debate. Several mammalian species have been cloned; the first… More
The President’s Council on Bioethics on Patenting Human Organs
– CSPAN, July 11, 2002.Council members talked about human cloning and bioethics, concentrating on the ethical questions surrounding granting patents for medical and scientific research and techniques using… More
President’s Council on Bioethics on Genetic Enhancement in Sports
– CSPAN, July 11, 2002.As part of a day-long conference on bioethics and human cloning, Doctor Friedman talked to council members about genetic engineering and its potential use in sports. Following his remarks… More
Report to the President on Human Cloning
– CPAN, July 11, 2002.Mr. Kass presented and summarized some of the debate found in the council’s report on human cloning. Among the issues that the report examined were reproductive and therapeutic… More
Book Discussion on Life, Liberty, and the Defense of Dignity
– CSPAN, October 25, 2002.Professor Leon Kass discussed his book Life, Liberty and the Defense of Dignity: The Challenge for Bioethics, published by Encounter Books, at the Commonwealth Club of… More
American Enterprise Institute Event on the Human Cloning Report
– CSPAN, October 29, 2002.Participants talked about a report issued by the President’s Council on Bioethics. Among the topics they addressed were the ethics of human cloning, uses of cloning for biomedical… More
The Age of Genetic Technology Arrives
– American Spectator, November-December 2002.Excerpt: As one contemplates the current and projected state of genetic knowledge and technology, one is astonished by how far we have come…
Interview on Washington Journal
– CSPAN, January 1, 2003.Dr. Kass talked about ethical issues involving human cloning and recent news of the first human reproductive clone by a private organization. He also responded to viewer comments and… More
How One Clone Leads to Another
– New York Times, January 24, 2003.Excerpt: The failure of the last Congress to enact a ban on human cloning casts grave doubt on our ability to govern the unethical uses of biotechnology, even when it threatens things we… More
Being Human: Readings from the President’s Council on Bioethics
– The President's Council on Bioethics, Washington, DC, December 2003.Summary: Increasingly, advances in biomedical science and technology raise profound challenges to familiar human practices and ways of thinking, feeling, and acting. It is no wonder, then,… More
Life, Liberty, and the Defense of Dignity: The Challenge for Bioethics
– Encounter Books, January 1, 2004.At the onset of Life, Liberty and the Defense of Dignity, Leon Kass gives us a status report on where we stand today: “Human nature itself lies on the operating table, ready for… More
We Don’t Play Politics with Science
– Washington Post, March 3, 2004.Excerpt: Even before the President’s Council on Bioethics had its first meeting in January 2002, charges were flying that the council was stacked with political and religious… More
Human Frailty and Human Dignity
– The New Atlantis (Fall 2004-Winter 2005).Excerpt: In the aftermath of an election season, with the question of stem cell research in the public eye and demagogued in the most awful way, Eric Cohen has chosen to ask more… More
Reflections on Public Bioethics: A View from the Trenches
– Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 15 (3): 221-250, 2005.Abstract: For many reasons, and more than its predecessors, the President’s Council on Bioethics has been the subject of much public attention and heated controversy. But little of… More
Alternative Sources of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells: A White Paper
– The President's Council on Bioethics, Washington, DC, May 2005.Excerpt: I am pleased to present to you Alternative Sources of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells, a White Paper of the President’s Council on Bioethics.Since the publication of our… More
How Brave a New World?
– 2007 Convocation Address, St. John’s College, Annapolis, Maryland. Reprinted in Society 45 (1): 5-8 (February 2008).Excerpt: Surveying the world you graduates are about to enter, I am reminded of the ancient Chinese curse: “May you live in interesting times.” My own time has been interesting… More
Defending Life and Dignity
– Weekly Standard, February 25, 2008.Excerpt: In his State of the Union address President Bush spoke briefly on matters of life and science. He stated his intention to expand funding for new possibilities in medical research,… More
Keeping Life Human: Biology and Human Dignity
– Seminar, Princeton University, September 2010.Multimedia
The Wisdom of Repugnance: Why We Should Ban the Cloning of Human Beings
– The New Republic, June 2, 1997.Excerpt: Our habit of delighting in news of scientific and technological breakthroughs has been sorely challenged by the birth announcement of a sheep named Dolly. Though Dolly shares with… More
The Ethics of Human Cloning
– With James Q. Wilson, American Enterprise Institute Press, June 1, 1998.Today biological science is rising on a wall of worry. No other science has advanced more dramatically during the past several decades or yielded so many palpable improvements in human… More
Book Discussion on The Ethics of Human Cloning
– CSPAN, December 11, 1998.Mr. Kass and Mr. Wilson talked about their book, The Ethics of Human Cloning, published by AEI Press. The book is about the ethical debate over human cloning. Mr. Kass is against… More
The Ethics of Human Cloning
– The American Enterprise, March 1, 1999.Social critics James Q. Wilson and Leon Kass debate the social, psychological and ethical ramifications of human cloning. Wilson supports limited cloning to two-parent heterosexual… More
Why We Should Ban the Cloning of Human Beings
– Texas Review of Law & Politics 4(1): 41-49, Fall 1999.Excerpt: “To clone or not to clone a human being” is no longer a fanciful question. Success in cloning first sheep, then cows, and most recently, great success in cloning mice… More
The Moral Meaning of Genetic Technology
– Commentary, September 1999. Reprinted in The American Journal of Jurisprudence 45:1-16, 2000.Abstract: As one contemplates the current and projected state of genetic knowledge and technology, one is astonished by how far we have come in the less than 50 years since Watson and Crick… More
Preventing a Brave New World: Why We Should Ban Human Cloning Now
– The New Republic, May 21, 2001.Excerpt: The urgency of the great political struggles of the twentieth century, successfully waged against totalitarianisms first right and then left, seems to have blinded many people to a… More
The Ethics of Cloning
– Testimony Before United States House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Crime, June 7, 2001.Excerpt: Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee. My name is Leon Kass, and I am the Addie Clark Harding Professor in the Committee on Social Thought and the College at the University of… More
Ban Stand
– With Daniel Callahan, The New Republic, August 6, 2001.Excerpt: Everyone has been arguing for weeks about whether President Bush should authorize funding for research on human embryonic stem cells. But few have noticed the much more momentous… More
Brave New Biology: The Challenge for Human Dignity
– London: The Institute of United States Studies, 2002.Excerpt: The urgency of the great political struggles of the twentieth century and the new global struggle against terrorism and fanaticism seems to have blinded many people to a deep truth… More
Interview on Washington Journal
– CSPAN, January 23, 2002.Mr. Kass talked about his role in advising President Bush on cloning and stem cell research. The new President’s Council on Bioethics is made up of 17 philosophers, medical experts… More
Defending Dignity
– Christianity Today, May 23, 2002.Excerpt: Condensed from an interview with Leon Kass, head of President Bush’s Advisory Council on Bioethics, and a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. The interview was… More
Human Cloning and Human Dignity: An Ethical Inquiry
– The President's Council on Bioethics, Washington, DC, July 2002.Excerpt: Man’s biotechnological powers are expanding in scope, at what seems an accelerating pace. Many of these powers are double-edged, offering help for human suffering, yet… More
Stop All Cloning of Humans For Four Years
– Wall Street Journal, July 11, 2002.Excerpt: For the past five years, the prospect of human cloning has been the subject of much public attention and sharp moral debate. Several mammalian species have been cloned; the first… More
The President’s Council on Bioethics on Patenting Human Organs
– CSPAN, July 11, 2002.Council members talked about human cloning and bioethics, concentrating on the ethical questions surrounding granting patents for medical and scientific research and techniques using… More
President’s Council on Bioethics on Genetic Enhancement in Sports
– CSPAN, July 11, 2002.As part of a day-long conference on bioethics and human cloning, Doctor Friedman talked to council members about genetic engineering and its potential use in sports. Following his remarks… More
Report to the President on Human Cloning
– CPAN, July 11, 2002.Mr. Kass presented and summarized some of the debate found in the council’s report on human cloning. Among the issues that the report examined were reproductive and therapeutic… More
Book Discussion on Life, Liberty, and the Defense of Dignity
– CSPAN, October 25, 2002.Professor Leon Kass discussed his book Life, Liberty and the Defense of Dignity: The Challenge for Bioethics, published by Encounter Books, at the Commonwealth Club of… More
American Enterprise Institute Event on the Human Cloning Report
– CSPAN, October 29, 2002.Participants talked about a report issued by the President’s Council on Bioethics. Among the topics they addressed were the ethics of human cloning, uses of cloning for biomedical… More
The Age of Genetic Technology Arrives
– American Spectator, November-December 2002.Excerpt: As one contemplates the current and projected state of genetic knowledge and technology, one is astonished by how far we have come…
Interview on Washington Journal
– CSPAN, January 1, 2003.Dr. Kass talked about ethical issues involving human cloning and recent news of the first human reproductive clone by a private organization. He also responded to viewer comments and… More
How One Clone Leads to Another
– New York Times, January 24, 2003.Excerpt: The failure of the last Congress to enact a ban on human cloning casts grave doubt on our ability to govern the unethical uses of biotechnology, even when it threatens things we… More
Being Human: Readings from the President’s Council on Bioethics
– The President's Council on Bioethics, Washington, DC, December 2003.Summary: Increasingly, advances in biomedical science and technology raise profound challenges to familiar human practices and ways of thinking, feeling, and acting. It is no wonder, then,… More
Life, Liberty, and the Defense of Dignity: The Challenge for Bioethics
– Encounter Books, January 1, 2004.At the onset of Life, Liberty and the Defense of Dignity, Leon Kass gives us a status report on where we stand today: “Human nature itself lies on the operating table, ready for… More
We Don’t Play Politics with Science
– Washington Post, March 3, 2004.Excerpt: Even before the President’s Council on Bioethics had its first meeting in January 2002, charges were flying that the council was stacked with political and religious… More
Human Frailty and Human Dignity
– The New Atlantis (Fall 2004-Winter 2005).Excerpt: In the aftermath of an election season, with the question of stem cell research in the public eye and demagogued in the most awful way, Eric Cohen has chosen to ask more… More
Reflections on Public Bioethics: A View from the Trenches
– Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 15 (3): 221-250, 2005.Abstract: For many reasons, and more than its predecessors, the President’s Council on Bioethics has been the subject of much public attention and heated controversy. But little of… More
Alternative Sources of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells: A White Paper
– The President's Council on Bioethics, Washington, DC, May 2005.Excerpt: I am pleased to present to you Alternative Sources of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells, a White Paper of the President’s Council on Bioethics.Since the publication of our… More
How Brave a New World?
– 2007 Convocation Address, St. John’s College, Annapolis, Maryland. Reprinted in Society 45 (1): 5-8 (February 2008).Excerpt: Surveying the world you graduates are about to enter, I am reminded of the ancient Chinese curse: “May you live in interesting times.” My own time has been interesting… More
Defending Life and Dignity
– Weekly Standard, February 25, 2008.Excerpt: In his State of the Union address President Bush spoke briefly on matters of life and science. He stated his intention to expand funding for new possibilities in medical research,… More
Keeping Life Human: Biology and Human Dignity
– Seminar, Princeton University, September 2010.Teaching
The Wisdom of Repugnance: Why We Should Ban the Cloning of Human Beings
– The New Republic, June 2, 1997.Excerpt: Our habit of delighting in news of scientific and technological breakthroughs has been sorely challenged by the birth announcement of a sheep named Dolly. Though Dolly shares with… More
The Ethics of Human Cloning
– With James Q. Wilson, American Enterprise Institute Press, June 1, 1998.Today biological science is rising on a wall of worry. No other science has advanced more dramatically during the past several decades or yielded so many palpable improvements in human… More
Book Discussion on The Ethics of Human Cloning
– CSPAN, December 11, 1998.Mr. Kass and Mr. Wilson talked about their book, The Ethics of Human Cloning, published by AEI Press. The book is about the ethical debate over human cloning. Mr. Kass is against… More
The Ethics of Human Cloning
– The American Enterprise, March 1, 1999.Social critics James Q. Wilson and Leon Kass debate the social, psychological and ethical ramifications of human cloning. Wilson supports limited cloning to two-parent heterosexual… More
Why We Should Ban the Cloning of Human Beings
– Texas Review of Law & Politics 4(1): 41-49, Fall 1999.Excerpt: “To clone or not to clone a human being” is no longer a fanciful question. Success in cloning first sheep, then cows, and most recently, great success in cloning mice… More
The Moral Meaning of Genetic Technology
– Commentary, September 1999. Reprinted in The American Journal of Jurisprudence 45:1-16, 2000.Abstract: As one contemplates the current and projected state of genetic knowledge and technology, one is astonished by how far we have come in the less than 50 years since Watson and Crick… More
Preventing a Brave New World: Why We Should Ban Human Cloning Now
– The New Republic, May 21, 2001.Excerpt: The urgency of the great political struggles of the twentieth century, successfully waged against totalitarianisms first right and then left, seems to have blinded many people to a… More
The Ethics of Cloning
– Testimony Before United States House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Crime, June 7, 2001.Excerpt: Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee. My name is Leon Kass, and I am the Addie Clark Harding Professor in the Committee on Social Thought and the College at the University of… More
Ban Stand
– With Daniel Callahan, The New Republic, August 6, 2001.Excerpt: Everyone has been arguing for weeks about whether President Bush should authorize funding for research on human embryonic stem cells. But few have noticed the much more momentous… More
Brave New Biology: The Challenge for Human Dignity
– London: The Institute of United States Studies, 2002.Excerpt: The urgency of the great political struggles of the twentieth century and the new global struggle against terrorism and fanaticism seems to have blinded many people to a deep truth… More
Interview on Washington Journal
– CSPAN, January 23, 2002.Mr. Kass talked about his role in advising President Bush on cloning and stem cell research. The new President’s Council on Bioethics is made up of 17 philosophers, medical experts… More
Defending Dignity
– Christianity Today, May 23, 2002.Excerpt: Condensed from an interview with Leon Kass, head of President Bush’s Advisory Council on Bioethics, and a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. The interview was… More
Human Cloning and Human Dignity: An Ethical Inquiry
– The President's Council on Bioethics, Washington, DC, July 2002.Excerpt: Man’s biotechnological powers are expanding in scope, at what seems an accelerating pace. Many of these powers are double-edged, offering help for human suffering, yet… More
Stop All Cloning of Humans For Four Years
– Wall Street Journal, July 11, 2002.Excerpt: For the past five years, the prospect of human cloning has been the subject of much public attention and sharp moral debate. Several mammalian species have been cloned; the first… More
The President’s Council on Bioethics on Patenting Human Organs
– CSPAN, July 11, 2002.Council members talked about human cloning and bioethics, concentrating on the ethical questions surrounding granting patents for medical and scientific research and techniques using… More
President’s Council on Bioethics on Genetic Enhancement in Sports
– CSPAN, July 11, 2002.As part of a day-long conference on bioethics and human cloning, Doctor Friedman talked to council members about genetic engineering and its potential use in sports. Following his remarks… More
Report to the President on Human Cloning
– CPAN, July 11, 2002.Mr. Kass presented and summarized some of the debate found in the council’s report on human cloning. Among the issues that the report examined were reproductive and therapeutic… More
Book Discussion on Life, Liberty, and the Defense of Dignity
– CSPAN, October 25, 2002.Professor Leon Kass discussed his book Life, Liberty and the Defense of Dignity: The Challenge for Bioethics, published by Encounter Books, at the Commonwealth Club of… More
American Enterprise Institute Event on the Human Cloning Report
– CSPAN, October 29, 2002.Participants talked about a report issued by the President’s Council on Bioethics. Among the topics they addressed were the ethics of human cloning, uses of cloning for biomedical… More
The Age of Genetic Technology Arrives
– American Spectator, November-December 2002.Excerpt: As one contemplates the current and projected state of genetic knowledge and technology, one is astonished by how far we have come…
Interview on Washington Journal
– CSPAN, January 1, 2003.Dr. Kass talked about ethical issues involving human cloning and recent news of the first human reproductive clone by a private organization. He also responded to viewer comments and… More
How One Clone Leads to Another
– New York Times, January 24, 2003.Excerpt: The failure of the last Congress to enact a ban on human cloning casts grave doubt on our ability to govern the unethical uses of biotechnology, even when it threatens things we… More
Being Human: Readings from the President’s Council on Bioethics
– The President's Council on Bioethics, Washington, DC, December 2003.Summary: Increasingly, advances in biomedical science and technology raise profound challenges to familiar human practices and ways of thinking, feeling, and acting. It is no wonder, then,… More
Life, Liberty, and the Defense of Dignity: The Challenge for Bioethics
– Encounter Books, January 1, 2004.At the onset of Life, Liberty and the Defense of Dignity, Leon Kass gives us a status report on where we stand today: “Human nature itself lies on the operating table, ready for… More
We Don’t Play Politics with Science
– Washington Post, March 3, 2004.Excerpt: Even before the President’s Council on Bioethics had its first meeting in January 2002, charges were flying that the council was stacked with political and religious… More
Human Frailty and Human Dignity
– The New Atlantis (Fall 2004-Winter 2005).Excerpt: In the aftermath of an election season, with the question of stem cell research in the public eye and demagogued in the most awful way, Eric Cohen has chosen to ask more… More
Reflections on Public Bioethics: A View from the Trenches
– Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 15 (3): 221-250, 2005.Abstract: For many reasons, and more than its predecessors, the President’s Council on Bioethics has been the subject of much public attention and heated controversy. But little of… More
Alternative Sources of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells: A White Paper
– The President's Council on Bioethics, Washington, DC, May 2005.Excerpt: I am pleased to present to you Alternative Sources of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells, a White Paper of the President’s Council on Bioethics.Since the publication of our… More
How Brave a New World?
– 2007 Convocation Address, St. John’s College, Annapolis, Maryland. Reprinted in Society 45 (1): 5-8 (February 2008).Excerpt: Surveying the world you graduates are about to enter, I am reminded of the ancient Chinese curse: “May you live in interesting times.” My own time has been interesting… More
Defending Life and Dignity
– Weekly Standard, February 25, 2008.Excerpt: In his State of the Union address President Bush spoke briefly on matters of life and science. He stated his intention to expand funding for new possibilities in medical research,… More