Consumer's Guide to a Brave New World (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "THE THEME OF BRAVE NEW WORLD is not the advancement of science as such," Aldous Huxley wrote in the foreword to a new 1946 edition..." (more)
Key Phrases: regenerative medical treatments, human cloned embryos, nascent human life, United States, Big Biotech, New Jersey (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Ever since the cloning of Dolly in 1997, critics have warned that human society has begun sliding down the slippery slope to posthumanity. In a rather repetitious and bland look at the moral questions arising out of biotechnologies such as cloning and stem cell technology, Smith (The Culture of Death: The Assault on Medical Ethics in America) does offer some helpful insight into the practices themselves. Much like Leon Kass, the chairman of the President's Council on Bioethics, and Francis Fukuyama (Our Posthuman Future), Smith argues that any medical or scientific development that diminishes human dignity—"the intrinsic worthiness of embodied human life"—ought to be avoided, regardless of the good it promises. Smith contends that the technologies are not in and of themselves pernicious; rather, the political, ideological and entrepreneurial promotion of any scientific advance, he asserts, can lead us to ignore its dangers (for instance, producing a hybrid pig-human embryo). Smith opposes human reproductive cloning and embryonic stem cell technology. On the other hand, he argues that some advances, such as adult stem cell technology and umbilical cord blood/stem cell technology (which has been used to treat sickle-cell anemia), should be embraced. Along the way, Smith makes some mistakes—Joseph Fletcher, for example, is not the "patriarch of bioethics"—and his case has been stated better and more forcefully by others, notably Kass.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

Smith deserves exceptionally high marks for providing an eminently readable, profoundly insightful and thoughtful conversation on the impact of biotechnology. -- American Conservative

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 216 pages
• Publisher: Encounter Books (November 25, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1893554996
• ISBN-13: 978-1893554993
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #628,604 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The book everyone needs to read, October 22, 2004

By	Richard Doerflinger - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The title is tongue in cheek: This is the ordinary person's guide to how NOT to end up in the nightmare scenario of Aldous Huxley' "Brave New World." The author is a non-scientist, which actually helps, as he explains terms like "somatic cell nuclear transfer," "embryonic stem cell" and "regenerative medicine" so the generally educated reader is enlightened rather than turned off. Smith's argument is that these new biological powers have implications that are far too important to be left to the scientists, the biotechnology companies, and the tame ethicists who work for them -- they pose dangers to our very idea of human equality and human rights. The book closes with sensible recommendations for things society should oppose, and things it should support, to advance medical progress without losing our sense of humanity. A very timely must-read.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Intro to Cloning, Issues in Biotech & Bioethics!, November 23, 2004

By	Seth Cooper "cooper76" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Wesley Smith is a leading voice in the public debate surrounding the hottest issues in bioethics and biotechnology. His latest book, "Consumer's Guide to a Brave New World," is essential reading for those who wish to better understand many of these important issues and what is at stake.

Smith makes abundantly clear the ethical dangers involved with embryonic stem cell research (ESC) and human cloning. The creation of human life in laboratories purely for the purpose of destroying it and harvesting it as raw material is a frightening prospect. And Smith makes a strong case for the banning of human cloning.

All the while, he is careful to draw a distinction between research involving ESCs and research involving adult stem cells (ASC). The latter procedure is NOT controversial and to this point has proven the most promising in terms of positive medical breakthroughs. In fact, Smith goes on at length in describing all the many wonderful benefits that we can expect and should actively seek through biotechnology.

Biotechnology is very exciting and quite promising. Government funding for biotech is entirely appropriate and should continue. Private R&D should likewise be promoted. But, like in any industry, there must be at least SOME ethical guidelines that should be adhered to if we value the equality of all human beings. When the genetic makeup of humanity is itself altered--like through the creation of clones or human-beast chimaeras--the equality of all human beings is eroded.

What Smith warns against is scientific research completely unhinged from ANY sort of ethical bounds or considerations. He speaks out against a new eugenics that would allow human life to be treated as a resource for harvesting, as if it were a scene right out of "The Matrix."

Smith also provides insight behind the radical ideology driving many cloning advocates (scientism, elitism, transhumanism, etc.) Very important is Smith's discussion of the PR campaign waged by Big Biotech, which seeks large infusions of cash from governments by making lofty promises about the sorts of immediate medical breakthroughs that can come from cloning and ESC research. Such promises play upon those who find themselves or their loved ones in desperate situations, offering imminent miracle cures, when serious medical progress remains years or decades away.

This book is very readable, highly engaging, and strongly recommended!

(This reviewer works for the Discovery Institute, which the author has an affiliation with. Yet, I had zero input or involvement on the book and these views are my own.)

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating and Illuminating, November 25, 2004

By	R. J. Marsella (California) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

I found this book to be extremely informative and learned quite a bit from reading it. Prior to reading this my exposure to the issues inherent in some of the biotechnological initiatives discussed here was what is presented/argued about in the mainstream media. Mr. Smith has done an admirable job in describing the details associated with cloning and stem cell research , embryonic as well as adult. His arguments regarding the scientific and ethical dilmma that these potentially powerful technologies represent are thought provoking and logically presented. There is a tremendous amount of misinformation out there regarding these issues on both sides of the argument. This book lays out the conservative viewpoint in scientific terminology and I beleve that Mr. Smith has made a valuable contibution to the debate that our society is engaged in on which direction to take with these technologies.