Adam Briggle is assistant professor of philosophy at the University of North Texas.
“Adam Briggle has written a rich and sympathetic account of the
President's Council on Bioethics led by Leon Kass. It puts in
historical context the efforts of this council to move beyond the
limited ‘instrumentalist’ approaches to bioethics taken by earlier
commissions, toward a more philosophically serious effort to
deliberate on the human goods put in play by modern biomedicine. In
the process it answers many of the charges of politicization and
corrects the record concerning the council's work.” —Francis
Fukuyama, The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International
Studies
“What an eloquent, humane, and wise book. Briggle discovers an
imperfect yet fascinating effort to bring the world of biomedical
research into the domain of public philosophy. His scholarship and
generosity make clear that a democratic society need not be morally
shackled to the realm of the possible that science is constantly
expanding.” —Daniel Sarewitz, Consortium for Science, Policy, and
Outcomes, Arizona State University
"This is the most persuasive and thoughtful reconstruction of the
Kass Council's goals and rationale that I have seen. Adam Briggle's
account of the notion of a 'richer' bioethics is comprehensive and
well-reasoned." —Jonathan D. Moreno, University of Pennsylvania
“A Rich Bioethics: Public Policy, Biotechnology, and the Kass
Council . . . gives an account of the President’s Council of
Bioethics, led by Leon Kass from 2001-05, during President George
W. Bush’s administration.” —Denton Record-Chronicle
"Briggle offers the first book-length analysis of the council’s
work, setting it in a wider philosophical, historical, and
political context. The book also discusses how the procedure for
selecting council members led to accusations that it was
ideologically narrow. The book’s well-balanced analysis and close
but fair readings of the council’s documents show how the Kass
Council dealt with differences and was far more tolerant of varying
opinions than many think. This book would be a useful supplementary
text in classes on bioethics and public policy.” —Choice
“Anyone familiar with MacIntyre’s narrative of decline and
hoped-for renewal is likely to be struck by the similarities with
this account of Adam Briggle’s depiction of contemporary bioethics
in A Rich Bioethics. In Briggle’s view, bioethics is in disarray
largely because it has succumbed to what he calls
‘instrumentalism.’ . . . there is much of value in Briggle’s book.
. . . it offers a model for public ethics committees that merits
serious consideration.” —Commonweal
"The Kass council’s reports, even more than Kass’s own work,
became, in Adam Briggle’s words, 'a lightning rod for political
controversy.' In particular, the council attracted criticism from
many that its membership had been stacked to reflect Bush’s own
conservative views and that it was insufficiently attentive to the
existence of disagreement among its own members. In his brief and
breezy A Rich Bioethics, Briggle (a philosopher at the University
of North Texas) sets out to give an account of the council’s
fundamental conception of bioethics and to evaluate its performance
against that conception." —Science
“In this book Dr. Briggle provides a sympathetic account of the
President’s Council on Bioethics led by Dr. Leon Kass. He shows the
wisdom of the approach to bioethics taken by the Kass Council and
corrects the unfair and often nasty attacks on the Council and Dr.
Kass himself. It is a persuasive and thoughtful reconstruction of
the Council’s goals and rationale.” —Law & Medicine
“Briggle had an inspired idea to make the controversies surrounding
Leon Kass’s chairmanship of the President’s Council on Bioethics
(2001-5) his point of departure to argue the need for bioethics
based in humanistic questioning rather than accepting the more
restricted task of what he calls instrumental bioethics, which
exists to offer specific policy guidelines. The issues are clear
throughout but perhaps best crystallized near the end of the book,
when Briggle presents criticisms that the Kass Council failed to be
sufficiently policy oriented.” —Science and Public Policy
“Adam Briggle has written a fine book on a complex, controversial
topic. He shows the wisdom of the approach to bioethics taken by
the Kass Council, sets right the unfair and often nasty attacks on
the council and Kass himself, and offers a perceptive and
wide-ranging look at the terrain of ethics.” —Daniel Callahan, The
Hastings Center
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