Name:
Date:
"Calendar"
Assignment for Day 5
Variation in
individuals’ motivations for scientific advancement
· Motivations of scientists themselves: “Chapter 2: Scientific aspirations” in Being Human. The chapter contains excerpts about five scientists. Please read at least these three scientists: Descartes, Wilson, and Watson. The other two are really fascinating (you won’t believe Archimedes!), though for quite different reasons.
o Archimedes, pp. 75-79 (Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans, by Plutarch)
o Descartes, pp. 80-86 (Discourse on Method)
o E. O. Wilson, pp. 87-102 (Naturalist)
o Richard P. Feynman, pp. 103-110. (Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman: Adventures of a Curious Character)
o James D. Watson, pp. 111-118 (The Double Helix: A personal account of the discovery of the structure of DNA)
· Motivations of patients and their families: Please read both these stories about parents whose babies have life-threatening illnesses. (Note: these stories may be a bit disturbing; the latter is a bit long)
o Witness, by Richard Selzer
o “People like that are the only people here: Canonical babblings in peed onk” (peed onk=pediatric oncology), by Lorrie Moore
Handed out in class: “Political agendas in the guise of pure science,” NYT, 2/24/09, pp.; D1, D2, by J. Tierney.
Aim of the P/F 5 assignment:
· To give you very personal accounts by very different people, both scientists and ordinary citizens.
· To show how widely people can differ about science and medicine depending on their own natures and circumstances.
· To have you think hard about just what these differences are—and where you might stand on the same issues, and why
Be prepared to discuss:
· These scientists describe very different motivations for pursuing their science. What do the driving motivations and ethical philosophies of each seem to be? What does each say, if anything, about science’s proper role in securing human welfare and dignity? (You may need to “read between the lines” to answer both these questions; that is, to infer their philosophies from how they describe their work and lives.)
· These parents face wrenching choices. In your view, what do their experiences and decisions have to tell us about our own motivations as potential consumers or targets of new genomic technologies?