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D J Kevles

Publications and source records attributed to D J Kevles.

14 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

The historical contingency of bioethics.

The principles of bioethics have been historically contingent, a product of social values, circumstances, and experience. During the early twentieth century, they rested on a doctor-knows-best autonomy that permitted physicians to perform research on human subjects with a minimum degree, if any, of informed consent. The eugenics movement of the period embraced an implicit bioethics by presuming to sterilize individuals for the sake of a larger social benefit, a practice and doctrine that helped lead to the Nazi medical experiments and death camps. After World War II, the promulgation of the Nuremberg Code failed to halt eugenic sterilization and risky human experimentation without informed consent either in civilian or military venues. However, beginning in the 1960s, these practices came under mounting critical scrutiny, partly because of the increasing attention given to individual rights. By now, it is widely understood that concern for individual rights rather than an appeal to some national good belongs at the heart of bioethics.

Bioethical Issues↗
PubMed1986

Oaks and cacti.

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Genetics↗
PubMed1980

The sciences in America, circa 1880.

For many years American science in the late 19th century was regarded as an intellectual backwater. This view derived from the assumption that the health of American science at the time was equivalent to the condition of pure science, especially pure physics. However, a closer look reveals that there was considerable vitality in American scientific research, especially in the earth and life sciences. This vitality is explainable in part by the natural scientific resources of the American continent but also in part by the energy given science from religious impulses, social reformism, and practicality. Furthermore, contrary to recent assumptions, the federal government was a significant patron of American science. The portrait of American science circa 1880 advanced in this article suggests that the nation's scientific enterprise was characterized by pluralism of institutional support and motive and that such pluralism has historically been the normal mode.

Government↗