"The Impact of 'Scientific Misinformation' on Other Fields: Philosophy, Theology, Biomedical Ethics, Public Policy"



Discussion

Such are a few of the theoretical and practical influences which some of the seemingly basic scientific inaccuracies have had on other fields. Perhaps what I have naively perceived as "incorrect" science is actually an erroneous judgment on my part. If such is the case, I am certainly not alone, and the scientific community would well-serve those of us in other fields by clarifying for us which theories of human biochemistry, human genetics, human molecular biology and human embryological development "best fit" the scientific data. The need for clarity is important, as complex decisions in other fields can go one way or another, depending on which scientific theory is perceived as the best explanation of the scientific facts.

To parlay this into the "if...then" language of philosophy, IF IT IS TRUE: that the human zygote does not have all of the genetic information it needs to develop; that it is not a human being; that information from the mother determines the process of differentiation; that it does not possess the information needed for developing past the blastocyst stage; that hydatidiform moles and teratomas proceed from normal human zygotes; that all of the cells from the trophoblast layer are discarded after birth; that no twinning takes place after 14 days; that before that point there is no individual; that all of the genetic input is complete only at the 2-cell stage; that differentiation is completed by the 14-day stage; that analogies between transient and stable natures, between the "nuclei" of radioisotopes, plants, animals and humans, between the generations of radioisotopes, plants, animals and humans, and between the causality of radioisotope "daughters" and human gametes can be validly and soundly made; that chemists consider all atoms of an element to be identical and that they don't consider the individual atoms; that parallels between brain death and brain birth, sentience and pain, consciousness or self-consciousness and "rational attributes", immature nerve nets and adult whole brain integration can be validly and soundly made ---------
THEN it is true that there is present no human organism, or human being, or human "person" at fertilization or before certain biological "marker events of personhood". If that is true, then there is no entity bearing any moral or legal rights of its own. If that is true, then early human embryos and fetuses may be used in a myriad of experimental research protocols, frozen and thawed with no personal or legal concern for damages, declared as property in the court rooms, aborted and harvested for organs or tissues. To be both logically and "realistically" consistent, one would have to argue the same fate for normal healthy infants and young children (not to mention those of us who are not so "normal") - because both real "rational attributes" and real sentience and full brain organization are not complete until well after childhood.

This same logic must hold at the other end of the life-spectrum. The "souls" or "properties" of persons disappear one by one in the reverse order from whence they came: first the "rational", then the "sensitive" - and finally we are left with a "something" which is senile or in a "permanent vegetative state". If this "something" is now not a person, then it is probably ethical to experiment on it, medical treatment should be removed and/or ceased - and organ transplantation could begin.

If this science and logic is true, then it should certainly be compiled into journal articles, text books, encyclopedias, encoded in professional medical standards, become hospital policy, be translated into state and federal statues, and be processed through Congressional hearings and court rooms. Finally, it should be acted on "uniformly" by national commissions and regulatory agencies - and once so institutionalized, it should be considered as a "precedent" for other international bodies to adopt as well.

IF IT IS NOT TRUE: if the product of fertilization during human fertilization is a living, individual human being who must simultaneously be a human person; if specifically human functions, proteins and enzymes are observed and produced from the zygote-stage on; if specifically human tissue and organ systems are continuously produced from the zygote-stage on; if all of the processes and stages of human embryogenesis are directly and completely encoded in the original human zygote (including the 2-cell and blastocyst stages, as well as totipotency, differentiation, nerve-net and whole brain formation - sometimes even twinning); if methylation and the cascading effect are properly documented and understood; if hydatidiform moles and teratomas do not proceed from normal human embryos; if twinning does take place after 14 days; if differentiation, the attainment of "rational attributes" or of sentience is not complete until at least early adulthood; if there are profound differences between the "nuclei" of radioisotopes, plants animals and humans, between the generation of radioisotopes, plants, animals and humans, and between the causality of radioisotope "daughters" and human gametes; if there are natural isotopes of most of the elements in the periodic table, and chemists are concerned with individual atoms; if "models" of transient natures do not equal real human embryogenesis; if there is no real scientifically demonstrated parallel between brain death and brain life, nerve nets and whole brains, consciousness, self-consciousness and sentience, and between immature and mature capacities --------
THEN it is true that there is no distinction between a human being and a human person which is empirically verifiable (or philosophically defensible). If this is true, then a human zygote or a human fetus is a human being and a human person which is the bearer of his or her own moral and legal rights. If that is true, then should they be used in purely experimental protocols, damaged by freezing and thawing, depicted as property in our court rooms, harvested for organs or tissues? Infanticide, experimentation on the senile or on patients in a "permanent vegetative state", and the withholding and withdrawing of life-sustaining medical treatment (unless for the direct benefit of that person) would be morally unacceptable. If this science is correct, then it would be reasonable for it to be compiled into journal articles, text books and encyclopedias, and different policies should be adopted in professional medical codes, hospital policies, state and federal statues; processed before Congressional hearings and court rooms; and institutionalized in national and international regulations.

Conclusion

So which scientific data and theories of nuclear chemistry, human biochemistry, human genetics, human molecular biology and human embryology best explain the empirical data? Non-scientists cannot sort out the accuracy and reliability of these contradictory scientific claims.

I have attempted in this paper to draw attention to the fact that scientific inaccuracies - even in considering only one current issue - have apparently "cascaded" throughout a number of other seemingly unrelated fields, influencing their theoretical superstructures and at least partially determining the development of public policy. Aristotle's adage rings true - a small error in the beginning leads to a multitude of errors in the end. Both kinds of scientific theories addressed here cannot both be correct and true. Each one leads to a set of different conclusions when used by theorists in other fields.

Perhaps most scientists have little time or interest to worry about such things. Or perhaps he or she remains basically unaware of what happens to the data and theories once they have been submitted - other than for specifically scientific purposes. I hope that this discussion may to some degree indicate how their data and theories can strongly influence other fields, and I would encourage scientists to consider, investigate, and discuss how they may help us sort it out.


Notes

  1. Annas, George J. (1989-A) Webster and the politics of abortion. Hastings Center Report 19, 2:36-38.
    __________. (1989-B) A French homunculus in a Tennessee court. Hastings Center Report 19, 6:20-22.
    __________. (1991) Crazy making: embryos and gestational mothers. Hastings Center Report 21, 1:35-38.
  2. Ashley, Benedict. (1976) A critique of the theory of delayed hominization. in McCarthy, D.G. and A.S. Moraczewski. An Ethical Evaluation of Fetal Experimentation: An Interdisciplinary Study. St. Louis: Pope John XXIII Medical-Moral Research and Education Center.
  3. Aragona, John Matthew. (1991) Dangerous relations: doctors and extracorporeal embryos, the need for new limits to medical inquiry. Journal of Contemporary Health Law and Policy 7:307-337.
  4. Barry, Robert. (1979) Self-consciousness and personhood. Linacre Quarterly 46, 2:141-142.
  5. Bedate, Carlos, and Robert Cefalo. (1989). The zygote: to be or not to be a person. Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 14:641- 645.
  6. Bennett, Michael V. (1989) Personhood from a neuroscientific perspective. in Doerr, et al. Abortion Rights and Fetal "Personhood". Long Beach: Cresline Press.
  7. Bole, Thomas J. (1989) Metaphysical accounts of the zygote as a person and the veto power of facts. Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 14:647-653.
    ________. (1990) Zygotes, souls, substances, and persons. Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 15:637-652.
  8. Brody, B. (1978) On the humanity of the fetus. in Beauchamp, Tom and LeRoy Walters. Contemporary Issues in Bioethics. California: Wadsworth.
  9. Buckle, Stephen; Karen Dawson; and Peter Singer. (1990) The syngamy debate: when precisely does a human life begin?. in P. Singer et al. Embryo Experimentation. New York: Cambridge University Press; 214-215.
  10. Capron, Alexander M. (1989) Bioethics on the Congressional Agenda. Hastings Center Report 19, 2:22-23.
    __________. (1992) Where is the sure interpreter? Hastings Center Report 22, 4:26-27.
  11. Carberry, James J. and Douglas W. Kmiec. (1992) Abortion: How law denies science. Chicago Tribune, July 14.
  12. Cefalo, Robert C. (1991) Eggs, embryos and ethics. Hastings Center Report 21, 5:41.
  13. Commonwealth of Australia. (1985) Senate Select Committee on the Human Embryo Experimentation Bill 1985. Canberra: Commonwealth Government Printer.
  14. Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. (1987) Instruction on respect for human life in its origins and on the dignity of procreation. in L'Osservatore Romano. Vatican City.
  15. Copleston, Frederick. (1963) A History of Philosophy. New York: Image Books.
  16. Coughlin, Michael J. (1988) "From the moment of conception": the Vatican instruction on artificial procreation techniques. Bioethics 2, 4:294-316.
    __________. (1989) Review. Bioethics 3, 4:334-341.
  17. Council on Scientific Affairs and Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs. (1990) Persistent vegetative state and the decision to withdraw or withhold life support. Journal of the American Medical Association 263, 3:426-430.
  18. Crombie, A.C. (1959) Medieval and Early Modern Science. New York: Doubleday Anchor Books.
  19. Dawson, Karen. (1990) Fertilization and moral status: a scientific perspective. in Peter Singer et al. Embryo Experimentation. New York: Cambridge University Press; 43-52.
    __________. (1990) Segmentation and moral status: a scientific perspective. in Peter Singer et al. Embryo Experimentation. New York: Cambridge University Press; 53-64.
  20. Doran, Kevin. (1989) Person - a key concept for ethics. Linacre Quarterly 56, 4:38-49.
  21. Edwards, Paul. (1967) The Encyclopedia of Philosophy. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
  22. Edwards, Robert. in Jones (1989).
  23. Emery, Alan E. (1983) Elements of Medical Genetics. New York: Churchill Livingstone.
  24. Engelhardt, H.T. (1985) The Foundations of Bioethics. New York: Oxford University Press.
  25. Eslick, Leonard J. (1963) The material substrate in Plato. in McMullin, Erin. The Concept of Matter in Greek and Medieval Philosophy. Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press.
  26. Fairbairn, Gavin J. (1988) Kuhse, Singer and slippery slopes. Journal of Medical Ethics 14:134.
  27. Fisher, Anthony. (1991) Individuogenesis and a recent book by Fr. Norman Ford. Anthropotes 2:199.
  28. Ford, Norman. (1987) The case against destructive embryo research. Proceedings of the Conference: IVF: The Current Debate. Victoria, Australia: Monash Center for Human Bioethics; 90-95.
    __________. (1988) When Did I Begin?. New York Cambridge University Press.
  29. Fox, Christopher. (1989) Locke and the Scriblerians: Identity and Consciousness in Early Eighteenth-Century Britain. Los Angeles: University of California Press.
  30. Gilson, Etienne. (1963) Being and Some Philosophers. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies.
  31. Goldenring, J. (1982) Development of the fetal brain. New England Journal of Medicine 307:564.
    __________. (1985) The brain-life theory: towards a consistent biological definition of humanness. Journal of Medical Ethics 11:198-204.
  32. Grisez, G.C. (1970) Abortion: The Myths, the Realities and the Arguments. New York: Corpus Books.
  33. Grobstein, Clifford. (1985) The early development of human embryos. Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 10:213-236.
  34. Hare, R.M. (1988) When does potentiality count? a comment on Lockwood. Bioethics 2, 3:214-226.
  35. Haring, Bernard B., in Jones (1989).
  36. Howsepian, A.A. (1992) Who or what are we? Review of Metaphysics 45:483-502.
  37. Iglesias, T. (1984) In vitro fertilization: the major issues. Journal of Medical Ethics 10:32-37.
  38. Jones, D. Gareth. (1989) Brain birth and personal identity. Journal of Medical Ethics 15, 4:173-178.
  39. Jones, Howard, and Charlotte Schroder. (1987) The process of human fertilization: implications for moral status. Fertility and Sterility 48, 2:192.
  40. Kuhse, Helga, and Peter Singer. (1985) Should the Baby Live? The Problem of Handicapped Infants. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
    __________. (1986) For sometimes letting-and helping-die. Law, Medicine and Health Care 14:149-153.
  41. Kushner, Thomasine. (1984) Having a life versus being alive. Journal of Medical Ethics 10:5-8.
  42. Klubertanz, George P. (1953) The Philosophy of Human Nature. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc.
  43. Lejeune, Jerome. (1989) A Symphony of the Preborn Child: Part Two. Hagerstown, MD: NAAPC.
  44. Lewin, Benjamin. (1983) Genes III. New York: John Wiley and Sons.
  45. Lockwood, Michael. (1988) Warnock versus Powell (and Harradine): when does potentiality count? Bioethics 2, 3:187-213.
  46. MacKay, Donald, in Jones (1989).
  47. McCormick, Richard, S.J. (1991) Who or what is the preembryo?. Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 1, 1:1-15.
  48. McCullagh, Peter. (1987) The Foetus as Transplant Donor: Scientific, Social and Ethical Perspectives. New York: John Wiley and Sons.
  49. McKeon, Richard. (1941) Aristotle, De Coelo, in The Basic Works of Aristotle. New York: Random House.
  50. Meilaender, Gilbert. (1987) Challenging the Limits of Dualism. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press.
    __________. (1989) Abortion: the right to an argument. Hastings Center Report 19, 6:13-16.
  51. Moraczewski, A.S. (1983) Human personhood: a study in person-alized biology. in Bondeson, W.B. et al. Abortion and the Status of the Fetus. Dordrecht: D. Reidel Publishing Company; 301-311.
  52. Moore, Keith. (1982) The Developing Human. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders.
  53. Muggleton-Harris, A.L. and I. Findlay. (1991) In vitro studies on "spare" human preimplantation embryos in culture. Human Reproduction 6, 1:85-92.
  54. Noonan, G.T. (1970). An almost absolute value in history. in Noonan, G.T. The Morality of Abortion. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
  55. Owens, Joseph. (1963) An Elementary Christian Metaphysics. Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing Company.
  56. Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. (1986) On the Use of Human Embryos and Foetuses for Diagnostic Therapeutic, Scientific, Industrial and Commercial Purposes. Recommendation 1046 (1986).
  57. Quinn, W. (1984) Abortion: identity and loss. Philosophy and Public Affairs 13:24-54.
  58. Report of the Ad Hoc Committee of the Harvard Medical School Committee to Examine the Definition of Brain Death. (1968) Journal of the American Medical Association 205:337-340.
  59. Robertson, John A. (1986) Extracorporeal embryos and the abortion debate. Journal of Contemporary Health Law and Policy 2. 53:53-70.
    __________. (1988) Rights, symbolism, and public policy in fetal tissue transplants. Hastings Center Report 18, 6:5-19.
    __________. (1989) Resolving disputes over frozen embryos. Hastings Center Report 19, 6:7-12.
    __________. (1991) Reply. Hastings Center Report 21, 5:44.
  60. Ross, Judith Wilson. (1992) The puzzle of the permanently unconscious. Hastings Center Report 22, 2:2.
  61. Santamaria, (1982) In vitro fertilization and embryo transfer. in Brumsky, M.N. Proceedings of the Conference: In Vitro Fertilization: Problems and Possibilities. Clayton, Victoria: Monash Center for Human Bioethics.
  62. Sass, Hans-Martin. (1989) Brain life and brain death: a proposal for normative agreement. Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 14:45-59.
  63. Shea, M.C. (1985) Embryonic life and human life. Journal of Medical Ethics 11:205-209.
  64. Singer, Peter. (1981) Practical Ethics. London: Cambridge University Press.
    __________. (1985) Technology and procreation: how far should we go? Technology Review Feb/Mar:27.
    __________, and Helga Kuhse. (1987) The ethics of embryo research. Law, Medicine and Health Care 14:13-14.
    __________, and Wells, in Jones (1989).
  65. Steinbock, Bonnie. (1989) Recovery from persistent vegetative state?: the case of Carrie Coons. Hastings Center Report 19, 4:14-15.
  66. Suarez, Antoine. (1990) Hydatitiform moles and teratomas confirm the human identity of the preimplantation embryo. Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 15:627-635.
  67. Tassaeau, F; M.H. Boucand; J.R. LeGall; and T. Verspieren. (1991) Etats Vegetatifs Chroniques: Repercussions Humaines; Aspects Medicaux, Juridiques et Ethiques. Paris: Editions Ecole Nationale de la Sante Publique.
  68. Tauer, Carol A. (1985) Personhood and human embryos and fetuses. Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 10:253-266.
  69. Tooley, Michael. (1974) Abortion and infanticide. in Cohen, Marshall. The Rights and Wrongs of Abortion. New Jersey: Princeton University Press.
  70. Wallace, William. (1988) Nature and human nature as the norm in medical ethics. in Pellegrino, Edmund D. et al. Catholic Perspectives on Medical Morals. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishing; 23-53.
  71. Walters, James W. (1992) Proximate personhood as a standard for making difficult treatment decisions: imperiled newborns as a case study. Bioethics 6, 1:12-22.
    __________. (1989) Reply. Hastings Center Report 19, 4:42.
  72. Warnock, Dame Mary. (1984) Report of the Committee of Inquiry into Human Fertilization and Embryology. London: Her Majesty's Stationary Office.
  73. Washington State. (1992) Natural Death Act, amended HB 1481.
  74. Werner, R. (1974) Abortion: the moral status of the unknown. Social Theory and Practice 3:202.
  75. Wertheimer, R. (1971) Understanding the abortion argument. Philosophy and Public Affairs 1:67-95.
  76. Wikler, Daniel. (1991) What has bioethics to offer health policy? Milbank Quarterly 69, 2:233-251.
  77. Wilhemsen, Frederick. (1963) Man's Knowledge of Reality. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc.

1, 2, 3, 4,