Abstract
‘Medieval biotechnology’ would to most be an oxymoron.1 This is hardly astonishing, for the common understanding of this human activity and its means and ends seems to be as deeply embedded in modernity as the very concept of technology itself. Is speaking of biotechnology in modern times merely a truism, then, rendering it superfluous to investigate matters further, since there simply is no other time in which biotechnology has been, presupposing, of course, that these days still are modern times? Perhaps. Yet, if the present is no longer ‘modern’, but e.g. postmodern or not modern at all, biotechnology might have lost its grounding, if not its entire raison d’être. This chapter will, therefore, begin with defining the concept of modernity, after which we turn to biotechnology and its situation, the latter understood in the Sartrean terms of the subject merely passing by the object without already instrumentalising them in the same act.2 I intend to do precisely this, namely to see biotechnology simply as it is, namely as being there, while the questions of necessity or possibility relating to its being will be dealt with later in the book.
Chapter PDF
Keywords
- Stem Cell Research
- Modern Time
- Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer
- Genetic Modific Plant
- Venture Capital Investment
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
References
The nature of the oxymoron is, of course, to create ambiguity by virtue of its inherent contradiction, which is uncalled for in our present context: “L’oxymoron est ambigu, il n’est pas pour autant en équilibre, car un des deux termes semble vouloir rattraper l’autre. Ce n’est pas une ambivalence comme l’amour et la haine qui peuvent se cötoyer de manière symétrique chez des amants. (…) Non, le “merveilleux malheur” est lui de travers, il boite.” De Brabandere (2002).
Cf. Sartre (1956), 548f: “The situation can not [sic] be subjective, for it is neither the sum nor the unity of the impressions which things make on us. It is the things themselves and myself among things (…) that (…) simply are there as they are without the necessity or the possibility of being otherwise and that I am there among them (…) The situation is the subject illuminating things by his very surpassing, if you like.”
In several European countries, public housing projects involving pre-fabricated elements have proven to be quite unpopular and deserted buildings have been torn down, while others have been diminished, remodelled or at least renovated. A systematic reflection on this topic is found in: Prak (1985). With regards to wider bearings of social housing, cf. Danermaerk and Elander (1994). The social aspects of this type of housing are discussed in: Power (1997). She also gives a survey of the historical development in: Power (1993).
Cole (1998), 55.
The working draft was completed in 2000: “June 26, 2000 will be remembered as an important day in the history of science and milestone for humanity. The international Human Genome Project (HGP) Consortium, which is composed of scientists from China, France, Germany, Japan, United Kingdom and the United States of America, announced the completion of the human genome working draft at 18:00 p.m. (Beijing Time) that very day.” Yang (2000), 63.
Dupré (1993), 120.
In this, the human subject would very much find itself in the situation of Camus’ Sisyphus, who, as it is well-known, must be considered a happy man, because he has understood the inevitability of his situation. We might be condemned to freedom, but at least it is our own freedom. See Camus (1955).
This raises the question of the nature of time, which cannot be answered here. The volatility of the present have inspired concepts of overcoming its condition by eternalising it. In this way, S. Kierkegaard’s notion of the moment in Philosophical Fragments may be seen as an attempt to provide a robust structure: “The temporal point of departure is a nothing, because in the same moment that I have known the truth from eternity without knowing it, in the same instant that moment is hidden in the eternal, assimilated into it in such a way that I, so to speak, still cannot find it even if I were to look for it, because there is no Here and There, but only an ubique et nusquam. If the situation is to be different, then the moment in time must have such decisive significance that for no moment will I be able to forget it, neither in time nor in eternity, because the eternal, previously nonexistent, came into existence in that moment.” ibid., p. 13 with a view over the underlying discussion in the footnote, where especially Hegel’s position in Differenz des Fichteschen und Schellingschen Systems is relevant: “Das wahre Aufheben der Zeit ist zeitlose Gegenwart, d.i. Ewigkeit.”
Feenberg and Hannay 1995, 6.
I realise that using the term ‘colonialism’ with regards to the USA is somewhat delicate. There is little doubt, however, that this country has political as well as economic interests also manifesting itself in forms of hegemony. A brief discussion of the hegemon status of the USA as opposed to other major world powers is found in: Huntington (1999).
Schienstock(2001), 51f.
Collste (2001), 425, “the concept catches a wide spread impression that the world is shrinking and that, in an earlier unknown way, the lives of people living far apart are in many ways interdependent. There is a growing awareness that we are all sitting in the same boat.”
Schienstock (2001), 52, footnote 6: “Empirical data clearly show that up to now only within the regional economies of North America, Southeast Asia and Europe, and to a much lesser extent between these economies, has a process of economic integration and interpenetration started. Furthermore, globalisation has, as recent empirical studies show, progressed significantly only in a few industrial branches such as automobiles, chemical and consumer electronics as well as in some parts of the service sector such as banks and insurance, whereas other branches have been affected less by the globalisation process. (…) However, to conclude that globalisation is just a myth, underestimates the dynamics of economic development during the past decades and is definitely an exaggeration.”
The standardised internet access and setup, the almost complete hegemony of microsoft, the widespread use of branded search engines (e.g. ‘Yahoo’), the duopoly of the Word Perfect and Word programmes etc. Collste (2001), 425f, describes the co-dependence of globalisation and IT as follows: “Information technology (IT), e.g. Internet and e-mail, has been a pre-requisite for the globalisation process. The global networks, or the Global Information Structure (GII) as it has been called, have made it easier and cheaper to communicate across the world to the extent that geographical distance in many instances has become irrelevant.”
Collste (2001), 428.
Ibid.
Ibid. Collste uses the format of credit, phone and smart cards as an example, where the setting of standards such as an optimal thickness warrants international operability.
Melehy(1997), 10.
Mill (1985), 258.
Millgram (2000), especially 289. It is classified as ‘inference’, since there is a movement from evidence to conclusion, with desirable equaling the desired or p→ p
Melehy (1997),9.
“The outstanding feature in the evolution of modern man is the growth of the size of the brain, the greatest extent of this increase taking place in the cerebral cortex and its nuclei, and in the cerebellum.” Duncker (2002), 57. See also ibid., 56: “…the development of the social and cultural beings of modern mankind.”
Commission of the European Communities: COM (2002) 27, 3f.
According to Frederick Jackson Turner’s thesis, “the existence of an area of free land, its continuous recession, and the advance of American settlement westward, explain American development (…) this frontier accounted for American democracy and character, and (…) at the end of the 19th century the continental frontier finally closed forever, with uncertain consequences for the American future.” Quoted in: Faragher (1994), 1. Cf. also Klein (1997). Lee attempts to avoid the cowboy ethos by tracing “a critical genealogy of the narrative traditions through which historians, philosophers, anthropologists, and literary critics have understood the European occupation of Native America, and (…) how those understandings shaped and were shaped by changing conceptions of history.” Ibid., 6.
Smith (2001), 3f.
The term is, of course, coined by Sir Thomas More in 1516, depicting “[a]n imaginary island (…) enjoying a perfect social, legal, and political system.” (OED 1991, 370). His book is e.g published with a fine introduction as: More (1999). Further meanings listed in the OED 1991, 370-371 are: any imaginary, indefinitely-remote region, country, or locality; a place, state, or condition ideally perfect in respect of politics, laws, customs, and conditions; and, finally, an impossibly ideal scheme, esp. for social improvement, which is the sense in which I use the term here.
Harwood and Wipat (2001), 65f.
Nowell (1995), 283.
Tambuyzer (2000), 192-197.
Lowe (2001), 350.
Jonsen (1998), 84.
Ibid., 345.
Cf. ibid.
ten Have (2001a), 1.
Kollek (2000), 156.
Ibid.
See e.g. Zwart (2000), 166: “…it is my contention that a legitimate and philosophically acceptable form of bioethics is possible, one that proceeds in a methodologically sound and well-considered manner and aims at recognising both the truths and the fallacies at work in scientific optimism as well as in public fear. The principlistic approach elaborated by Beauchamp and Childress and others often serves as a scapegoat for the kind of criticism articulated by Regine [scil. Regine Koliek].”
See e.g Dekkers (2001), 121.
Bruno Hansen, Director Research DG European Commission: Biotechnology Research in Europe. The Sixth Framework Programme. Unpublished manuscript of speech delivered at the Belgian-Danish Forum for Innovation in Biotechnology. Hilton Brussels 29 May 2002, 6.
See Commission of the European Communities (2001), 110: “…most European DBFs [scil. dedicated biotechnology firms, LR] are either micro or small research-intensive firms. Only approximately 10 per cent of active European DBFs have more than 50 employees, while the majority (about 57%) has less than 20 employees.” As explained on the same page, the real number of small companies is presumably even higher, since the younger firms may be incorporated in alliances, venture capitalist etc.
Commission of the European Communities: COM (2002) 27, 10.
ibid., 9.
Commission of the European Communities (2001), 127f. The number of companies is now higher in Europe than in the US, with 1570 registered firms compared to 1273 in the US. See Commission of the European Communities: COM (2002) 27, 9.
Peak years for foundation of dedicated biotechnology firms (DBF) were 1997 an 1998. See for detailed graphs on distribution per country and year: Commission of the European Communities (2001), 108-112.
lbid., 127-130 presents a variety of difficulties, which can be summarised by quoting the very positive evaluation of the situation in the USA on p. 128, according to which “US leadership in biotechnology derives from a unique blend of capabilities and institutional arrangements. These include a strong scientific, technological and industrial base; mechanisms that favour communication and transfer of knowledge between academia and industry; a financial system that promotes the start-up of new, risky ventures; strong intellectual property protection [scil, patents, LR]; and a favourable climate in terms of public perception and regulation that does not restrict genetic experimentation.” It is pointed out, however, that the US model does not have to be followed necessarily.
Bains and Evans (2001), 255.
Commission of the European Communities: COM (2002) 27, 5.
Cf. ibid.
These are just some of the areas presented by Danish biotechnology companies in: The Danish Trade Council. Royal Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Belgian-Danish Forum for Innovation in Biotechnology. Hilton Brussels Boulevard de Waterloo. 29 May 2002. S.locus. 9-16.
Bains and Evans (2001), 259.
Ibid.
“Pesticides in general pose significant health risks for people exposed to them, especially children, and even unborn infants. Pesticides have been shown to affect reproductive cells and processes in other animals; if reproductive processes are affected in humans to the same extent, then the pesticides used today have the potential to impact future generations of human beings decades from now.” Pimentel and Hart (2001), 97.
Commission of the European Communities: COM (2002) 27, 6.
Cf. Science, April 2002
Bains and Evans (2001), 259f.
Cf. Ratledge(2001), 17.
Harwood and Wipat (2001), 66f.
Bart Hansen/Paul Schotsmans: Stem Cell Research: A Theological Interpretation. Manuscript of forthcoming publication, 2.
Ibid., 3.
A brief description of this process in biological terms is found in: Bart Hansen/Paul Schotsmans: Stem Cell Research: A Theological Interpretation. Manuscript of forthcoming publication, 3.
See e.g. Bart Hansen/Paul Schotsmans: Stem Cell Research: A Theological Interpretation. Manuscript of forthcoming publication, 4, with reference to P. Verspieren: Le clonage human et ses avatars, in: Etudes 391 (1999), 459-467 and B. Vogelstein/B. Alberts/K. Shine: Please don’t Call It Cloning, in: Science 295 (2002), 1237-1238.
Bart Hansen/Paul Schotsmans: Stem Cell Research: A Theological Interpretation. Manuscript of forthcoming publication, 4.
Commission of the European Communities: COM (2002) 27, 6.
Cf. Bart Hansen/Paul Schotsmans: Stem Cell Research: A Theological Interpretation. Manuscript of forthcoming publication, 7.
Watt and Hogan (2000), 1427.
Cf. Bart Hansen/Paul Schotsmans: Stem Cell Research: A Theological Interpretation. Manuscript of forthcoming publication, 6.
Watt and Hogan (2000), 1427.
Cf. Bart Hansen/Paul Schotsmans: Stem Cell Research: A Theological Interpretation. Manuscript of forthcoming publication, 5.
European Commission (2001), 6.
Watt and Hogan (2000), 1427.
The European Group on Ethics defines it in this way: “spare embryos’ (i.e. supernumerary embryos) created for infertility treatment to enhance the success rate of IVF, but no longer needed for this purpose. They are intended to be discarded, but instead, may be donated for research by the couples concerned[.]” Opinion of the European Group on Ethics No 15 (2000), 127.
Opinion of the European Group of Ethics No 15 (2000), 128.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2003 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrechtts
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Reuter, L. (2003). Biotechnology in Modern Times. In: Modern Biotechnology in Postmodern Times?. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1015-3_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1015-3_1
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-3768-6
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-1015-3
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive