Robert P. George and Eric Cohen have written a good piece in today’s NRO about the domestic fallout from the Hwang cloning scandal. Their most important point is that “the scientists” are not merely objective observers as the media (and they) often pretend, but are instead involved in an explicitly political campaign to persuade society to accept human research cloning.
Scientists have every right to participate in politics, of course. But the rub comes when they pretend that a subjective political or moral opinion is instead, a statement of objective science. Worse, as I hope to detail in a future extended article, sometimes they resort to the propaganda techniques of lying or telling half truths, while still pretending that their assertions are merely scientific observations. This is corrosive to science itself.
In any event, check out the piece. It’s worthy of your consideration.
