1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910823002103321

Autore

Levin Yuval

Titolo

Imagining the future : science and American democracy / / Yuval Levin

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New York, : Encounter Books, 2008

ISBN

1-282-48788-4

9786612487880

1-59403-330-7

Edizione

[1st ed.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (157 p.)

Collana

New Atlantis Books

Disciplina

303.48/30973

Soggetti

Science - Political aspects - United States

Science - Forecasting

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. 137-142) and index.

Nota di contenuto

The moral challenge of modern science -- The crisis of everyday life -- Two cultures? -- Two visions of the future -- Science and the left -- Science and the right -- Conclusion.

Sommario/riassunto

From stem cell research to global warming, human cloning, evolution, and beyond, political debates about science have raged in recent years - and, to the chagrin of most observers, have increasingly fallen into the familiar categories of America's culture wars. In Imagining the Future: Science and American Democracy, Yuval Levin explores the complicated meanings of science and technology in American politics and finds that the science debates have a lot to teach us about our political life. These debates, Levin argues, reveal some serious challenges to American self-government, and put on stark display the deepest strengths and greatest weaknesses of both the left and the right. "American life has been profoundly shaped by science and technology, and will be all the more so in the coming decades, making it crucial that we understand how to think and speak about science in politics. Yuval Levin's smart and eminently well-reasoned book makes the important point that the purpose of science is a moral one -- to improve human life -- and that judging what that involves is sometimes a job for more than science alone in a democratic society. Levin's insights speak directly to today's political debates and make his



book a must-read for policymakers and all those who care about science and society." --Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the House "Imagining the Future goes far beyond the contemporary polarized debates over science to unpack the moral premises of the modern scientific project and its consequences for American democracy. In the process, Yuval Levin provides us with a deep understanding of policy issues from genetic engineering to global warming." --Francis Fukuyama, Johns Hopkins University "This book is important to the thinking of both progressives and conservatives. Clearly and incisively, it shows how science and technology are shaping

humanity's future and world views. Levin alerts democratic societies that human dignity and equality are imperiled unless we provide political and moral guidance to prevent the submergence of humanity in its own ingenuity." --Edmund Pellegrino, Chairman, President's Council on Bioethics.