|   |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |   |
|--------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|--------|
|        |                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          |        |
|   | Being Human: Readings from the President's                     Council on BioethicS
 

                    The President's Council on Bioethics                    Washington, D.C., December 2003

 
**Notice:**                           If you are interested in receiving a copy of*Being Human*, we regret to inform you that                           we have run out of copies due to the unforeseen                           demand for this publication, which contains a                           number of reprints of privately copyrighted material.                           Unfortunately, our agreements with the copyright                           owners prevent us from posting the book on our                           website or from printing further copies at this                           time. We are looking at different options and                           if you have already requested a copy, we will                           keep your name on a waiting list. We thank you                           for your understanding.
                    Increasingly, advances in biomedical science and technology                     raise profound challenges to familiar human practices                     and ways of thinking, feeling, and acting. It is no                     wonder, then, that bioethics touches matters close to                     the core of our humanity: birth and death, body and                     mind, sickness and health, freedom and dignity are but                     a few of these. 

From the beginning, human beings have addressed these                     matters in works of history, philosophy, literature                     and religious meditation. These works can be invaluable                     companions as we search for a richer understanding and                     deeper appreciation of our humanity, necessary for facing                     the new challenges of our biotechnological age. 

With this in mind the Council has prepared *Being                     Human: Readings from the President's Council on Bioethics,*                     an anthology of works of literature that speak to bioethical                     dilemmas. It contains 95 selections from sources as                     wide-ranging as Homer, Tolstoy, Shakespeare, American                     folk songs, contemporary fiction and poetry, and even                     a screenplay. Each selection is accompanied by an introduction                     that directs readers toward its bioethical implications,                     and provides questions for groups reading together or                     individuals studying alone.                     To view the Table                     of Contents or sample a few of the readings within                     it, see below:
**Chapter                         1.** Introduction: "The                         Search for Perfection"Reading: Nathanial Hawthorne's "The                         Birth-mark"**Chapter                         2**.Introduction: "Scientific                         Aspirations"Reading: excerpt from Plutarch’s                         *Lives*                         (*Death of Archimedes*).**Chapter                         3.**Introduction: "To                         Heal Sometimes, To Comfort Always" Reading: "The                         Hippocratic Oath"**Chapter                         4**.Introduction: “Are                         We Our Bodies?” Reading: excerpts from Leo Tolstoy’s                         *War and                         Peace***Chapter                         5.**Introduction: "Many                         Stages, One Life" Reading: excerpts from J. M. Barrie’s                         *Peter                         Pa*n**Chapter                         6**.Introduction: "Among                         the Generations"Reading: Galway Kinnell’s “After                         Making Love We Hear Footsteps”**Chapter                         7.**Introduction: "Why                         Not Immortality?"Reading: excerpt from Jonathan Swift’s                         *Gulliver’s                         Travels***Chapter                         8.**Introduction: "Vulnerability                         and Suffering"Reading: excerpt from**Lorrie                         Moore's*People                         Like That Are the Only People Here: Canonical Babblings                         in Peed Onk***Chapter                         9.**Introduction: "Living                         Immediately"Reading: Emily Dickinson’s                         “Pain                         Has An Element of Blank”**Chapter                         10**.Introduction: "Human                         Dignity"Reading: *My                         Antonía*, by Willa Cather.  |        |