BioEthics In Action: Charter

Charter

We seek to secure the realm of human liberty for ourselves and our posterity, consistent with the principles of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. We hold that these principles provide the basis for the prudent use of the discoveries and inventions of the natural sciences. Because we must be concerned in each generation with the defense and perpetuation of our political institutions, we must stand for the public scrutiny of premises that guide the modern scientific enterprise as it affects what it means to be human.

We hold that the rapid and unrestrained pace of technological progress threatens to make decisions for us. Despite assurances of scientists' benevolent intentions - and the many examples of medical science's alleviation of misery and disease - we remain concerned that technological progress may shrink the realm in which true human liberty can be exercised. We believe that in science, as in all other realms of human action, having the power to do something does not confer the unrestrained right to do it. To admit otherwise would be to see nothing wrong in principle with tyranny, even a tyranny that seduces by the offer of material comforts and security. Our principles, our common sense and historical experience all inform us that unchallenged and unrestrained power in the hands of a few is not consistent with the limitations of human knowledge and the fallibility of human judgment, nor is it compatible with human freedom.

Accordingly, we believe that our duty as citizens is to join the effort to raise serious and thoughtful questions about the use of science and technology. This form of scientific and commercial enterprise has the potential to alter the nature of the human in unforeseen and deleterious ways. Its unrestrained employment would require that we renounce any and all ethical judgments based on concepts of human nature or human rights. We propose to commit ourselves to the educational and political enterprise that will result in the wise and considered restraint of whatever powers threaten our safety and happiness and threaten to undermine the ability of future generations to choose their own paths.. We seek to involve our fellow citizens, legislators, journalists and political leaders for the purpose of fostering public discussion of these issues in the hope that we might thereby discover principles for common action.

We seek to learn from all who can enlighten us in the pursuit of our common task. Our resolve is to fashion from the principles of prudence our common political and economic practices and our system of governance, a basis for reflection and restraint - both within the scientific community and among those in private enterprise who venture to benefit from translating basic research into technology products and services. We look to education, persuasion, public oversight and legal accountability as necessary modes to secure this goal.

We believe that changes of the magnitude envisioned by science and technology must elicit what the Greeks termed a "sober second thought." Deliberation in such important matters requires broad participation; it should not, in a healthy democracy, be limited to debates in corporate boardrooms, legislative bodies or regulatory commissions. In this spirit, it is our intention to provide opportunities for public scrutiny and debate and to fashion, from disparate points of view but from a consensus based on common principles, an informed public policy agenda to which our fellow citizens and free citizens of the world everywhere can rally.