Sunday, August 5, 2018
Today, I'll take a break from controversy. Let's talk about literature.
In 2003 the President’s Council on Bioethics published an anthology about bioethical dilemmas. It was a surprising contribution by a government committee. Such bodies are better known for generating reports which are dismal, dull, dreary and destined for pulping.
The selections in the anthology ranged from J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan to Plutarch. Not only were they thought-provoking, but also enjoyable. At the time I thought it was the last word in the literature of bioethics, but since then I have discovered other texts.
One of these, which I highly recommend, is the Japanese novel The Sea and Poison, by Shusaku Endo, who, like Graham Greene, was a perpetual also-ran for the Nobel Prize. Endo is better known in the West as the author of Silence, which Martin Scorsese recently made into a film.
Silence was a 1966 historical novel about the apostasy of a Catholic priest in 17th Century Japan. The Sea and Poison, an earlier work published in 1958, is also about tormented consciences. It is based on an incident which happened shortly before the end of World War II, when Japanese doctors vivisected several American POWs. The focus of the story is not the gory procedure, which is described very briefly at the end of the novel, but the inner lives of the doctors and nurses. How could they have allowed themselves to participate in something which was so clearly evil? It’s extraordinarily insightful – and very relevant at a time when we are debating conscientious objection.
The Sea and Poison is out of print in English, but can easily be obtained second-hand on the internet. It’s well worthwhile for anyone teaching bioethics.
In 2003 the President’s Council on Bioethics published an anthology about bioethical dilemmas. It was a surprising contribution by a government committee. Such bodies are better known for generating reports which are dismal, dull, dreary and destined for pulping.
The selections in the anthology ranged from J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan to Plutarch. Not only were they thought-provoking, but also enjoyable. At the time I thought it was the last word in the literature of bioethics, but since then I have discovered other texts.
One of these, which I highly recommend, is the Japanese novel The Sea and Poison, by Shusaku Endo, who, like Graham Greene, was a perpetual also-ran for the Nobel Prize. Endo is better known in the West as the author of Silence, which Martin Scorsese recently made into a film.
Silence was a 1966 historical novel about the apostasy of a Catholic priest in 17th Century Japan. The Sea and Poison, an earlier work published in 1958, is also about tormented consciences. It is based on an incident which happened shortly before the end of World War II, when Japanese doctors vivisected several American POWs. The focus of the story is not the gory procedure, which is described very briefly at the end of the novel, but the inner lives of the doctors and nurses. How could they have allowed themselves to participate in something which was so clearly evil? It’s extraordinarily insightful – and very relevant at a time when we are debating conscientious objection.
The Sea and Poison is out of print in English, but can easily be obtained second-hand on the internet. It’s well worthwhile for anyone teaching bioethics.
 Michael Cook Editor BioEdge |  |  |  |
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A difficult and controversial ruling viewed from a lawyer’s perspectiveUK cosmetic surgery ads criticised as ‘unscrupulous”
by Michael Cook | 4 Aug 2018 |
ITV, a commercial TV channel in the UK, will review its policy of screening advertisements for breast enlargement and diet pills during its wildly successful show “Love Island”.
It has been roundly criticised by the head of the National Health Service and feminists.
Love Island is a reality TV show in which attractive singles wander around, mostly in swimwear. Critics claim that advertisers are exploiting the insecurities of young women.
The companies whose ads were criticised include MYA Cosmetic Surgery, which offers loans for tummy tucks, breast enlargements and nose jobs, and Skinny Sprinkles, a diet supplement which describes itself as a “gastric band in a glass”.
NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens advised ITV to review its standards. “You’ve got explicit ads aiming at young women around breast cosmetic surgery. That is all playing into a set of pressures around body image that are showing up as a burden on other services.”
Whether the mea culpas of television executives will be followed by change is uncertain. The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons recently issued a statement:
We are seeing the damaging effects of this cultural phenomenon on an increasingly vulnerable population, whereby the decision to seek out treatment is trivialised whilst individuals face intense psychological pressure to conform. By advertising cosmetic surgery alongside this type of programming - and in some instances, even using the stars of the show -- unscrupulous clinics are targeting young people in a way that commodifies surgery as a quick fix and endangers patients. It is worth noting that many of these clinics have a history of targeting young people using influencers to promote surgery, for which they have received public criticism- - but which has not halted this aggressive and unethical marketing tactic.
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