Professor Robert Edwards, the creator of IVF, was featured recently in a newspaper profile. The results demonstrate—as we have discussed here previously about James Watson—that being a brilliant scientist does not necessarily translate into the ability to engage in sound moral reasoning. IVF has a mixed record, in my view—particularly how it has led directly to some of the greatest bioethical controversies of our day. But that issue aside, this quote from Edwards seems ridiculous to me:
“I am a humanist. A humanist believes nobody knows the truth. I don’t criticise. We will look after people, and I look after animals. I became vegetarian ten years ago because I don’t want to eat animals.”
If it has a face, don’t eat it is fine. But to to believe that nobody knows the truth is to say that the truth cannot be known. To say I don’t criticize is to say that I am hopelessly relativistic.
Anyway, I’m not buying. What Edwards really means, I suspect, is that there are certain views, e.g., those on the radical edge, that he won’t criticize. I would bet a bunch, however, that his attitude toward those holding and standing up for traditional values or morality would not receive such a benign shrug of the humanist shoulder.
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.
First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.
But we can’t do it without readers like you.
Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.
Your gift anchors readers in the permanent things.
Make your Fall Campaign gift now using the button below.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Giovanni Del Piero, Director of the Editor’s Circle, at gdelpiero@firstthings.com or 212-627-1985.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
The Church in the Age of Therapy
In 1966, Philip Rieff wrote in The Triumph of the Therapeutic that “Religious man was born to…
Canada’s Deadliest Blind Spot
On September 20, the Daily Mail ran a story with the provocative headline, “Our 83-year-old Christian grandmother…
The Faithful Joy of Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen
Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen seem to have had little in common. She favored rhinestones; he wore…
