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SETTING MORAL LIMITS on TECHNOLOGY Continued from Pajjc 38 Continued from Po/Fe 43 1 SPECIAL V V SETTING MORAL UNITS ON TECHNOLOGY rofessor James Dranc (p. 30) has done a for technology so that it can be used for our ben masterful job of clarifying the three pri­ Tloe Jewish efit and not for our destruction. In all of this we mary goals for technology that have his­ are at one. torically been proposed—understanding, Perspective Natural Law theory, though, has had a spotty domination, and creation — and he has history in Judaism. David Novak, a rabbi and arguePd forcefully for returning to the first goal professor at the University of Toronto, endorses and measuring all contemporary technology by Differs in it and claims that previous Jewish philosophers the degree to which it preserves nature. Aside have done so as well. I am not nearly as con­ from keeping us from our most destructive uses vinced that the bulk of classical, medieval, or df technology, Professor Diane proposes this cri­ Some Ways modern Jewish thinkers can fairly be read as terion because he believes that an updated expositors—or even supporters—of Natural Law Natural Law approach to technology has cap­ theory. That requires me, then, to describe how I tured and can still gain the allegiance of religious from understand Judaism's approach to these matters, and secular thinkers alike, with Isaiah Berlin his both in theory and in practice. I hope that, as a example of the latter. Catholic result of my efforts here, Catholics and others As a Jew, I find much to share in Professor raised on Natural Law theory will come to under­ Diane's approach. Certainly his awe A\\d respect stand why Jews generally take a more favorable for nature and for the God who created it, which and stance toward technological innovation, while yet he desperately wants to restore to contemporary having a keen interest in preserving the world science, echoes multiple Jewish sources, from the God has created, a world to which we respond in opening chapters of Genesis and many chapters Protestant awe A\\d appreciation. In the end, we may come of Psalms (e.g., Ps 104) to modern thinkers such to our stance from a different theological base, as Abraham Joshua Heschel. Moreover, Professor but we face the same issues that Professor Drane Drane clearly does not want to abandon technol­ Ones raises—namely, how to impose reasonable limits ogy altogether, for that would also be religiously on technology in our time so that we do not make the earth uninhabitable. impermissible; he instead wants to define limits BY ELLIOTT N. DORFF, PhD But, hist, a historical and bibliographical note: Judaism traces its roots back to Abraham (c. 1700 BCE), continuing in both oral And written Rabbi Dorff is rector and traditions through Moses (c. 1250 BCE) And the Distinguished Professor of biblical prophets And sages through the rabbis Philosophy, University of who created the Mishnah (c. 200 CE), Talmud Judaism, Los Anjjeles. He cur­ ic. 500 CE), And Midrash (edited at varying rently serves on the National times), and on through medieval and modern Human Research Protections commentators, philosophers, and judges.* Advisory Commission of the US. Department of Because the rabbis of the Mishnah, Talmud, and Health and Human Services and is the author of Matters of Life and Death: A Jewish Approach *BCE stands for "before the Common Era." which to Modern Medical Ethics, Jewish Publication Christians call BC. CE stands for "the Common Era." Society, Philadelphia, 1998. which Christians call AD. HEALTH PROGRESS JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2002 • 39 SPECIAL SECTION Midrash decided which books would constitute [loses while still safeguarding and sustaining it. holy Scripture and then interpreted them in what We are not supposed to desist from changing the became the distinctly Jewish way, I shall refer to world altogether: "Six days shall you do your them as "the Rabbis," in contrast to the count­ work" is as much a commandment as "and on the less rabbis and thinkers who have since carried on seventh <A.\\ you shall rest" | Ex 23:12). their work. The Rabbis functioned tor Judaism in In changing the world to accomplish our ends, much the same way as the church fathers did for though, we must take care to preserve the envi­ Christianity and the imams did for Islam. Most of ronment. That is true whether we are practicing the writings of the Rabbis is now available in medicine, farming, traveling, or doing anything English translation. else. This balance is demanded because, in the end, we do not own the world; God does.; We JEWISH THEOLOGICAL AND MORAL MOORINGS are but tenants in God's world, with a lease on Why is it important to be aware of varying reli­ life and on the world. gious and secular perspectives on moral matters During the time set by that lease, we may and in the first place: Why, in other words, is it the should act as God's agents to improve it. God, in case that morals do not come in one, universal fact, intended that we function in that way. This and eternal set of norms but rather differ among is probably most starkly stated in a rabbinic com­ religions, societies, and times? ment about, of all things, circumcision. If God The answer is embedded in the very word wanted all Jewish boys circumcised, the Rabbis "religion." It comes from the same Latin root as ask, why did He not create them that way? The the word "ligament," connective tissue. Religions answer, according to the Rabbis, is that God describe our bonds to our family, community, deliberately created the world in need of fixing so the whole human species, the environment, ,\\u\ We are not that human beings would have a divinely the transcendent (imaged in the Western reli­ ordained task in life, thus giving human life pur­ gions as Ciod). That is, religions give us a broad just permitted pose .\\K\ meaning/ We are, then, not just per­ picture of who we are and who we ought to be, mitted but mandated to find ways to bend God's and specific moral norms are rooted in such big but mandated world to God's purposes and ours—as long, pictures. Secular philosophies (e.g.. Western lib­ again, as we preserve God's world in the process. eralism, Marxism, existentialism) provide such to find ways to However, just because we can do something perspectives as well, and, indeed, what passes for does not automatically mean that we should do it; secular ethics in Western countries is rooted in to determine whether we should, we must mea­ Western liberalism, the product of such people as bend God's sure its effects against the broader picture of our Locke and Montesquieu. But although secular Own good and that of God's world. theories generally are produced by one person or world. Thus technology, in and of itself, is not good a few people, religions from their very origins are or bad: It depends upon how we use it. If we more likely to be tied to a group that endeavors employ it to assist us in shaping the world to to live out the religion's vision, using rituals, sym­ achieve morally good ends while yet preserving bols, liturgy, and songs to remind adherents of the world, our use of technology is theologically that perspective and to induce continued loyalty approved and morally good. If, on the other to it. hand, we disregard our duty to preserve the The various religions of the world, then, artic­ world when using technological tools, we are ulate their own particular views of how people are engaged in a theologically and morally bad act. and ought to be. Each suggests a particular pair Consistent with Natural Law theory as articulated of eyeglasses, as it were, through which we by Professor Drane, though, Judaism does not should look at life. The Jewish and Christian lens­ presume that the world that God created is ideal es have much in common, but they differ in sig­ in its present state. In Judaism, God created the nificant Ways too, and these differences explain world to be fixed, and we humans need to deter­ and motivate some of the ways in which Judaism mine when and how to aid God in that process. disagrees with Catholic Natural Law theory in Biotechnology When we turn specifically to biotech­ understanding our place in life and what we nology and to the branch of it relating to health should do with modern technology. care, several underlying principles emerge from Technology in General Adam and Eve are told in the Jewish sources.' Because God owns our bodies Garden of Eden "to work it and to preserve it" i as well as our minds, emotions, wills, and spir­ (Gn 2:15). Judaism has ever since tried to strike a its), we have a fiduciary responsibility to God to: balance between using the world for human pur- • Safeguard our life and health 40 • JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2002 HEALTH PROGRESS 4 SPECIAL SECTION • Avoid sickness and injury" THREE APPLICATIONS OF THESE PRINCIPLES • Do everything possible to save other human Professor Diane is particularly worried about lives [pikkuah nefesh), a commandment in the cloning, stem cell research, and genetic engineer­ Torah that takes precedence over all but three ing ot foods, and I share his concerns. others7 Ultimately, though, while I applaud his call for A certain rabbinic story indicates that the limits, I would support scientific efforts to do all Rabbis recognized the theological issue involved those things. I would put the limits elsewhere.
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