Listen to Professor Robert P. George talk to Pat Kenny on Friday 5th March 2010 here
9th March, 2010
Professors George and Hurlbut visit to Dublin
On a recent visit to Dublin, Professors Robert George and William Hurlbut met with members of the Dáil and Seanad and addressed academics and students in the Royal College of Surgeons, DCU and UCD. On Friday evening, 5th March, they addressed several hundred pro-life supporters in the Davenport Hotel where they outlined to the audience the scientific and philosophical arguments underpinning a respect for human lives from the moment of fertilisation. Professor William Hurlbut , a professor in Human Biology at Stanford University explained the application and potential of adult stem cells in particular the procedure by which pluripotent stem cells (adult stem cells with the capacity to differentiate into different germ layers) can be used in a way that emulates embryonic stem cells. The significance of this is that no embryonic human being need be used for research and at present non-controversial adult stem cell research is having more success at treating diseases. Professor Robert George who is McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University picked through the popular arguments used to de-humanise the embryonic human being and explained why the embryonic human life is deserving of full protection of society and the law. The event was chaired by Senator Rónán Mullen.
Biography of Robert P. George
Robert P. George is McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University, where he lectures on constitutional interpretation, civil liberties and philosophy of law. He also serves as the director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions. Professor George served on the US President's Council on Bioethics from 2002-2009. In 1993, President Bill Clinton appointed him to the United States Commission on Civil Rights in. He is a former Judicial Fellow at the Supreme Court of the United States, where he received the Justice Tom C. Clark Award. Currently he serves on UNESCO's World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology. He holds honorary doctorates of law, ethics, science, civil law and juridical science. Professor George was the 2007 John Dewey Lecturer in Philosophy of Law at Harvard University and the 2008 Judge Guido Calabresi Lecturer at Yale University. Born in Morgantown, West Virginia, George was educated at Swarthmore College (BA), Harvard Law School (JD), Harvard Divinity School (MTS), and Oxford University (DPhil). At Oxford he studied under John Finnis and Joseph Raz.
Biography of William Hurlbut
William Hurlbut, M.D. is consulting professor in the Programme in Human Biology at Stanford University. His primary areas of interest involve the ethical issues associated with advancing biomedical technology and neuroscience, the biological basis of moral awareness and studies in the integration of theology and philosophy of biology. Dr. Hurlbut has lectured on genetics and human origins with Dr Luca Cavelli-Sforza, director of the Human Genome Diversity Project, and on evolution and ethics with Dr Baruch Blumberg, who received the Nobel Prize for discovery of the Hepatitis B Virus. From 2002-2009, Dr. Hurlbut served on the US President's Council on Bioethics.