(possibly the funniest things I've ever read, but then I am a peculiar sort of person: namely, the kind that finds mocking of the categorical imperative hilarious), followed by La's Orchestra Saves The World
, and then my library hold on #1 Ladies & the first two sequels came in. Wonderful stories, each in a very different vein. I've been delighted and impressed.I'm well aware I'm late to this party, but the guy's featured on NPR so much I was turned off for awhile. (They make everything sound so smarmy.) Anyway, I bring this up because: have you seen the guy's CV by any chance? Turns out before he was an accomplished author (Commander of the British Empire for contributions to literature) he was an expert on medical law and bioethics; wrote the only textbook on the Code of Law in Botswana; co-founded the University of Botswana; taught law at the University of Edinburgh; chaired the British Medical Journal's ethics committee, etc., etc., etc. with more honorary degrees than can be counted, and oh, by the way, started an orchestra in which he plays bassoon, and founded an opera company in Botswana, for which he penned the libretto for their first performance.
It gets dicey, though. He was also once vice-chairman of the UK's Human Genetics Commission and a member of UNESCO's International Bioethics Commission. Usually the work of the bioethicist is to proclaim that anything Science wants to do is ethical (my Latin minions have helped me dub this logical fallacy empirica ergo moralia, as dubious if not moreso as post hoc propter hoc) and nothing good can come out of a Genetics Commission. Or UNESCO, for that matter. What if he's on the Dark Side? I would be broken-hearted. I am afraid to look! Though I suppose curiosity will get the better of me by the end of the week.
Post-Google Update: Well. I suppose being on the round-table that produced this paper doesn't necessarily mean he favors its conclusions...though if not, I'd expect a footnote to indicate dissent. Disappointing. I am choosing to interpret the matter as he retired from the Dark Side in favor of literature, where he can be a force for good.
