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The biology of ethics or the ethics of biology? The biologist's quest for meaning

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Abstract

The biologist's involvement in value issues concerning the methodology of biological sciences, in establishing the biological basis of ethics and in creating a value system based on biological knowledge is examined. It is proposed that the roots of this involvement are in the conflict of the knowledge-ethic with the established system of values and in the need for metaphysical explanation.

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This essay is dedicated to the memory of I. Michael Lerner, formerly Professor of Genetics University of California, Berkeley.

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Düzgüneş, N. The biology of ethics or the ethics of biology? The biologist's quest for meaning. Acta Biotheor 27, 124–129 (1978). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00048406

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