Illich To Speak On Immorality Of Bioethics

8-29-97
University Park, PA -- Ivan Illich, historian/philosopher and author of a dozen critical studies of modern society, will speak on "The Immorality of Bioethics" on Monday, September 8, 1997, at the Nittany Lion Inn. The speech will begin at 3 p.m. in Ballroom A.

The lecture is concerned with the discipline of bioethics that has developed since the early 1970s to consider issues related to the use of dialysis machines, artificial organs, psychochemical brain stimulation, organ transplants, in vitro fertilization, genetic engineering, and now cloning.

Illich currently holds an appointment as professor of philosophy and science, technology, and society at Penn State. His talk is the first in the 1997-98 College of the Liberal Arts Dean's Lecture Series, and is cosponsored by the Department of Philosophy.

Illich's books include "Deschooling Society," "Tools for Conviviality," Toward a History of Needs," "Energy and Equity," "Medical Nemesis," Shadow Work," "Gender," and "In the Vineyard of the Text. Among his many other books is "In the Mirror of the Past," essays and talks from the 1980s that link his concerns with economics, education, history, and the new ideological meaning of life.

A reception in the Alumni Lobby will follow the lecture. The public is invited to attend.

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For more information, contact Donna F. Williams, coordinator of college relations, College of the Liberal Arts, (814) 863-1827, e-mail dfw6@psu.edu