[-empyre-] genetics in the media

[sdv at krokodile.co.uk]

Judith,

We obviously differ around this, I think that your argument would have 
been much stronger if the science/psuedoscience issue was resolvable.  I 
think for example the language/linguistics understanding would have been 
stronger if the linguistic model you use could have been removed from 
the realm of psuedoscience, which is where Foucault places 
Psychoanalaysis, Linguistics etc and replaced within the arena of 
science.  It's a pity because the genetic science people are let off the 
hook...Anyway this may not be the place for this as the tendency has 
been to think of this in terms of 'art' and 'performance' whereas I'm 
more interested in managing what the scientists and technologists are 
allowed to research and do.  I don't think I said this as explicitly 
before. One of the strengths of the text could have been to serve as 
support for this latter work. From such a position it's obviously not 
the same ethical turn being considered,  ethics/bioethics is better 
considered as a tool used to place some control over scientists and 
technologists working in these areas.

It's been an interesting month and useful month sadly I didn't have time 
to interrogate Eugene as much as I'd have liked, but your (Judith's) 
work seemed closer to my interests).

thanks to Nick for the publicity email...

regards
steve
Judith Roof wrote:

> Steve,
>
> I can appreciate that--But I don;t think I ever define science in 
> that  book--and the Foucault, which is quite brief--is certainly not  
> intended to be such a definition.  I was more concerned with 
> sketching  (as it could only be) the development of reductionism and 
> analysis-- not science per se.  I don't think my argument requires or 
> has the  scope of offering a definition of science.  It is instead 
> interested  in showing how language detours certain questions and ways 
> of looking  at things, none of which may be science, per se, whatever 
> that is.
>
> The ethical turn doesn't really bother me--though I can see how my  
> responses would come across that way.  What I am interested in in 
> what  the relation is between discussions of representation and the 
> turn to  ethics.  This has happened as well in the academy in the 
> humanities.   Something to think about as it happens fairly regularly.
>
> I have enjoyed your observations.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Judith