Book Note Culture Clash: Law and Science in America

The impact of scientific progress on legal doctrine is pervasive yet subtle. Research projects such as the Human Genome Initiative, nuclear fusion, and artificial intelligence all have the potential to shape legal standards by changing the way humanity views itself; however, Culture Clash: Law and Science in America, by Steven Goldberg, warns against allowing the current trend of a preeminent "scientific voice" in matters of morality to continue. Goldberg claims that a lack of public expression of religious perspectives "allows science to carry weight far from its appropriate jurisdiction. Let this be an early warning--important values are at stake" (pp. 176-77). Artificial intelligence provides the clearest example of this trend. While the potential of artificial intelligence has yet to be realized in a significant way, Goldberg claims that its impact on societal values is enormous (p. 155). In the attempt to make computers think like humans, philosophical issues of human consciousness and self-awareness .:eem to be at stake. As increasingly sophisticated "thinking" computers a,e built, defining what is uniquely human becomes more and more difficult. For example, though the Turing test is generally used to demonstrate consciousness, the philosopher John Searle argues that passing such a test still does not demonstrate consciousness (pp. 159-63). Goldberg believes that all such discussions revolve around scientific efforts to explain the mind. He finds a need for non-scientific ideas about the essence of humanity as well (p. 166). In this field, the intersection of science and law occurs when defining death or the point when medical treatment should end. Due to life-support technology, loss of whole brain function now signifies death (p. 168). More specifically, a difference is made between higher brain and lower brain function. This distinction is based