Virginia Postrel March 8, 2005

I've long argued that there are two completely distinct worldviews here: one (the traditional zygotes-are-persons view) that supports the end (longer, healthier lives) but not the means (embryo research) and another (the Kass view) that opposes the end and, only incidentally, the means (embryo research). If there's one thing Leon Kass isn't, it's pro-life.

Reason March 10, 2005

Virginia Postrel hits the nail on the head with her assessment of Leon Kass, an unfortunately influential fellow who is strongly opposed to healthy life extension in any form.

Justin Case March 9, 2005

It's the thing itself, the lengthened lifespan, that chafes him so. The cellular indignity angle is just a sideshow, a preliminary skirmish. To him, extended life is a tragic societal mistake, no matter how it's achieved. That's why I think he's a moral monster.

Nick Gillespie June 6, 2005

...leading opponents to embryonic stem cells are not simply worried about the embryo issue--they fundamentally question whether we should be intervening to prolong and improve human lifespans and ameliorate human suffering.

Glenn Reynolds June 6, 2005

Kathryn Jean Lopez doesn't like my Kass reference above. But the reference, which could have been clearer, was to Kass's generally negative view of "the relief of man's estate" by science, and in particular to his argument (discussed here) that another 20 years of healthy life would probably be a waste.

Leon Kass Jan. 7, 2006

As for embryos, stem cells, cloning and the uses and abuses thereof, they are "not the most profound of subjects," he told me over a pot of tea in the kitchen of his Washington apartment. "The embryo question is really about the means. The real question has to do with the ends to which we put this."...

"There are very few people who've been around a long time who see anything with fresh eyes," says Dr. Kass. "We need to put our weight with the young."

A Student at the University of Chicago, Sept. 12, 2005

Perhaps these people have their reasons to hate him, but my personal conclusion from this summer was that I really wanted to take a class from him.

Just one of some Dissenting Opinions November 14, 2005

As a recently matriculated PhD. student at the U of Chicago, I am officially embarassed for my school.

But why should this be? Perhaps we'll find answers in the Classical Values archives.

Here's a quote from Dr. Kass on November 13, 2005.

Indeed, a woman's earning power can become her own worst enemy when the children are born. Many professional women who would like to stay home with their new babies nonetheless work full-time.

Tragically, some cling to their economic independence because they worry that their husbands will leave them for another woman before the children are grown...

And here's another on October 22, 2005.

Once female modesty became a first casualty of the sexual revolution, even women eager for marriage lost their greatest power to hold and to discipline their prospective mates. For it is a woman's refusal of sexual importunings, coupled with hints or promises of later gratification, that is generally a necessary condition of transforming a man's lust into love.

Optional Bible Studies link. For extra credit! Teaser quote follows...

...institution of stable domestic arrangements for rearing the young depends on some form of man's rule over woman.

Proof positive that thinking should be left to professionals.