Nature and mortality. A philosopher in public life

Mary Warnock is by professional training a philosopher, and she has also been a prominent figure in education, first as Headmistress of Oxford High School and then as Mistress of Girton College, Cambridge. Her most controversial calling between 1975 and 2000 has been as chairman of important and far reaching government committees. Regarded by governments of both parties as an expert on a wide range of issues on the borderline between ethics and law, she has also guided and controlled other experts. This text is a challenging look at some of the major public issues of our time through the eyes of the liberal humanist. It is a frank account of where we stand today on such disturbing matters as human embryology, genetic engineering, euthanasia and abortion, with autobiographical anecdotes and side swipes.
Contents: Oxford; embryology; the human genome - the perils of higher education; law and society; law and ethics; the disastrous consequences of Thatcher´s education policy; abortion - euthanasia - intimations of mortality.