NEWSPAPER DOSSIER · 1999
The Sloterdijk Debate
ABOUT THIS DOSSIER
This four-part dossier from Die Zeit examines cloning, genetic selection, bioethics, and competing visions of humanity’s technological future. It centers on the controversy surrounding Peter Sloterdijk’s “Rules for the Human Park” and includes responses and reporting by Ronald Dworkin, Ulrich Schnabel, and Jörg Albrecht.
Keith Cottingham’s Fictitious Portraits were used by Die Zeit to illustrate the dossier. The articles do not discuss the artwork directly, but their use places the images within a major public debate about genetics, identity, human design, and the constructed body.
The articles are presented here in English translation.
The Sloterdijk Debate
The debate began with a speech by the philosopher at Schloss Elmau in Bavaria. Critics accused him of advocating for human breeding. Was he misunderstood? What did he actually say? DIE ZEIT presents the unabridged manuscript from which it quoted, now supplemented with footnotes and authorized by Sloterdijk
The debate over the selection of genetic material concerns bioethicists and jurists:
Why should cloning be considered reprehensible asks
legal philosopher
Ronald Dworkin
What do researchers offer on the genetic engineering market?
Ulrich Schnabel
How realistic are visions of the perfect human?
Jörg Albrecht
ARTICLE 1 OF 4 · 1999
A response to the letter on Humanism—the Elmau Speech.
Peter Sloterdijk
ARTICLE 2 OF 4 · 1999
Why cloning and genetic choice should be judged by their consequences rather than by fears of “playing God.”
Ronald Dworkin
ARTICLE 3 OF 4 · 1999
An interview with bioethicist and medical historian Axel W. Bauer.
Ulrich Schnabel
ARTICLE 4 OF 4 · 1999
Genetic engineering hits the market—researchers cater to the growing demand of prospective mothers and fathers.
Jörg Albrecht