Democracy Does Not Require Perfect Equality, But

A Better Way To Mutual Respect Is To Engage Directly With The Moral Convictions Citizens Bring To Public Life, Rather Than To Require That People Leave Their Deepest Moral Convictions Outside Politics Before They Enter.

Other Animals Can Make Sounds, And Sounds Can Indicate Pleasure And Pain. But Language, A Distinctly Human Capacity, Isn´t Just For Registering Pleasure And Pain. It´s About Declaring What Is Just And What Is Unjust, And Distinguishing Right From Wrong. We Don´t Grasp These Things Silently, And Then Put Words To Them; Language Is The Medium Through Which We Discern And Deliberate About The Good.

I Think The Reason We Might Hesitate To Pay Cash To Students For Doing Well On Tests Or Getting Good Grades Or Reading Books Is That We Sense That The Monetary Payment Is An Extrinsic Reward.

I Grew Up In A Jewish Family, And We Have Raised Our Children In A Jewish Tradition. Religion Gives A Framework For Moral Enquiry In Young Minds And Points Us To Questions Beyond The Material.

What Intrigued Me Most Was Not The Technology As Such But The Questions About The Human Goods, The Fundamental Human Values And Virtues That Are Raised By Debates Over Biotechnology.