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Ethically indefensible behaviour is not always irrational. We
will probably always need the sanctions of the law and social
pressure to provide additional reasons against serious violations
of ethical standards. At the same time, those reflective enough
to ask the question we have been discussing in this chapter are
also those most likely to appreciate the reasons that can be
offered for taking the ethical point of view.
335
APPENDIX: ON BEING SILENCED
IN GERMANY
Some scenes from academic life in Germany and Austria today:
For the 1989/1990 winter semester, Dr. Hartmut Kliemt. a professor
of philosophy at the University of Duisburg, a small town
in the north of Germany, offered a course in which my book
Practical Ethics was the principal text assigned to the class. First
published in English in 1979, this book has been widely used
in philosophy courses in North America, the United Kingdom,
and Australia and has been translated into German, Italian,
Spanish, and Swedish. I Until Kliemt announced his course, it
had never evoked anything more than lively discussion. Kliemt's
course, however, was subjected to organized and repeated disruption
by protesters objecting to the use of the book on the
grounds that in one of its ten chapters it advocates active euthanasia
for severely disabled newborn infants. When after several
weeks the disruptions showed no sign of abating, Kliemt
was compelled to abandon the course.
The European society for the Philosophy of Medicine and
Health Care is a learned society that does just what one would
expect an organization with that name to do: it promotes the
study of the philosophy of medicine and health care. In 1990
it planned its fourth annual conference, to be held in Bochum,
Reprinted with Permission from the New York Review of Books, August 15. 1991.
1 Cambridge University Press. 1979; German translation. Praktische Ethik
(Stuttgart: Reclam. 1984); Spanish translation. Etica Practica (Barcelona: Ariel.
1984); Italian translation, Etica Pratica (Naples: Liguori. 1989); Swedish
translation, Praktisk Ethik (Stockholm: Thales. 1990).
337
Appendix
Germany, in June. The intended theme of the conference was
'Consensus Formation and Moral Judgment in Health Care'.
During the days leading up to the conference, literature was
distributed in Bochum and elsewhere in Germany by the 'AntiEuthanasia
Forum', stating that 'under the cover of tolerance
and the cry of democracy and liberalism, extermination strategies
will be discussed. On these grounds we will attempt to
prevent the Bochum Congress taking place: On June 5, scholars
who were about to attend the conference received a letter from
the secretary of the society notifying them that it was being
moved to Maastricht, in the Netherlands, because the German
organizers (two professors from the Center for Medical Ethics
at the Ruhr University in Bochum) had been confronted with
'anti-bioethics agitation, threats and intimidation', and could
not guarantee the safety of the participants.
In October 1990, Dr. Helga Kuhse, senior research fellow at
the Centre for Human Bioethics at Monash University in Australia
and author of The Sanctity-ofLife Doctrine in Medicine: A
Critique,2 was invited to give a lecture at the Institute for Anatomy
of the University of Vienna. A group calling itself the
'Forum of Groups for the Crippled and Disabled' announced
that it would protest against the lecture, stating that 'academic
freedom has ethical limits, and we expect the medical faculty
to declare that human life is inviolable'. The lecture was then
canceled by the faculty of medicine. The dean of the faculty,
referring to Dr. Kuhse, told the press, 'We didn't know at all
who that was:3
The Institute for Philosophy at the University of Hamburg
decided, with the agreement of faculty members and a student
representative, to appoint a professor in the field of applied
ethics. The list of candidates was narrowed down to six. At this
point in selecting a professor in Germany, the standard proce-
2 Oxford University Press/Clarendon Press, 1987.
3 Der Standard (Vienna), October 10, 1990.
338
Appendix
dure is to invite each of the candidates to give a lecture. The
lectures were announced but did not take place. Students and
protesters from outside the university objected to the advertising
of a chair in applied ethics on the grounds that this field raised
questions about whether some human lives were worth living.
The protesters blocked the entrances to the lecture theaters and
blew whistles to drown out any attempts by the speakers to
lecture. The university canceled the lectures. A few weeks later,
a new list of candidates was announced. Two philosophers active
in the field of applied ethics were no longer in consideration;
they were replaced by philosophers who have done relatively
little work in applied ethics; one, for example, is best known
for his work in aesthetics. One of those dropped from the short
list was Dr. Anton Leist, author of a book that offers ethical
arguments in defense ofthe right to abortion,4 and also a coeditor
of Analyse & Kritik; one of the few German journals publishing
philosophy in the mode practiced in English-speaking
countries. Ironically, a recent special issue of the journal was
devoted to Practical Ethics and the issue of academic freedom in
Germany. 5
In February 1991 around-table discussion was to be held in
Frankfurt, organized jointly by the adult education sections of
both the Protestant and Roman Catholic churches. The theme
was 'Aid in Dying: and among the participants was Norbert
Hoerster, a highly respected German professor of jurisprudence,
who has written in support of the principle of euthanasia. As

Ethically indefensible behaviour is not always irrational. We

will probably always need the sanctions of the law and social

pressure to provide additional reasons against serious violations

of ethical standards. At the same time, those reflective enough

to ask the question we have been discussing in this chapter are

also those most likely to appreciate the reasons that can be

offered for taking the ethical point of view.

335

APPENDIX: ON BEING SILENCED

IN GERMANY

Some scenes from academic life in Germany and Austria today:

For the 1989/1990 winter semester, Dr. Hartmut Kliemt. a professor

of philosophy at the University of Duisburg, a small town

in the north of Germany, offered a course in which my book

Practical Ethics was the principal text assigned to the class. First

published in English in 1979, this book has been widely used

in philosophy courses in North America, the United Kingdom,

and Australia and has been translated into German, Italian,

Spanish, and Swedish. I Until Kliemt announced his course, it

had never evoked anything more than lively discussion. Kliemt's

course, however, was subjected to organized and repeated disruption

by protesters objecting to the use of the book on the

grounds that in one of its ten chapters it advocates active euthanasia

for severely disabled newborn infants. When after several

weeks the disruptions showed no sign of abating, Kliemt

was compelled to abandon the course.

The European society for the Philosophy of Medicine and

Health Care is a learned society that does just what one would

expect an organization with that name to do: it promotes the

study of the philosophy of medicine and health care. In 1990

it planned its fourth annual conference, to be held in Bochum,

Reprinted with Permission from the New York Review of Books, August 15. 1991.

1 Cambridge University Press. 1979; German translation. Praktische Ethik

(Stuttgart: Reclam. 1984); Spanish translation. Etica Practica (Barcelona: Ariel.

1984); Italian translation, Etica Pratica (Naples: Liguori. 1989); Swedish

translation, Praktisk Ethik (Stockholm: Thales. 1990).

337

Appendix

Germany, in June. The intended theme of the conference was

'Consensus Formation and Moral Judgment in Health Care'.

During the days leading up to the conference, literature was

distributed in Bochum and elsewhere in Germany by the 'AntiEuthanasia

Forum', stating that 'under the cover of tolerance

and the cry of democracy and liberalism, extermination strategies

will be discussed. On these grounds we will attempt to

prevent the Bochum Congress taking place: On June 5, scholars

who were about to attend the conference received a letter from

the secretary of the society notifying them that it was being

moved to Maastricht, in the Netherlands, because the German

organizers (two professors from the Center for Medical Ethics

at the Ruhr University in Bochum) had been confronted with

'anti-bioethics agitation, threats and intimidation', and could

not guarantee the safety of the participants.

In October 1990, Dr. Helga Kuhse, senior research fellow at

the Centre for Human Bioethics at Monash University in Australia

and author of The Sanctity-ofLife Doctrine in Medicine: A

Critique,2 was invited to give a lecture at the Institute for Anatomy

of the University of Vienna. A group calling itself the

'Forum of Groups for the Crippled and Disabled' announced

that it would protest against the lecture, stating that 'academic

freedom has ethical limits, and we expect the medical faculty

to declare that human life is inviolable'. The lecture was then

canceled by the faculty of medicine. The dean of the faculty,

referring to Dr. Kuhse, told the press, 'We didn't know at all

who that was:3

The Institute for Philosophy at the University of Hamburg

decided, with the agreement of faculty members and a student

representative, to appoint a professor in the field of applied

ethics. The list of candidates was narrowed down to six. At this

point in selecting a professor in Germany, the standard proce-

2 Oxford University Press/Clarendon Press, 1987.

3 Der Standard (Vienna), October 10, 1990.

338

Appendix

dure is to invite each of the candidates to give a lecture. The

lectures were announced but did not take place. Students and

protesters from outside the university objected to the advertising

of a chair in applied ethics on the grounds that this field raised

questions about whether some human lives were worth living.

The protesters blocked the entrances to the lecture theaters and

blew whistles to drown out any attempts by the speakers to

lecture. The university canceled the lectures. A few weeks later,

a new list of candidates was announced. Two philosophers active

in the field of applied ethics were no longer in consideration;

they were replaced by philosophers who have done relatively

little work in applied ethics; one, for example, is best known

for his work in aesthetics. One of those dropped from the short

list was Dr. Anton Leist, author of a book that offers ethical

arguments in defense ofthe right to abortion,4 and also a coeditor

of Analyse & Kritik; one of the few German journals publishing

philosophy in the mode practiced in English-speaking

countries. Ironically, a recent special issue of the journal was

devoted to Practical Ethics and the issue of academic freedom in

Germany. 5

In February 1991 around-table discussion was to be held in

Frankfurt, organized jointly by the adult education sections of

both the Protestant and Roman Catholic churches. The theme

was 'Aid in Dying: and among the participants was Norbert

Hoerster, a highly respected German professor of jurisprudence,

who has written in support of the principle of euthanasia. As