Biology, meaning the science of all life, is a late notion.

“Biology, meaning the science of all life, is a late notion.”

Leon Kass

About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Biology, as a study of life, is a relatively recent scientific discipline compared to humanity's long history.

In simple terms: Biology is a young science.

Key Takeaway

Appreciate the recent nature of life sciences.

Themes

science history biology philosophy of science

Mood

analytical reflective

Type

academic philosophical

When to use this quote

education curricula
research funding
public policy

Key Concepts

evolution knowledge development human understanding

Questions to Reflect On

How does the youth of biology affect its methods?
What can we learn from older scientific traditions?

A Different Perspective

Older sciences still shape modern thought.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet

Biology Life Science

More by Leon Kass

Limits have to be set on how far one can simply use the... cleverness that we have to make changes.

Leon Kass

The so-called right to reproduce is not an unlimited right.

Leon Kass

I don't believe that efforts to prohibit only so-called reproductive cloning can be successful.

Leon Kass

Many other countries have already banned human cloning, and there are efforts at the UN to make such a ban universal.

Leon Kass

We may simply not be wise enough to do some of the kinds of engineering things that people are talking about doing.

Leon Kass

The technical is not just the machinery. The technical is a disposition to life.

Leon Kass

I've been opposed to human cloning from the very beginning.

Leon Kass

Genetics is crude, but neuroscience goes directly to work on the brain, and the mind follows.

Leon Kass

Cloning represents a very clear, powerful, and immediate example in which we are in danger of turning procreation into manufacture.

Leon Kass

Human life without death would be something other than human; consciousness of mortality gives rise to out deepest longings and greatest accomplishments.

Leon Kass

If you have easy self-contentment, you might have a very, very cheap source of happiness.

Leon Kass

It's a short step from the belief that every child should be wanted to the belief that a child exists to satisfy our wants.

Leon Kass

My job is to provide the president with the richest possible consideration, so that he knows what is at stake in whatever decision he…

Leon Kass

In cloning, in contrast, reproduction is asexual - the cloned child is the product not of two but of one.

Leon Kass

There were certain questions about the foundations of morals that advances in science all threaten to make more complicated.

Leon Kass

Explore all 52 Leon Kass quotes

More Biology quotes

In the fight between biology and morality, biology has commonly won in the end.

Semir Zeki

“Genetics is a science full of gods, Mr. Sanchez.”

Valeria Luiselli

We became Homo sapiens not that long ago, from the scientific perspective, and we've retained a lot of our beast nature. We've done all…

Wangechi Mutu

Evolution happens in jumps, very rapidly.

Marilyn Ferguson

“Toshiaki learned that all living organisms were governed by their DNA. He was impressed by perfection of this system.Why did existence have the ability…

Hideaki Sena

I'm all about evolution. I'm the first person to judge myself.

The Weeknd

We are somehow the children of the planet, we are somehow its finest hour; we bind time, we bind the past, we anticipate the…

Terence McKenna

I think the ethics and morals of genetic engineering are very complicated. It intrigues me.

Roger Spottiswoode

Biochemists and biologists who adhere blindly to the Darwinism theory search for results that will be in agreement with their theories and consequently orient…

Pierre-Paul Grasse

“A note of caution: epigenetics is also on the verge of transforming into a dangerous idea. Epigenetic modifications of genes can potentially superpose historical…

Siddhartha Mukherjee