On the generation of new natures (Francis Bacon, Thomas Hobbes)

This thesis investigates the nexus between science, politics, ethics and religion with a focus on the place of medicine in modernity. Progress in medical science is such that it now seems likely that soon, means of changing human nature will be developed. But the furthermost goals of medicine are problematic for modern liberal democracy. In response to the present situation, I return to the original formulation of the modern scientific project in order to see whether or not it can explain our predicament and whether or not there may be any solutions to it consistent with modern political goods.; In the writings of Francis Bacon I find that the pursuit of the furthermost goals of medicine is entrenched within the modern project from the start. Bacon subordinated everything else to them, rendering politics, morality and religion instrumental. It is difficult to resist the technological imperative morally or politically when morality and politics have been reengineered in accordance with it. In chapter one I review Bacon's criticism of the medical tradition and his hopes for a certain science of medicine. In chapter two I show how he directs his entire natural philosophical project from the bottom up toward the transformation of man. In chapter three I read those texts of Bacon's which focus specifically on medicine closely, seeking their purposes and justifications. In chapter four I consider the role of religion in the project, or lack thereof. In chapter five, I describe Bacon's subordination of the human things, including politics, to natural science, while examining Bacon's attempts to be politic while doing so.; In chapter six I explore Descartes' version of the Baconian project, focusing on his ideas regarding medicine and emphasizing his separation of science from politics as a more indirect way of subordinating politics to science. Chapter seven, on Hobbes, is the beginning of a political criticism of the Baconian project from within modernity. Science is political, and politics cannot be subordinated to it. I interpret Hobbes in order to show why the furthermost goals of medicine must be rejected for modern political reasons.