According to Mauss, gifts are never “free.” The giver may benefit from repayment in the future and the receivers are obliged to reciprocate. Parry and Laidlaw tried to debunk the various meanings, connotations, and intentions embedded in gifts. Based on their works, Simpson’s article “Impossible Gifts: Bodies, Buddhism and Bioethics in Contemporary Sri Lanka” explores… Continue reading Inventing Bioethics: Buddhist and Hindu Point of View
Month: March 2021
Cultures of Testing: The Moral Dilemmas of Prenatal Testing
The exponential growth of technology offers parents additional information about a pregnancy, and more significantly, provides them the ability to terminate in order to avoid suffering. Rayna Rapp’s book, Testing Women, Testing the Fetus, presents the research she conducted regarding amniocentesis and the social effect of this prenatal test. Rapp analyzes the role religion, socioeconomic… Continue reading Cultures of Testing: The Moral Dilemmas of Prenatal Testing
Making Comparisons in Technology and Culture: Pregnancy in Japan and Israel
A quick Google search will tell you that the capital of Israel and the capital of Japan are over 5,600 miles apart. One might think that an unrealistic bridge must be created to make a connection between the two countries. But, as Tsipy Ivry states in the introduction of her book “Embodying Culture: Pregnancy in… Continue reading Making Comparisons in Technology and Culture: Pregnancy in Japan and Israel