Nelkin D
Milbank Mem Fund Q Health Soc. 1983 Winter;61(1):101-12.
Concepts of personhood are embedded in a political and cultural context. The persistence of moral conflicts--and advances in biological and clinical sciences accelerate their number--and the difficulties of resolving them reflect features of our political culture. In the extraordinary American tension between individual and public life, controlling the definition of what it is to be a human being becomes a fundamental basis of social and political power. Much is at stake in these persistent conflicts: freedon of individuals; authority of professionals; automony of scientists; and even the role of the church.
人格概念根植于政治和文化背景之中。道德冲突持续存在——生物学和临床科学的进步加速了此类冲突的数量——而解决这些冲突的困难反映了我们政治文化的特征。在美国个人生活与公共生活之间的特殊紧张关系中，掌控对人类身份的定义成为社会和政治权力的根本基础。在这些持续的冲突中，许多方面都利害攸关：个人自由；专业人员的权威；科学家的自主性；甚至教会的作用。
