Mark Sagoff: Bridging Technology and Society
December 22, 2023
Mark Sagoff, an esteemed philosopher and scholar, recently died at age 82. “Dr. Sagoff’s work over more than five decades sought to bridge the disciplines of economics, public planning and conservationism,” the Washington Post observed. He was also a regular contributor to Issues. Writing in 2008, he provided an early voice examining the fundamentally new pest control methods emerging from genetic engineering. While noting their potential benefits, he pointed out that “no federal legislation deals specifically” with their regulation. The government, he concluded, “will have to confront the significant ethical, legal, and social questions that third-generation biotechnology raises.”