Since the 1970s, many governmentally sponsored advisory committees have been formed to offer advice about the ethical and political issues arising from biomedical research and biotechnology. In the United States, one of the most prominent of these is the President's Council on Bioethics (Council), which was established by President George W. Bush in November 2001. The work of the Council illustrates how hard it is to deliberate about the ethical issues provoked by modern science and technology in a political arena of partisan conflict and moral diversity. This is particularly difficult when the ethical and political discussion is influenced by the controversy over abortion and the moral status of human embryos. And yet despite these difficulties, the Council stands out as an attempt to promote a Socratic discussion in political debates about the ethical implications of science and technology...