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Maitre De La Vie

reproduction and the social good and fears by dominant groups of higher population growth in other groups (what one British expert has called 'competitive tribalism'). One author even offers a variant of the 'yellow peril' theme: fear that the First World will lose its world primacy. There is much discussion about the human right to control fertility and the extent to which this has to be seen in context. One author asserts that the right is not fundamental but must take account of responsibilities to the self, to others and to the next generation. No author dissents from the proposition that the decline of external moral absolutism and advances in contraceptive technology have led to greater individual choice and hence to greater individual moral responsibility. Women, in particular, have gained control over their sexual lives, while individuals generally have been able to avoid some of the undesirable results of sexual activity. However, contraception has not radically changed attitudes to human sexuality. We are told that sexual behaviour is a complex human activity in which sexual attitudes determine the acceptability of contraception rather than the reverse. The relationship between individual responsibility and external guidance is considered in the context of the sexual behaviour of minors and the role of public health workers providing contraceptive services to them. The question is whether medical providers should be moral educators. Although medical morality has replaced religious morality, this has not avoided conflicts of moral value both for providers and clients of contraceptive services. Two authors deal with the relationship between population growth and development, a theme occupying increasing attention in international institutions concerned with development. How population growth relates to national welfare is an 'intricate problem'; when is government intervention morally justified? China's coercive one-child policy raises ethical issues. It is concluded that such issues have to be considered in the context of the values of those involved and the claims of the communities affected. This book provides a stimulating and informative debate on a wide-ranging topic. It touches (too briefly) on the issue of individual responsibility to future generations but deliberately avoids the matter of individual responsibility for what happens to other life on earth as world population growth puts such life under ever greater pressure. Those major moral issues must impinge on sexual behaviour. Any further symposium on this topic should deal with Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) and include one or more contributors from the Third World where the pressures of excessive population growth could produce new moral and philosophical insights.