Dru Watkins    

The Bioethics of Ecotopia

            In Ecotopia, every policy-related issue covered has a root in a greater yet broader concern for “basic biological survival (p 50).”  The food minister’s assistant outlines the basis for the “stable-state life systems” which is the all-encompassing goal of Ecotopia.  This fundamental concern for public health that underlies all policy struck me as a novel and worthy idea so I decided to search for what else might share this sort of unified vision.  I soon discovered that the onset of bioethics as a field initially addressed the same broad-level health and ecological concerns as addressed in Ecotopia.  My primary interest (and question) is how the novel and the birth of bioethics might have possibly influenced each other or grew from a like-valued movement. 

            In Madison, Wisconsin 1970, Van Rensselaer Potter coined the term “bioethics” (Reich, 19).  Since then, the term’s primary focus has shifted to focus on “concrete medical dilemmas (p. 20)” such as patient autonomy, clinical trials testing, etc.  However, Potter’s vision was more reaching.  He stated the current understanding of bioethics might “simply reaffirm the medical profession’s inclination to think more in terms of issues of therapy to the neglect of prevention (Reich, 21).”  Potter originally intended to bridge medicine with ethics and humanities that involved “long-range environmental concerns (Reich, 20).”  He liked Joan Engel’s traits of ecological citizens which included “concern that nature continue to flourish and be an integral, valued part of human experience” and “insight that local regions are nested in a larger reality (Potter, 39).” Potter’s scope of bioethics involved a philosophical bent or search for wisdom.  In his own words, he was searching “…for the knowledge that would enable us to make good judgments as to what would constitute physical, cultural, and philosophical progress toward a valued survival (Potter 1975, p.2297)[i]”.

            Five years later, Ernest Callenbach’s Ecotopia was published.  In the chapter on the economics of Ecotopia, a citizen confides with William that everyone was sick of “bad air, chemicalized foods, lunatic advertising (Callenbach, 51).”  Ecotopians turned to their current state of government out of “self-preservation”.  The desire for wellness and more natural, sustainable living served as a catalyst for the birth of Ecotopia.  William mentions the shortage of specialists in Ecotopia but mentions their heightened emphasis on preventative care:  “The many neighborhood clinics provide regular checkups for all citizens, and are within easy reach for minor problems that might develop into major ones (p. 156).”  Culture and lifestyle are directly linked to health and therefore might be seen as an extension of “preventative care”.  Linda, William’s nurse, states that Ecotopians do not separate medicine and life (p. 153) and provides many personal touches to William’s recovery.  There is a focus on massage and a positive outlook (and of course the more controversial sexual therapy). 

            Potter’s values on preventative care and the full implications of public health are mirrored in Ecotopia.  The entire framework of Ecotopia is fair game for the initial scope of bioethics.  Callenbach’s novel and Van Rensselaer Potter’s original intent of bioethics are both concerned with sustainable living and well-being within a natural/ecological framework.  This does not only involve “business-like” medical procedure but a focuses on a holistic approach to health that blurs with and compliments life.  I hope to expand my understanding of bioethics as I see an idealistic yet realistic (much like Ecotopia) approach to immediate public health concerns.   

Works Cited

1.      Thomas Reich, Warren.  “The Word “Bioethics”: The Struggle Over Its Earliest Meanings.”  Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal, Volume 5, Number 1, March 1995, pp. 19-34 (Article).

2.      Rensselaer Potter, Van.  “Fragmented Ethics and “Bridge Bioethics.”  The Hastings Center Report, Vol. 29, No.1 (Jan,-Feb., 1999), pp. 38-40.

3.      Callenbach, Ernest.  Ecotopia. Bantam Book, 1990.