Daniel Callahan
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Daniel John Callahan (July 19, 1930 – July 16, 2019) was an American philosopher who played a leading role in developing the field of biomedical ethics as co-founder of The Hastings Center, the world's first bioethics research institute. He served as the Director of The Hastings Center from 1969 to 1983, president from 1984 to 1996, and president emeritus from 1996 to 2019. He was the author or editor of 47 books.


Life and career


Education

Daniel Callahan was born in Washington, D.C., on July 19, 1930. In high school Callahan was a swimmer and chose to attend Yale University because of its competitive swimming program. While at Yale, he was drawn to interdisciplinary studies and graduated in 1952 with a double degree in English and Philosophy. He received the M.A. degree from Georgetown University in 1956 and the Ph.D. in philosophy from Harvard in 1965.


Catholic intellectual

From 1961 to 1968, Callahan worked as executive editor of '' Commonweal,'' a Catholic journal of opinion. Callahan became an influential writer and author within Catholic intellectual circles during this period, which was a tumultuous time in the Catholic Church. In addition to numerous articles in ''Commonweal'', he wrote or edited nine books, including ''The Mind of the Catholic Layman'', ''Honesty in the Church'', and ''The Catholic Case for Contraception''. The historian Rodger Van Allen once described Callahan as “perhaps the most influential Catholic layman of the 1960s.”


Abortion issue

During the late 1960s, Callahan left the Catholic Church—later explaining his disenchantment in the book
Once a Catholic
'—and became interested in the intersection of medicine and ethics. With support from the
Population Council The Population Council is an international, nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The Council conducts research in biomedicine, social science, and public health and helps build research capacities in developing countries. One-third of its re ...
and the
Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a $25,000 (about $550,000 in 2023) gift from Edsel Ford. ...
, Callahan traveled around the world to study how different countries approached the issue of abortion, as well as ethical issues in family planning and population control. The result was the groundbreaking 1970 book ''Abortion: Law, Choice, and Morality''. Callahan would remain involved in debates over abortion for years to come and was often interviewed by the media on this subject. He described himself as "51 percent pro-choice. In 1984, he and wife Sidney Callahan—who took an anti-abortion position—co-edited a book, ''Abortion: Understanding Differences'', that included essays from people on all sides of this issue. The couple's longstanding differences on abortion were once the subject of a feature in ''People'' magazine and they engaged in a number of public debates on abortion, including on PBS's ''MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour''.


Bioethicist

In 1969, Callahan cofounded the Hastings Center with
Willard Gaylin Willard Marvin Gaylin (February 23, 1925 – December 30, 2022) was an American bioethicist and physician who served as clinical professor of psychiatry at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons. He was also the co-founder, along with Dani ...
, a noted psychiatrist. The center, originally named the ''Institute for Society, Ethics and the Life Sciences'', and based in
Hastings-on-Hudson Hastings-on-Hudson is a village in Westchester County located in the southwestern part of the town of Greenburgh in the state of New York, United States. It is a suburb of New York City, located approximately north of midtown Manhattan, and i ...
, New York, was the world's first research organization devoted to bioethics. It played a pioneering role in developing this field by bringing together scholars from across different disciplines, including medicine, law, science and philosophy. Such noted leaders in bioethics, such as
Arthur Caplan Arthur L. Caplan (born 1950) is an American ethicist and professor of bioethics at New York University Grossman School of Medicine. He is known for his contributions to the U.S. public policy, including: helping to found the National Marrow D ...
and Robert M. Veatch, began their careers at the Hastings Center. Callahan served as the center's director from its inception to September 1, 1996. During that time, he wrote numerous articles and edited multiple books, including on issues of death and dying and genetics.


Health care

In 1987, Callahan published ''Setting Limits: Medical Goals in an Aging Society'', a book that argued that U.S. society would need to limit expensive care for those very elderly Americans, who were unlikely to live long or good lives. The financial cost was too high, he argued, and came at the expense of pressing needs such as education. In his book he also proposed an "age-based standard for the termination of life-extending treatment". Upon its publication, ''The New York Times Book Review'' wrote: "This is a pivotal work that poses hard questions and proposes provocative answers. ''Setting Limits'' promises to be the benchmark for future moral, medical and policy discussions of aging." The book attracted wide attention and generated significant controversy, including two volumes of essays debating or criticizing Callahan's ideas. In 2009, Callahan was interviewed by NPR about his reflections on ''Setting Limits'' as he aged and responded to charges of hypocrisy for benefitting from expensive medical interventions. Callahan followed up on ''Setting Limits'' with a series of books on health care, aging, technology and mortality. These included ''What Kind of Life: The Limits of Medical Progress'' (Simon & Schuster, 1990), ''The Troubled Dream of Life: In Search of a Peaceful Death'' (Simon & Schuster, 1993), in which he makes a case for "dependency", and argues that human beings are and ought to be a burden to each other; ''False Hopes'' (Simon & Schuster & Rutgers University Press, 1998); ''What Price Better Health? Hazards of the Research Imperative'' (University of California Press, 2003); ''Medicine and the Market: Equity vs. Choice'' (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006); and ''Taming the Beloved Beast: Why Medical Technology Costs are Destroying Our Health Care System'' (Princeton University Press, August 2009). Callahan lectured widely on his ideas on health care during this period through the United States and Europe. He was also a professor of psychology at
Mercy University Mercy University (Mercy NY), previously known as Mercy College, is a private research university with a main campus in Dobbs Ferry, New York, and additional locations in Manhattan and the The Bronx, Bronx. It is a federally designated minority- ...
.


Awards and recognition

Callahan was an elected member of the
Institute of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), known as the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineerin ...
,
National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...
; a member of the Director's Advisory Committee, the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the National public health institutes, national public health agency of the United States. It is a Federal agencies of the United States, United States federal agency under the United S ...
, and of the Advisory Council, Office of Scientific Responsibility, Department of Health and Human Services. He was awarded the Freedom and Scientific Responsibility Award of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...
in 1996. He was awarded the 2008 Centennial Medal of the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. He testified in Congress on stem cell research and other issues.


Published works

Callahan was the author or editor of 47 books. In addition to his books on abortion and health care, he is the author of ''The Tyranny of Survival'' (1973); ''Ethics in Hard Times'' (1982); ''The Roots of Bioethics: Health, Progress, Technology, Death'' (Oxford University Press, 2012); and ''The Five Horsemen of The Modern World: Climate, Food, Water, Chronic Illness, and Obesity (Columbia University Press, 2016).'' In addition, he's the author of a memoir, ''In Search of the Good: A Life in Bioethics (MIT Press, 2012).'' Callahan contributed articles to ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
,'' ''
Daedalus In Greek mythology, Daedalus (, ; Greek language, Greek: Δαίδαλος; Latin language, Latin: ''Daedalus''; Etruscan language, Etruscan: ''Taitale'') was a skillful architect and craftsman, seen as a symbol of wisdom, knowledge and power. H ...
,
Harpers Harpers may refer to: * Harpers, popular misnomer for ''Harper's Magazine'', American monthly magazine * ''Harper's Bazaar'', monthly American fashion magazine * ''Harpers Wine & Spirit'', formerly ''Harpers Magazine'' (since 1878), British trade ...
,
The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...
,'' the ''
New England Journal of Medicine ''The New England Journal of Medicine'' (''NEJM'') is a weekly medical journal published by the Massachusetts Medical Society. Founded in 1812, the journal is among the most prestigious peer-reviewed medical journals. Its 2023 impact factor was ...
,'' the ''
Journal of the American Medical Association ''JAMA'' (''The Journal of the American Medical Association'') is a peer-reviewed medical journal published 48 times a year by the American Medical Association. It publishes original research, reviews, and editorials covering all aspects of ...
,'' ''
The New Republic ''The New Republic'' (often abbreviated as ''TNR'') is an American magazine focused on domestic politics, news, culture, and the arts from a left-wing perspective. It publishes ten print magazines a year and a daily online platform. ''The New Y ...
,'' ''
Health Affairs ''Health Affairs'' is a monthly peer-reviewed healthcare journal established in 1981 by John K. Iglehart; since 2014, the editor-in-chief is Alan Weil. It was described by ''The Washington Post'' as "the bible of health policy". Abstracting a ...
'', and other newspapers and journals."Daniel Callahan" www.cpbn.org Yale-Hasting program in Ethics and health policy www.cpbn.org/profile/daniel-callahan


Personal life

In 1954 he married Sidney DeShazo, a notable Catholic feminist who has published under the name Sidney Callahan. They had six children, five boys and one girl, including the writer and editor, David Callahan and the film-maker Peter Callahan.


References


External links


The Hastings Center: Daniel Callahan, 1930-2019


* [https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/daniel-callahan-preeminent-and-probing-bioethicist-dies-at-88/2019/07/23/d9ffbd16-ac92-11e9-bc5c-e73b603e7f38_story.html Daniel Callahan, Preeminent and Probing Bioethicist, Dies at 88, ''Washington Post'', July 23, 2019]
Hastings Center bio
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Callahan, Daniel American bioethicists 1930 births 2019 deaths Fellows of the Hastings Center Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Yale University alumni Georgetown University alumni Christians from Washington, D.C. Philosophers from Washington, D.C. Businesspeople from Washington, D.C. Writers from Washington, D.C. 21st-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers American company founders Mercy University faculty 20th-century American businesspeople Members of the National Academy of Medicine