Leon Kass

Leon Kass is an American physician and philosopher.

In 2002, President Bush appointed Kass, a University of Chicago bioethicist, as head of the President's Council on Bioethics. Kass appointed the other 17 members, many of whom were associated with the neoconservative religious magazine First Things.

A Reason article on the appointment offered this pen portrait:

Let's start with the boss. Leon Kass is a physician and philosopher with a decidedly anti-modernist bent. A disciple of University of Chicago anti-modernist philosopher Leo Strauss, Kass has long believed that the Enlightenment was something of a mistake. In his view, its focus on individual rights and individual conscience undermines the traditional bases for morality.

Affiliations

• Shalem Center - Shalem Foundation Board