Bridging the “Two Cultures” divide in medicine and the academy

This article discusses the contemporary validity of C. P. Snow's concept of a sharp division between the sciences and the humanities, with particular attention given to academia, medical education, and biomedical research. Believing that today the social sciences must be included as a third culture, the author views ethics, especially bioethics, as integral to all three cultures and forming vital links among them. The author examines the teaching of ethics in medical schools as well as the role of cultures and cultural values in contemporary bioethics, using the embryonic stem cell debate as an example. The author concludes that the three cultures are capable of bridging the gaps between them in increasingly productive ways.