include numerous matters which have been classified as“intellectual property” and in which the broader interests of society must remain fundamental.
Some Concluding Thoughts
The products of the mind have always been important and appreciated, but we now find them at the forefront of economic development and change. What once may only have been interesting are now major engines of commerce. A series of mathematical formulae or a similar abstract statement can be translated into an enormously valuable product. Jews along with everyone else are involved in this process and support it. We may well support some protection, but this does not excuse us from reviewing the detailed implications and concerns of the secular treatments of“intellectual property.” They fence off large segments of intellectual life and prohibit access to vast new territories - something to be discussed elsewhere. Of immediate concern are the limitations placed upon new technologies in the field of medicine and agriculture. If the sole concern is economic value, then the biblical emphasis on the value of human life becomes secondary or is not considered at all.
Our discussion of the Jewish tradition shows that the possibility and perhaps the temptation of protecting mental creations may have existed earlier in our long history, but was not taken. The biblical and rabbinic tradition affirm free and open exchange of ideas. Creations of the mind were not understood as physical property. Even as we take contemporary economic developments into account, it cannot be at the price of eliminating our fundamental biblical ideals.
Notes
over many centuries, new segments Most of this was anonymous as hors did not seek protection for