230054 The Social and Political Context of Bioethics (BS) (SoSe 2013)

Das Seminar knüpft an das im WiSe 2012/13 angebotene Seminar im „Health and Bioethics in Africa“ an, spezifiziert aber die Inhalte um soziale und politische Aspekte, weshalb es dem Element 1 zugeordnet wird. Die Beschreibung des Seminars im WiSe 2012/13, die nun bearbeitet wird, lautete:

Inhalt, Kommentar

Basics of Bioethics

Bioethics has been defined as the “systematic study of the moral dimensions – including moral vision, decisions, conducts and policies – of the life sciences and health care, employing a variety of ethical methodologies in an interdisciplinary setting”. It is a distinctive field of study and practice but in practice it involves a trans-disciplinary approach. While the core area has its background in medicine and life sciences, the bioethical discourse has links with law, public policy, historical and cultural studies, the popular media and the disciplines of philosophy, religion, literature, medicine, public health, biology, ecology; population studies and social sciences. The implication is that a number of fields need to make input to ensure adequate considerations of bioethical issues.
The earlier conception of bioethics described it as a field that should serve as a bridge between science and human values; so that scientific practices and application of technological in life sciences and medicine will conform to human values without compromising the goals of human/scientific progress. This is why “doing good” and “avoiding harm” are core tenets in bioethics. One prime focus of bioethics therefore is to assert moral values and make moral judgments.
Following this background, this seminar is designed to introduce students to basic ideas in bioethics, to expose students to various issues of bioethical concern and how the discipline has progressed over the years to addressing them. The discourse will be discussed across cultures to understand the relative and particular contexts that inform moral values in different countries.
The language of instruction in this seminar will be English. This is to expand the language skills of the students. It will also provide training in the analysis, understanding and interpretation of bioethical discourse in different regions. More importantly, the examination of trans-cultural processes and circumstances will be the primary target of this course. Some of the topics to be covered are outlined day-by-day and on the seminar timetable.

Brief Outline

Day One: Bioethical Perspectives

The first day will involve elaboration of the meanings and some theoretical perspectives in bioethics. This will serve as basis to situate the emerging bioethical issues during the seminar. Specifically, the day will start with an introduction to historical notions of bioethics, the concepts of personhood and personalism, the principles of bioethics and the ethical, legal, social implications (ELSI) approach in the consideration of ethical discourse. The day’s discussions will include the rise of organ market and the moral status of the embryo.

Day Two: Ethics in the Process of Birth

While there would be some reflections on the some of the bioethical perspectives on the first day, the central discourse will center on the ethical issues in the process of birth. The rise of biotechnology has made possible a lot of measures/interventions in the process of birth, which have accounted for a number of moral perplexities. Some specific discussions will include sex selection, gamete/sperm donation, surrogate motherhood, and abortion debate. The practical discourse will involve introduction to a method of ethical deliberation in clinical ethics.

Day Three: Ethics in the Course of Human Life: Medical Enhancement

During the course of life, one important event that has evolved especially with the rise advanced medical possibilities is human enhancement. The notion that human life can be improved through the application of medical technologies is becoming popular. Key issues that will be explored include ethics of life extension, medicalization of beauty and body modification. Group discussion will be on breast augmentation for men/gender reassignment procedures. The day’s discussion will end with the exploration of ethics in sexuality/sexual rights, and discussion about zoophilia/zoo-sexuality.

Day Four: Ethics of End of Life Care

While the day’s work will start with a discussion about geneticization in relation to prenatal genetic testing, the central focus will be on ethics of end of life care by elaborating on euthanasia in clinical practice, moral questions in suicide, and the notions of good death. The Dutch context and rules of “death by request” (euthanasia) will be discussed. There will also be a case deliberation concerning euthanasia in Italy.