Bioethics and Biolaw

Maciej Kowalczyk

A bit of history…Bioethics- Greek bios- life; ethos- behaviorIntroduced in 1927 by Fritz Jahr in article about “biethical imperative”1970- American biochemist Van Rensselaer Potter “global ethics”Nazi experiments during World War II- need of expanding biolaw and bioethics

Development of the field…

Technological advances posed novel questionsBritish philosophy- moving away from positivism and emotivism, development of theories of ethics and their application1970s- emerging of bioethical think tasks and academic bioethics programs:

• Hasting Center• Kennedy Institute of Ethics

…Principles of Biomedical Ethics - first American textbook on bioethics

Asilomar Conference on Recombinant DNA

Brazil- Pontificia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul

The materia of the fieldBoundaries of life- abortion euthanasiaSurrogacyThe allocation of scarce health care resourcesThe right to refuser medical careThe scope of bioethics can expand with biotechnologyHuman experimentation- one of the first areas adressed by modern bioethicistsThe National Commision for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research

Belmont Report- 1979

AutonomyBeneficencejusticeNon- maleficenceHuman dignitySanctity of life

Relationship between Bioethics and Biolaw

Issue of Western philosophyMatter of several contemporary legal philosophersIn last years re- emerging of bioethical and biolaw discussionAmbiguity od term “bioethics”- wide meaning and narrow meaning

…UNESCO Declarations relating to “bioethics”Blurring of the distinction of ethics and lawEthics and Law interact and overlap with one another but remain different normative systems.Ethics and Law pursue different goals

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